MINISTERS MATTER

TOP TEN BLOGS ON 'REVEAL' #10

These are the top ten blogs in cyberspace about the book Reveal that was published by Willow Creek. As a pastor of pastors, I find this kind of humility so refreshing. Please take the time to read and think about your own journey as you are being conformed to the image of God's dear Son.

BLOG #10 MISSIONAL MUSE: DEREK MAXSON

http://dmatmbc.blogspot.com/2007/11/reveal-conference-from-willow-creek.html

In 2004, Willow Creek was trying to figure out where people were in their spiritual growth and development. A congregational survey was planned, but unlike previous surveys, this one would benefit from new scientific insights that help organizations measure the unseen—including emotions.

Typical surveys can help you understand the basic demographics of your congregation: Life Stage: age, marital status, kids, etc.
Spiritual background. Length of time . . . at your church, following Jesus, etc.Involvement: serving, small groups, services, etc.

After more than a decade of discovering the basics about the people in their church, the leaders of Willow Creek found there was a way to go deeper. Through the experience and expertise of Eric Arnson, a survey was developed that measured the hearts of people in the congregation for the first time.

Comment:

This is not an attempt to reproduce the book or the entire conference, but is simply some excerpts from the conference.

1. The Reveal analysis currently profiles 6 basic groups of people:

1. Exploring Christianity: "I believe, but I'm checking it out."
2. Growing in Christ: "I believe and I'm working it out."
3. Close to Christ: "I rely on Jesus daily."
4. Christ-Centered: "Jesus is the most important part of my life."
5. Early Stalleds: "I believe in Christ but I haven't grown lately."
6. Dissatisfieds: "I'm committed to Jesus, but my church is letting me down."

2. Early Stalleds are 15% of the church:

• They practice spiritual disciplines less (such as Bible reading) than the Explorers (and all other groups profiled).
• They previously enjoyed spiritual growth but feel stagnant now.
• They have a significantly higher rate of addictions and emotional issues indicating that there may be significant hindrances to their growth.

3. Dissatisfieds are 5%-15% of the church (average is 9%):

• The are dissatisfied with all major programs of the church (services, small groups, etc). This is not due to "entertainment" issues, but is about their growth.
• They attend church and other activities nearly as much as those who indicate satisfaction and growth.
• They serve, give and share Christ.
• These are spiritual, committed people who love Jesus but they just don't feel "satisfied" with their current church experience.
• Of this category of people, over 60% are actively considering leaving the church.

4. The programs of the church become less satisfying as spiritual growth occurs:

• Services, Small Groups mean the most to those profiled as "Close to Christ" and actually become less important as they continue to mature.
• Service becomes a key to engagement amongst the most mature.
• Daily spiritual growth practices increasingly become catalysts to growth. As people mature, programs become less important, but deep time with God and with other spiritually-minded people become the fuel.
• The impact of the small group and other similar forms of community carry less impact and the value of close spiritual friends or mentors increases.

5. Some summaries about spiritual growth in these profiles:

• Spiritual growth is about increasing relational closeness to Christ and can't be measured exclusively by behaviors you see.
• A church's most active volunteers, donors and evangelists come from the most spiritually advanced segments.
• Churches appear to be most effective in the early stages of spiritual growth. Their role then shifts from being a primary influence to a secondary one.
• Personal spiritual practices are the building blocks for a Christ-centered life.
• Pain and difficulty in life can be times of exceptional spiritual growth.

6. Keys to Satistfaction:

• Reveal indicated 5 (and a half) key elements for spiritual growth:
• Challenges me to grow and take next steps (56%).
• Helps me to understand the Bible in greater depth (55%).
• Helps me develop a personal relationship with Christ (51%).
• Helps me apply the Bible to my life (50%).
• Provides compelling worship services (49%).
• Provides strong programs for children to learn about God (35%).
• #6 was high among people with children, but since only 58% of respondents had kids, that lowers the numbers.

Nothing else was above 27% (and the next two are serve in the church and serve people in need).

It was suggested that if a church focuses on these items (in the context of ministry to adults), then we will increase the "satisfaction level" of people at every level of spiritual growth, because this is literally what most people are really looking for in their church to provide.

