Reactions to the Data
George Barna, whose firm conducted the research, elaborated upon the
survey statistics. "There was a noteworthy correlation between adult
attendance and the pastor's self-rating regarding vision casting,
strategic development and possessing the gift of leadership. For
instance, among pastors of the largest churches studied, leadership was
the primary gift claimed by the second-largest number of pastors, and
the pastors of larger churches were nearly three times as likely as the
pastors of small congregations to rate themselves highly in motivating
people on the basis of vision and developing ministry strategy. While
attendance figures are not a valid measure of church success - life
transformation is the bottom line, and we often find a weak correlation
between church size and transformation - the relationship between
people's willingness to attend a church and the leadership qualities of
the pastor is an important connection to highlight."
Barna also pointed out that there appears to be a need for standard
and objective measures of self-evaluation that church leaders can
utilize. "Pastors are indisputably a talented and well-educated group.
However, it's unrealistic for most pastors to claim that they perform at
an above-average level in such a large number of disparate ministry
duties as those examined in the study. Given the different skills and
divergent ways of thinking required to excel in these various areas,
perhaps the survey is pointing out the need for an objective
self-evaluation tool or process that will help clergy to more reliably
assess their strengths and weaknesses in ministry. Simply identifying a
standard for excellence in these areas would be a significant step
forward toward helping ministries and ministers assess the quality and
impact of their efforts. Such knowledge might also help them to seek
intentionally the assistance of skilled and gifted believers whose
strengths in areas of their own relative weakness would facilitate more
effective ministry."
Survey Methodology
The data described above are from telephone interviews conducted
during October and November 2001 among a nationwide random sample of 601
Senior Pastors of Protestant churches located within the 48 continental
states. The sample was balanced nationally according to the incidence of
denominational affiliation, with a random selection of churches chosen
within each denomination. The maximum margin of sampling error
associated with the aggregate sample is ±3 percentage points at the 95%
confidence level. All of the interviews were conducted from the Barna
Research Group telephone interviewing facility in Ventura, CA. Multiple
callbacks were used to increase the probability of including a reliable
distribution of adults.
This is the h6 title class
The Barna Research Group, Ltd. is an independent marketing research
company located in southern California. Since 1984 it has been studying
cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.
This research was funded solely by Barna Research as part of its regular
tracking of the social, religious and political state of the nation and
its churches.
If you would like to receive a bi-weekly update on the latest
research findings from the Barna Research Group, you may subscribe to
this free service by signing up on the
www.barna.org website.
|
excellent |
good |
average |
not too good |
poor |
preaching/teaching |
31% |
59% |
9% |
* |
1% |
encouraging
people |
24 |
61 |
13 |
1 |
* |
pastoring/shepherding |
21 |
61 |
16 |
* |
* |
leadership |
16 |
57 |
25 |
1 |
* |
motivating
people around a vision |
15 |
53 |
28 |
3 |
7 |
discipling/mentoring
people |
12 |
52 |
32 |
2 |
* |
evangelism |
10 |
50 |
36 |
3 |
1 |
counseling |
9 |
45 |
38 |
4 |
2 |
administration/management |
14 |
39 |
35 |
7 |
4 |
developing
ministry strategy |
10 |
43 |
41 |
3 |
1 |
fundraising |
6 |
25 |
37 |
14 |
9 |
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copyrighted by the Barna Research Group, Ltd., 5528 Everglades Street,
Ventura, CA 93003. No portion of this website (articles, graphs, charts,
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reproduced, retransmitted, disseminated, sold, distributed, published,
edited, altered, changed, broadcast, circulated, or commercially
exploited without the prior written permission from Barna Research
Group, LTD. This survey and article first appeared in 2002. The Word of
God Ministries obtained permission for this website copy in 2012.