NASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptists love the elements of a congregational gathering. A survey onboarding soon will look to get a clearer picture of how churches conduct and experience worship services.
The study will be conducted here through SBCWorship.com and the SBC Worship Research Committee, which “exists to serve the church by providing research-driven insights that encourage healthy, biblically-faithful worship,” according to a statement from the group.
Southeastern Seminary’s Jonathan Welch, assistant professor of Christian Worship, chairs the Research Committee and is among five representatives from SBC-affiliated universities joining Andrew McKinney, representing SBC Worship.
SBC Worship is a collaboration launched last year between The Worship Initiative and a large number of Southern Baptists.
“The goals of this study are twofold,” Welch told BP. “One, we want to have a greater awareness of what worship is like across our denomination, a more accurate picture. In turn, that will help us better resource and serve local church leaders.”
Welch referenced church autonomy, a long-cherished aspect of Southern Baptist life, as a tangential influence for conducting the study.
“For all the strengths of our polity, it can be easy for us to feel siloed,” he said. “A study like this will help church leaders be more informed about our traditions and current practices. Also, it will help those of us in an educational role to resource churches and church leaders. It’ll give us a better picture of where they are.”
The survey can be taken at SBCWorship.com and will require 10-15 minutes to complete. Results will be shared during one of the micro-conferences on Monday, June 8, as part of the Pastors’ Conference.
Only one response from each church is needed, given by the worship leader, music minister or senior pastor. Multisite congregations are also asked to complete the survey once as a general representation of the church. All information is completely confidential and will remain private. Additional questions about the survey can be sent to [email protected].
Four sections make up the survey.
- The first explores the congregation’s background – size, ethnicity, meeting location, etc.
- The next focuses on the church’s worship leaders with background questions including title, gender, age and training.
- Worship practices make up the third question, such as the types of songs, instruments used and even how often they stand.
- The final section is about the respondent’s experience in worship ministry to further assess their needs, successes and strengths.
The survey is only intended for churches affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
The SBC Worship Committee states its mission as “to understand, analyze, and communicate the state of worship across the SBC by identifying opportunities, challenges, and trends in order to guide both local churches and denominational entities toward greater faithfulness and effectiveness in congregational worship.”
The vision is to schedule a series of studies within the SBC, Welch said, “to grow more awareness for what our worship practices are like. As part of the free church tradition, it can be easy for us to make assumptions based on how one individual congregation worships.”
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