Commentary

• Dissatisfieds and Early Stallers are the "swing states" at our churches. The difference between good and great may be how effectively the church is able to convert the dissatisfieds back to a period of joyful growth (Christ-Centeredness) and the Early Stallers back to growing in Christ. Therefore, specific ministry strategies should be targeted at these groups:                                Dissatisfieds: Do the 5 major things better (see #6). Early Stallers: Bring them back to the cross ("He who is forgiven much, loves much") and help them seek healing for issues and addictions that they are suffering with.
• I was surprised at  how little difference church and small group attendance make in spiritual growth and satisfaction. There's some difference, but the answer doesn't seem to be "get more involved" or "join a small group."
• Deep spiritual relationships and spiritual mentors are real needs that, if met, can help the most spiritual and the dissatisfieds to grow. This isn't a program, but is more organic. Thinking back, all of my deeply impacting relationships fit this type of category, but less than 40% of Christians enjoy this type of relationship.
• People want the challenge to know and obey Jesus. We're not to call them to a program or simply to serve the church's interests. We're to call them to follow Jesus in it's many forms!
• Hawkins recommends that every ministry should be evaluated in how it helps these groups move to the next level and how effective they are at the 5 most important keys.

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!

TOP TEN BLOGS ON 'REVEAL' #9

These are the top ten blogs in cyberspace about the book Reveal that was published by Willow Creek. As a pastor of pastors, I find this kind of humility so refreshing. Please take the time to read and think about your own journey as you are being conformed to the image of God's dear Son.

BLOG #9 ELLE PYKE

http://ellepyke.blogspot.com/2007/10/getting-it-wrong-and-saying-you-were.html

Elle is a student at Emmanuel Bible College in Ontario, Canada.

We found her post to be engaging and refreshing.  We love hearing about how students are reacting to REVEAL and wrestling with what it really means to pursue the Kingdom.  We are inspired by their hopes and dreams for the church.

Getting it wrong and saying you were wrong.

Jordon Cooper brought to my attention via his blog, a story about Willow Creek Bill Hybels is undoubtedly one of the most influential pastors and church leaders in our generation. And not only a great leader but quite an accomplished author as well.

A blog I read Out of Ur linked a few very interesting videos of research by Willow Creek that provided some rather interesting statistics. As stated on the blog the research was trying to find what works and what doesn't when it come to church programs.

"Not long ago Willow released its findings from a multiple year qualitative study of its ministry. Basically, they wanted to know what programs and activities of the church were actually helping people mature spiritually and which were not. The results were published in a book, Reveal: Where Are You?, co-authored by Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek. Hybels called the findings “earth shaking,” “ground breaking,” and “mind blowing.”

The research and synopsis with Greg Hawkins can be found here and Bill Hybels’ reactions recorded at the Leadership Summit can be seen here If you have the time, both are really worth the watch!

To sum it up (if you don't have time to watch the video or scroll through the Out of Ur blog):

In the Hawkins’ video he says:

“Participation is a big deal. We believe the more people participating in these sets of activities, with higher levels of frequency, it will produce disciples of Christ.” This has been Willow’s philosophy of ministry in a nutshell. The church creates programs/activities. People participate in these activities. The outcome is spiritual maturity. In a moment of stinging honesty Hawkins says, “I know it might sound crazy but that’s how we do it in churches. We measure levels of participation.”

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!

TOP TEN BLOGS ON 'REVEAL' #8

These are the top ten blogs in cyberspace about the book Reveal that was published by Willow Creek. As a pastor of pastors, I find this kind of humility so refreshing. Please take the time to read and think about your own journey as you are being conformed to the image of God's dear Son.

BLOG #8 TONY MORGAN

http://www.tonymorganlive.com/tony_morgan_one_of_the_si/2007/12/reveal-where-ar.html

Tony is an author and pastor at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC. Like many bloggers, he read the REVEAL book and posted some quotes he found interesting. 

I finally had the chance to read through the Reveal booklet for myself. If you haven't, I would strongly encourage you to grab a copy and give some honest reflection to where you are as a local church body. Willow has done us all a favor by being transparent in their learnings about their own ministry while also challenging all of us to consider whether or not we're really encouraging people to experience spiritual growth.

This is my take after reading the document. Most churches in the country have failed to impact the lives of people who are in the early stages of spiritual growth. These are the folks the book describes as "exploring Christianity" and "growing in Christ." This is Willow's strength, and most churches would do well to model their learnings. Where Willow admits they are still looking for answers is with the groups that are further along in their spiritual growth--those the book describes as "close to Christ" and "Christ-centered." Willow may not acknowledge this, but it appears they tried to model the more traditional, program-driven churches to impact these groups of people, and that tactic isn't working for everyone.

