This week I am sending an email to Missouri Baptist pastors with a link to an important survey that focuses on cooperation.
We have made every effort to find email addresses for the 1,900 senior pastors from every size church in our state convention – or a mailing address for those without access to email. In addition, we are including many other paid staff, volunteers and lay leaders in the survey.
The reason: Your Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) state missionaries sincerely desire to know how to serve you and how well we are meeting the needs of our churches. We want to make doubly sure every Missouri Baptist pastor has an opportunity to share his views.
The survey is web-based and takes about 30 minutes to complete. We know your time is valuable, but we ask you to invest this half-hour to help guide the future of your state convention. We are listening and learning from you.
Four general areas are covered in the survey: first, your awareness of MBC ministries, from apologetics to public policy to worship to mission partnerships; second, the degree to which you value these ministries; third, your perspective on the effectiveness of our convention staff; and fourth, your motivation for future engagement with other MBC churches.
Your responses, when combined with those of other pastors, church staff and lay leaders across the state, will help guide the MBC in the coming months and years as we earnestly seek to serve you better. Our passion is to serve our cooperating Great Commission churches.
In order to ensure candid responses and statistically valid data, we asked Rob Phillips, MBC communications team leader, to contract with an independent research firm. Grey Matter Research of Phoenix, Ariz., will create the survey, gather all results and provide a thorough analysis. Grey Matter is a nationally acclaimed organization that works with many Christian ministries and non-profit organizations.
Your answers to the survey questions, along with your comments, go directly to Grey Matter Research. Our MBC leaders will only see the combined anonymous results, meaning that you have the freedom to share your heart and we have the benefit of hearing it.
You may ask, why another survey, and why now?
The MBC has conducted focus groups and other surveys over the past decade. We have used a great deal of that data to formulate our current strategies. However, this is the first time in recent memory that an independent, quantitative, statistically valid survey has been launched to take the pulse of all Missouri Baptist pastors.
We’re launching the survey now because we are at a critical juncture in the life of our convention. God is doing some amazing things in many Missouri Baptist churches. There is a sense of excitement across the state that the Spirit of the Lord is breathing new life into His people.
At the same time, we’re all keenly aware that too many MBC churches are struggling in a variety of ways – spiritually, organizationally, economically and directionally. Your missionaries at the MBC want to be instruments of encouragement and support in the hands of God. We desire to use the resources entrusted to us for the glory of God with maximum effectiveness.
Finally, we know that there is great spiritual darkness growing across our state, our nation and our world. We want to be the best possible partner with you to shine the light of the gospel in the darkest places so that the Lord Jesus may be known and worshiped.
So, please watch your inbox for an email from me this week. Click on the link and take the survey. If you’re a senior pastor and by the middle of next week you did not receive an email from me, please call 1-800-736-6227 ext. 303, or send an email to cdowell@mobaptist.org and provide your email address. We’ll get the survey out to you right away.
If you’re a pastor with no email address, call the toll-free number and provide a mailing address. We’ll send you a copy of the survey with a self-addressed, postage-paid envelope right away.
We value your input more than you could possibly imagine. We want to hear from as many church leaders as possible so that we have maximum statistical data.
Thank you in advance for sharing your heart with us.