The Office of Research Services of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) provides a wide variety of services including articles and reports, demographics information, statistics, program evaluations and Ten-Year Trends, all free to PCUSA congregations.
Some of their available services include:
- Free 10-year Trend Reports show what’s been happening in congregations
- Free demographics package:
- Congregational Surveys–The U.S. Congregational Life Survey helps congregations identify their strengths, learn more about their worshipers, and make decisions about change.
- Coming out of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, we have resources to help congregations examine their location (including a study/leader guide written by Trey Hammond):
- Resources on evangelism and church growth, particularly:
- A free booklet with easy-to-do research techniques for congregations:
Other Recommended Resources:
- The Association of Religion Data Archives- Enter your zip code to receive information about congregational membership in all major denominations by county or state.
- ARDA also has an excellent free demographic package:
Currently, much of this website is still under construction, but it’s interesting to learn about church planting in the Seattle area.
http://www.seattlechurchplanting.com/
April, 2009
Where are we going with Transformation? This is a question I have been receiving a lot lately. With the majority of our churches already in decline, this current financial crisis has thrown them into even deeper problems. Many have speculated that the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been getting out of the church transformation business for the last few years. With all of the reorganization and budget cutting that has happened over the last decade, it’s easy to understand how these feelings arise. Like many areas, the traditional church development areas have experienced significant cuts along with almost all other areas of the General Assembly Council. We certainly aren’t the only ones to feel the crunch. We’re in this together. So, at first glance, it may look as if we have ceased doing transformation (and new church plants) with the same energy and commitment as we have in years past. We have not.
Since coming here in February 2008, I have sought to re-energize our transformation ministry and give it new vision and direction. This is not an overnight process and has not been an easy shift. Having said that, we cannot afford to fail in helping our existing churches become what God wants and needs them to be. It is true that we need to begin starting many new congregations. It’s not true, however, that this should be done at the expense of our existing congregations. The transformation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will hinge on its ability of its current congregations to transform. A new church movement in our denomination will only be successful if current congregations transform and begin planting new faith communities around the country. It’s not an “either/or” proposition (either church transformation or new churches), it’s a “both/and” proposition. We must transform our churches and start new ones. They must go together. The Presbyterian Church must one again understand itself as “sent” by God to do God’s mission in the world. (more…)
Evangelism Connections is an ecumenical website that explores all things evangelism-oriented. This is a great resource for finding and sharing ideas about mission, hospitality, evangelism, and all other related issues.
(from the website)
” Evangelism Connections is an ecumenical partnership whose aim is to help people and churches engage in effective evangelism. We want this to be a place of information, support for your work and insight into what is working (best practices).
This site is designed for anyone, clergy or lay, interested in evangelism and looking for resources that will help them understand more fully what the Bible requires of us. We hope to provide you with information that will assist you in sharing the grace of God and the salvation of Jesus Christ with others and encourage you as individuals and as churches to awaken to the many opportunities you encounter each day to be an evangelist.”
www.evangelismconnections.org
Many new church developments have their beginnings as a “house church” in which an intentional community gathers in an individual’s house for worship, bible study, and community meals.
If you are interested in starting your own house church, or want to learn more about house churches, here is a good “primer.”
Rev. Marcia Clark Myers, Director of Vocation for the PC(USA), recently gave a presentation on the challenges facing leaders in the PC(USA) that has generated a lot of Twitter traffic and internet “buzz.” We here at PresbyGrow encourage all of you watch this presentation which is simultaneously fascinating, sobering, and hopeful.
(from the PCUSA website:)
“Take an informative and revealing look at the challenge of developing Presbyterian leaders for today and tomorrow. View the comprehensive presentation the Rev. Marcia Clark Myers gave to the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) March 24. (To view this file, you must have the free Macromedias Flash Player installed on your computer system.)”
We are pleased to announce that our resource for new church development, Starting New Churches: A Discernment Process, has been revised and updated. Among the most prominent changes are the additions of appendices at the end of the booklet and the deletion of the DVD that accompanied version 1.0.
You can access the new version by clicking on the “Starting New Churches” icon or by clicking here.
The United Church of Christ is currently undergoing a monumental church planting movement. One of their resources, “A Guidebook for Planting New Congregations in the United Church of Christ,” is very similar the “Starting New Churches” document recently published by the Office of Church Growth of the PCUSA. If you are looking to start a new church, or are interested in church planting resources, I recommend downloading this booklet.
Note that some procedural and structural requirements in the UCC may not be applicable to PCUSA congregations. “Translate” and or/skim over as necessary.
Click here to go to “Guidebook for Planting New Churches in the UCC”
If you are a fan of the the Ooze, then you will probably like the e-magazine, Next Wave. Next Wave features articles which focus on culture, the emerging church, church planting and post-modernism. You can also find links to books and other resources.
Click here to visit the website.
If you’re looking for podcasts and videos surrounding church growth and new church developmnet, then we suggest searching the archives at the Leadership Network. All downloads are free, though you do have to register with the website.
Click here to jump to the website. Once you are there, use the dialog boxes at the top of the page to search/browse podcasts, videos, etc.