Here are some quotes that grabbed my attention:

• "The church and its myriad of programs have taken on too much of the responsibility for people's spiritual growth."
• "When it comes to spiritual growth, we need to be able to measure the unseen."
• "Does increased attendance in ministry programs automatically equate to spiritual growth? To be brutally honest: it does not."
• "Spiritual growth occurs as one's love for God and for others increases." [Tony's note: I think it's important to recognize the Jesus identified love for God and others as more important than acquiring knowledge. Just because you know more, doesn't necessarily mean you're more spiritual. In fact, some of the most biblically knowledgeable people I know, are also some of the meanest, most bitter and divisive people--folks I would classify as spiritually immature.]
• "God 'wired' us first and foremost to be in a growing relationship with him--not with the church."
• "The church is most important in the early stages of spiritual growth. Its roles then shifts from being the primary influence to a secondary influence."
• "While personal spiritual practices are crucial at all stages of spiritual growth,...they become most important for those who are more spiritually mature."
• "The people who are most unhappy with their church tend to come from the segments that are more Christ-focused."
• "At the heart of their unhappiness may be the fact that neither segment seems to realize that much of the responsibility for their spiritual growth belongs to them." [Tony's note: This is the big  challenge that program-driven churches face--they make people reliant on the church rather than on Jesus. That's a Willow challenge, a NewSpring challenge and a challenge for just about every church in America. It should also cause every "spiritually mature" Christ-follower to ask: Am I more concerned with how the church is serving me or am I more concerned with how I can love God and love others?]
• Regarding small groups, "Meeting the need for connection and genuine spiritual relationships is crucial to spiritual growth. Yet organized efforts to create these environments appear to be effective only in the earlier stages of spiritual growth."
• "We want to move people from dependence on the church to a growing interdependent partnership with the church... Our people need to learn to feed themselves through personal spiritual practices that allow them to deepen their relationship with Christ."

The original Reveal study included data from Willow and six other churches across the United States. They are now in the process of surveying hundreds of U.S. and international churches. To follow their findings and to order the Reveal booklet, you can visit RevealNow.com.

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!

TOP TEN BLOGS ON 'REVEAL' #7

These are the top ten blogs in cyberspace about the book Reveal that was published by Willow Creek. As a pastor of pastors, I find this kind of humility so refreshing. Please take the time to read and think about your own journey as you are being conformed to the image of God's dear Son.

BLOG #7 BECAUSE PEOPLE MATTER: MARK WALTZ

http://www.becausepeoplematter.com/marks_weblog/2007/11/reveal-fed-up.html

Mark is a pastor at Granger Community Church. We were struck by his passion and his thoughtful comments.

I'm absolutely amazed, rather enraged, by the inflammatory tone taken by so many churches and leaders regarding the three-year study and the subsequent report, REVEAL, from Willow Creek Community Church. A couple of our church members ask me about it this week because they had read a disparaging report from the "Baptist Record".

I shared their concern a few weeks ago when I read a post (read part 1 here) at Out of Ur (a blog from the editors of Leadership Journal).

Both these articles along with scores more like them in the blogsphere suggested that Willow Creek was "repenting" for they way they'd done church for the past 30 years.

Here's what I wrote to my friends:

I've been reading the rants as well as the study put out by Willow Creek. I believe you have the same understanding I do: Willow did an honest 3-year study to understand where their people are and how the church is partnering in that process in people's lives. I've not read nor seen anything from Willow that is close to a confession that they've been "doing it wrong" for all these years. They have discovered some things they've inadvertently communicated, like - the role of the local church is to be completely responsible for your spiritual growth. They want to correct that message.

Inside of that they've discovered that because they as a local church have provided "activities" (classes, groups, teaching services) to help people grow, people have mistakenly understand that attending the activity equals spiritual growth. Quite obviously, it doesn't. Willow is owning that misperception among their people.

I believe that those doing the attacking tend to read what they want to read and are therefore responding to what they want to hear Willow say. Willow isn't saying it.

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!

