in order to effectively minister to the people in your community, you need to know their needs. you also need to know their names.
Do you know how many people live within one mile of your church? Within three miles? Within five? We can help you learn the answers to these questions, and many more - some of which you probably haven't thought to ask. Not only can we answer these questions, we can help you understand how the answers impact the effectiveness of your ministries and how you can tailor your strategy to the community and people around your church.
Here are a few of the questions a community demographics workshop will help you answer, and why these questions and answers ought to matter in your church's ministry:
Q: How many people live in our community?
A: Population and population density (people per square mile) is a valuable tool as you plan ministries and events and as you evaluate their effectiveness. Having 15 people in Sunday School in a community of 100 and having 15 people in Sunday School in a community of 1000 are two very different scenarios.
Q: Is our community growing or declining, and at what rate?
A: Growing communities have unique needs, as do declining communities. We've met with churches trying to minister in rapidly growing communities as though their communities were in decline.
Q: What is the average age of our community?
A: How well are you relating to the people around you? Churches - especially declining churches - tend to believe at least 1 of 2 fallacies: either 1) they assume that the community around them must be declining, aging, etc. because their congregation is, or 2) they assume that the community around them is so different from their congregation that there is no chance they might be reached. Demographics can show that neither of these beliefs must necessarily be true.
Q: What % of the population are 0-4 years old?
A: The answer to this question affects more than just the size of the nursery: a significant number of this age group implies young families, some of them first-time parents, who have unique needs and who present unique opportunities. It also implies a need for a children's ministry in the coming years, and the opportunity for the church to walk with those families all the way through a child's life.
Q: What % of the population of our community would say, "My faith is really important to me."?
A: This is one of the most impactful questions we will ask and answer; this is where the data really begins to hit home for our churches. Even in geographic Tar River, lostness is ever-present. This is seldom more evident than in the responses to questions like these from the people in our communities.
A: Population and population density (people per square mile) is a valuable tool as you plan ministries and events and as you evaluate their effectiveness. Having 15 people in Sunday School in a community of 100 and having 15 people in Sunday School in a community of 1000 are two very different scenarios.
Q: Is our community growing or declining, and at what rate?
A: Growing communities have unique needs, as do declining communities. We've met with churches trying to minister in rapidly growing communities as though their communities were in decline.
Q: What is the average age of our community?
A: How well are you relating to the people around you? Churches - especially declining churches - tend to believe at least 1 of 2 fallacies: either 1) they assume that the community around them must be declining, aging, etc. because their congregation is, or 2) they assume that the community around them is so different from their congregation that there is no chance they might be reached. Demographics can show that neither of these beliefs must necessarily be true.
Q: What % of the population are 0-4 years old?
A: The answer to this question affects more than just the size of the nursery: a significant number of this age group implies young families, some of them first-time parents, who have unique needs and who present unique opportunities. It also implies a need for a children's ministry in the coming years, and the opportunity for the church to walk with those families all the way through a child's life.
Q: What % of the population of our community would say, "My faith is really important to me."?
A: This is one of the most impactful questions we will ask and answer; this is where the data really begins to hit home for our churches. Even in geographic Tar River, lostness is ever-present. This is seldom more evident than in the responses to questions like these from the people in our communities.
To contact us for more information or to schedule a community demographic workshop, Contact Caleb at caleb@tarriverbaptist.com
Demographics aren't everything, and they can't replace the value of building personal relationships with those in your community, but they are an invaluable tool as you begin to craft a strategy for community ministries.