TOP TEN BLOGS ON 'REVEAL' #6

These are the top ten blogs in cyberspace about the book Reveal that was published by Willow Creek. As a pastor of pastors, I find this kind of humility so refreshing. Please take the time to read and think about your own journey as you are being conformed to the image of God's dear Son.

BLOG #6 LEADERSHIP NETWORK'S MONDAY MORNING INSIGHT: TODD RHOADES

http://mondaymorninginsight.com/index.php/site/comments/more_willowcreek_reveal_squeal/

Our friends at Leadership Network coin an unfortunate new word “REVEALSQUEAL” as they discuss the flurry of discussion and controversy online related to REVEAL.

There have been literally hundreds of articles in newspapers and posts on blogs about the recent "Reveal" Study put out by Willow Creek. The Christianity Today blog got it started when they ran the headline "Willow Creek Repents?" This caused Willow to respond to all the negative coverage with their own take. Well, here are a couple of other stories about about "Reveal"; something we at Leadership Network are now calling "Revealsqueal". Revealsqueal can be good or bad... it just means people are talking. Like this story from US News and World Report; and another from and another from the Florida Baptist Witness...

From the US News piece written by Jay Tolson:

“Hybels’s accomplishments have rightly become the stuff of evangelical legend. Since founding Willow Creek in the mid-1970s in a rented movie theater, the dynamic pastor shaped a church of some 125 congregants into the second-largest church in America. It now claims more than 20,000 members attending services either at its main, 155-acre campus in South Barrington or at one of its five satellite branches in the greater Chicago area. In addition to seeker-friendly services, Hybels instituted a host of programs or ministries catering to the needs of his steadily increasing flock. Those programs were often touted as the energizing force behind the church’s growth and vitality.

But in 2004, Hybels gave the go-ahead to a rigorous congregational survey conducted by two staff members and a consultant. The results, published in a booklet titled Reveal: Where Are You? proved to be more than startling. Not all the news was bad, of course. Half of the congregation members reported that they “loved God more than anything else” and indicated that they were showing that love through service and evangelization. But those reporting being stalled in their faith and dissatisfied with the church reached 1 in 4. More jarringly to Hybels, the report showed that the strong emphasis on involving people in activities and programs was, after a point, problematic. Indeed, to the extent that it diminished individual responsibility for Bible study and other forms of personal spiritual development, it was even counterproductive. As he wrote in the foreword to his study, Hybels now saw that “the church and its myriad of programs have taken on too much of the responsibility for people’s spiritual growth.”

While the report has occasioned both stern and gentle “I told you so” rebukes from assorted Christian commentators, Hybels’s forthrightness in owning up to the problem is one of the more remarkable stories from this exercise in ecclesiastical self-examination. Equally remarkable is his admission that the numbers of congregants may not be as important an indicator of church success as something that is finally much harder to measure: the congregants’ real spiritual growth. Rather than crowing, religious leaders of all kinds might profitably subject their own congregations to similarly rigorous scrutiny.”

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!

TOP TEN BLOGS ON 'REVEAL' #5

These are the top ten blogs in cyberspace about the book Reveal that was published by Willow Creek. As a pastor of pastors, I find this kind of humility so refreshing. Please take the time to read and think about your own journey as you are being conformed to the image of God's dear Son.

BLOG #5 LIVE INTENTIONALLY: PAUL STEINBRUECK

http://www.liveintentionally.org/2007/08/08/a-preview-of-reveal-where-are-you/

Paul’s blog post about REVEAL may have been the first ever.  He is the CEO of OurChurch.com.

I recently had the opportunity to read Reveal: Where are You?, the soon-to-be released book by Willow Creek Community Church executive pastor, Greg Hawkins, and Cally Parkinson.  It’s a fascinating book that describes the results of a groundbreaking congregational survey performed by Willow Creek over the last 3 years.  The research provides valuable insight into understanding people across the continuum of spiritual growth as well as clues as to what factors are most important in spiritual development at different stages.

In 2004, as a part of Willow Creek Community Church’s strategic planning, they commissioned a congregation survey.  Willow has done congregational surveys since 1992, but with the help of veteran consumer researcher Eric Arnson the 2004 survey was the most comprehensive ever.  It focused on getting beneath the surface to look beyond attendance figures in an effort to understand and measure “the unseen” - the heart, the emotions, and the attitudes of the people who make up Willow Creek.  The research also included 6 additional churches varying in size, location, and demographics in order to determine whether the results were specific to Willow or universally applicable.

Some of the results shocked senior pastor Bill Hybels and challenged many of the assumptions Willow Creek (and many other churches) have been operating under for decades.

One of the most interesting insights revealed by the research is that as the number of church activities a person participates in grows it does not necessarily lead to spiritual growth as measured by the person’s attitude towards God and other people.

In fact the research found that the further along a person is in their spiritual development, the less important the church is in the person’s spiritual growth.  While the church is the most important factor in the spiritual growth of seekers and new believers, it becomes secondary to segments of the congregation referred to as “Close to Christ” and “Christ-centered.”  What supercedes the church in fostering spiritual growth for those further along?  Personal spiritual practices such as prayer, Bible study, and solitude.

Your response to that might be, “Well, duh.”  But the authors acknowledge that the message to their congregation has been that no matter where you are in your spiritual growth the church can take you the next step.  In fact many churches have that perspective.  They are so passionate about helping people grow spiritually that they try to do all the work for the individual.  They are like the parent who wants their child to excel so badly that they do all their homework with them and never give the child the opportunity to learn how to learn on his own.

Willow Creek’s response to this finding is that they are trying to shift from the role of a spiritual parent to that of a spiritual coach, particularly for people further along the spiritual growth continuum.

Another fascinating insight that came from the research is that 25% of the Willow Creek congregation (and probably yours as well) are either spiritually “stalled” or “dissatisfied” with the church’s role in their spiritual development and are considering leaving the church.  The book profiles these segments of the church and provides insight into both the causes and possible solutions to help these people.

There are numerous other significant discoveries discussed in Reveal as well.

In conclusion, I found Reveal to be very aptly named.  It provides tremendous insight into the hearts and attitudes of people across the spiritual continuum, which exist in all congregations.  It would be a valuable book for any pastor or church leader, and I’m personally looking forward to discussing it with the spiritual leadership team of my church.

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!

TOP TEN BLOGS ON 'REVEAL' #4

These are the top ten blogs in cyberspace about the book Reveal that was published by Willow Creek. As a pastor of pastors, I find this kind of humility so refreshing. Please take the time to read and think about your own journey as you are being conformed to the image of God's dear Son.

BLOG #4

GOSPEL COMMUNICATION'S THINK CHRISTIAN BLOG:

CHRIS SALZMAN

http://www.thinkchristian.net/index.php/2007/11/29/blogging-about-reveal-and-willow-creek/

Chris’s post is a concise play-by-play addressing a quotation inappropriately attributed to Bill Hybels.  Chris begins the article by referencing another Think Christian post about how the blogosphere can be like a giant game of telephone—tell us about it :)

Over the past few months there has been quite a bit of conjecture floating about the internet about REVEAL and Willow Creek. Basically, the report found that not everything Willow Creek was doing was as effective as they thought it was. They admitted their shortcomings and quotations were taken out of context, and some people said, “I knew it, they were wrong about everything!”

Zach over at Take your Vitamin Z became privy to a letter written by Steve Bell, an Executive Vice President of the Willow Creek Association. And if you’re at all interested in making straight what is fast becoming a miasma of misinformation you need to read this letter.

If all you’re going to read is this post, check out these quotations:

“Hybels goes on to say ‘If you simply want a crowd, the “seeker sensitive” model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it’s a bust.’” Bill Hybels did not say this. Focus on the Family is printing a retraction.

Concerning the participating churches:

REVEAL’s findings are based on thirty churches besides Willow, chosen specifically to reflect a diversity of church models. We’ve surveyed traditional Sunday school model churches, missions-focused churches, mainline denominations, African-American churches and churches representing a wide range of geographies, sizes and styles. In all thirty churches, we’ve found the six segments of REVEAL’s spiritual continuum, including the Stalled and Dissatisfied segments.

REVEAL is currently surveying five hundred churches, including more than a dozen denominations and English-speaking international churches. Early results from the first 200 demonstrate REVEAL’s segments exist across multiple church model/style/size alternatives.

40% of these 500 churches do not describe themselves as “seeker-focused” or “seeker-friendly”.

The controversy is:

REVEAL discovered a Dissatisfied segment that fell out of the two most spiritually advanced segments noted above. They are sold-out Christ followers, but are disappointed in their church. The Dissatisfied segment averaged 9% over the thirty churches, ranging from 3% to 14%.

The bloggers and media point to this Dissatisfied group as proof that the “seeker” movement does not grow up disciples of Christ. The fact is this Dissatisfied group exists in every church we’ve surveyed, including the 200 churches currently in process.

The key for me in all of this is that although the data started with Willow Creek, it is being corroborated among many many different churches. I love it when churches are transparent about their ministries, and I can only see good things coming out of this.

Has anyone actually read the REVEAL report and care to comment? Anyone go to a church that’s participating in the larger 500 church REVEAL report? Do you think anything will come of all this data gathering?

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!

TOP TEN BLOGS ON 'REVEAL' #3

These are the top ten blogs in cyberspace about the book Reveal that was published by Willow Creek. As a pastor of pastors, I find this kind of humility so refreshing. Please take the time to read and think about your own journey as you are being conformed to the image of God's dear Son.

BLOG #3 FATHER HENRY'S BLOG: ST. MARY'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

http://stmaryshhorg.setupmyblog.com/?p=21

How we got picked for REVEAL.

If you're a regular reader of my blog (there MUST be something else you should be doing, you know), you'll remember how I went to the LEAD Conference hosted by Willow Creek Community Church in August.

One of the presentations at the conference was done by Greg Hawkins, Executive pastor at Willow Creek, surveyed their members to determine the effectiveness of their programs of small groups, worship, service groups, etc.

Participants had four choices to describe their spiritual lives:

Exploring: not yet Christians, but interested.
Growing: new Christians and growing in faith.
Close to Christ.
Centered in Christ.

The survey results produced what Bill Hybels called "the wake up call of my adult life."

Willow wanted to expand the survey to include 500 churches from around the world to see if the results were unique to them or a common challenge shared among many churches.

They told us that if you wanted to apply to be considered as a church in the spiritual survey you would gain the results for your church for FREE!

Being Dutch, that got my attention. Imagine, all that costly research work done for freeee! Our Vision of Purpose and Ministry expects us to audit ourselves. We have done some costings so far and the estimates were a couple of thousand to do it right. Maybe I should put our name in?

Then doubts started to get at me. What were the odds of St. Mary's being picked, I mean, we're newbies in this league. We've just joined the Willow Creek Association for goodness sake, my time could be much better spent. But wiser advice ruled - wise advice from my wife - "What have you got to lose? They may be looking for mainline churches like ours!"

So I did. Went on retreat and when I got back an email was waiting, we were selected! We're going to be one of the 500 churches surveyed. Individual reports will come in the Spring as the survey period is from November to January.

Make sure you do your online survey! I'm asking you to set aside 20 minutes the first two weeks of November to take our Spiritual Life Survey. The survey findings will help shape our decisions about how to create the best possible ministry strategies to serve you.

We know you are very busy. But this is very important.

This is so cool! The REVEAL survey, another provision from God for us. It's wonderful. You just follow God's direction, keep clarity, disciplined thought and action to his direction, wait upon Him and God provides.

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!

TOP TEN BLOGS ON 'REVEAL' #2

These are the top ten blogs in cyberspace about the book Reveal that was published by Willow Creek. As a pastor of pastors, I find this kind of humility so refreshing. Please take the time to read and think about your own journey as you are being conformed to the image of God's dear Son.

BLOG #2 evotional:MARK BATTERSON

http://evotional.com/2007/12/how-series.html

Mark is the innovative pastor of National CommunityChurch in Washington D.C. and he is a leader and emerging voice in the Church that we greatly respect. His post explains how the REVEAL research inspired his opening message series of 2008.

About a month ago I read Reveal, the study released by Willowcreek after extensive research on what makes people grow spiritually. As many of you have noticed, that study is shaking things up. I think anything that makes us rethink WHY we do what we do and HOW we do what we do is healthy!

The major finding of the study was this: church does not drive long-term spiritual growth. That certainly doesn't mean church isn't important. And on one level, the primary finding isn't shocking at all: personal spiritual disciplines drive long-term spiritual growth. But the study had some fascinating insights. Maybe the most important thing we can do as pastors is function like spiritual coaches and help people develop a spiritual growth plan.

That study is inspiring our first sermon series of 2008. We're titling it How. And we want to get painfully practical and talk about how to develop spiritual habits. This would be what I call a back to basics series. Here are a few of the potential topics. If you have any ideas, add to the list.

How to Study the Bible
How to Pray
How to Set Goals
How to Fast
How to Worship
How to Share Your Faith

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!

TOP TEN BLOGS ON 'REVEAL' #1

These are the top ten blogs in cyberspace about the book Reveal that was published by Willow Creek. As a pastor of pastors, I find this kind of humility so refreshing. Please take the time to read and think about your own journey as you are being conformed to the image of God's dear Son.

BLOG #1 JESUS CREED: SCOT McKNIGHT

http://www.jesuscreed.org/?p=3193

Scot’s the professor we all wish we had and a thinker we deeply respect.  He and his family attend Willow. We enjoy being in community with him because he asks tough questions and is a wise and thoughtful follower of Christ. Scot’s post offers a counter balance to the major criticisms of the study in Scot’s classic style.

Thursday morning David Fitch and I will be on WMBI radio, a little after 7:30am (Central Time), on The Morning Show to discuss Willow’s now controversial “Reveal” study. In my listening and reading of the responses to this study.

I’m entirely convinced that most critics have chosen to jump up and down and say “See, I told you so” before they have read what the study says and, perhaps more importantly, what it does not say or even try to say.

For the weekend service on Dec 8-9 Willow’s leadership chose to dedicate the service to explaining what Reveal “revealed.” (Sure, this choice during Advent is a sign of the radical low church approach [non-approach] to the Church calendar. It was their choice; the service became, after a good sampling of some Christmas caroling, an exhortation in spiritual formation.)

Greg Hawkins talked about four items that have a high correlation for signs of personal, individual spiritual formation and growth. The point: the more mature believers do these things more often. The other side of the point: church attendance and participation do not correlate as highly with spiritual formation. How do people mature in faith?

1. Reading and studying the Bible
2. Prayer and solitude
3. Sharing one’s life with friends and mentors.
4. Serving others.

OK, here are my big responses to the major criticisms that are circulating about Willow’s Reveal study:

1. To those who, when they heard Bill Hybels confessing that Willow had made some mistakes in thinking programs would by themselves lead to spiritual formation, jumped on Bill and Willow and said, “See, we’ve been saying this all along.” My response: Willow routinely, since it is committed to an assessment model of its work, admits that it messed something up or failed to make the best of an opportunity, etc.. And Willow has been committed all along to discipleship (see below). I wish more churches would do studies like this and permit evidence to shape ministry.

2. To those who are criticizing the study, observe this: it is a “customer satisfaction” type survey and it measures how the local church is contributing to the personal, individual development in spiritual formation of Christians. It is not measuring a complete church life (though I wish it did more of this) and it is measuring only one aspect — how a local church “provides” spiritual formation “benefits” for individual Christians, how individuals are satisfied with the church’s offerings. There is a sense here that one moves through spiritual formation personal development the way a student moves through education, with a much greater need for attention at the grade school level than at the graduate school level.

Willow’s Reveal study shows that Willow can improve in challenging and coaching believers in development. They are working on just this right now.

3. To those who think Reveal is just a study of Willow, you need to listen more carefully. They have now studied — get this — more than 230 churches, more than 75,000 surveys, and studied churches all across the map. This doesn’t reveal just what is going on at Willow but what is going on all around the USA. 40% of the churches being studied are neither seeker-targeted nor seeker-sensitive.

4. To those who say Willow doesn’t work at discipleship but only at making life comfortable for seekers … this is not the experience of members at Willow. Willow has always worked hard at taking those far from God and challenged them to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Anyone criticizing Willow on the sole basis of what happens on the weekend is failing to consider what goes on at Willow — they’ve always worked hard at discipleship. Furthermore, the data just about Willow “reveals” that about 50% of the Christians are in the 3d and 4th level of spiritual development (see the following).

They find four levels:

a. Exploring Christianity (20%)
b. Growing in Christ (30%)
c. Close to Christ (20%)
d. Christ-centered (30%)

Can Willow do better? Yes it can. And I’m thankful it admits that. Admits that in public. And is now holding itself accountable, before God and the whole church world, for working on its weaknesses. And for that it is to be commended. Do any of your churches do something similar and make it public?

Do I think a “customer satisfaction survey” (I don’t like that term) studies enough? No way. But that’s for another time.

At Mission O, Ministers Matter!