Cape Cod is generally seen as an area with a lot of retirees, so the
leaders of the Federated Church of Hyannis were surprised by a demographics
report that showed a high level of young families in their neighborhood.
“We
were really surprised, especially by the number of single parent homes,”
said Senior Pastor James Scovil. “As a result, we started thinking
more seriously about connecting to the community needs.”
So
the church contacted the Cape Cod Council of Churches to see if they
had any ideas for ministering to this demographic group. As it so happened,
the council did — it was looking for space to house a program to
distribute items such as cribs and diapers to low-income pregnant women
and families with infants.
“When
he called I literally said ‘funny you should ask,’” said
Susan Scribner, executive director of the council.
“I had been looking for a church that had a Sunday school room
not being used to house A Baby Center.”
So,
the Federated Church agreed to rent an under-used room, at below market
rates, to the program.
Scovil,
who chairs the Conference's Commission for Evangelism and Renewal, believes
demographic information can be a terrific resource for churches.
“This
is just an example of the kind of community outreach that can happen
with this information,” Scovil said. “My hunch is a lot of
congregations don't have a good read on their communities. It is very
easy to make assumptions of the area you live in, but then you get this
data and say ‘wow, I'm really out in left field here.’”
Through
a partnership with Percept Group Inc., which specializes in providing
demographic information to churches, Conference churches have several
options for getting demographic materials. They can:
•
Get a free demographic overview of their zip code by going online at
www.link2lead.com. In exchange
for filling out a questionnaire, any member of a Conference church can
get a free six-page “First View Report” — a summary of
population characteristics.
•
Get a printed “First View Report” from the Conference office
for $50 which looks at the characteristics of a three-mile area that
includes their church. This report will be accompanied by a two-page
outline on how to use the material and a glossary of terms to interpret
it.
There
are also other options for churches to get more detailed information
through Percept. For
more information on any of the options, church members can talk to Susan
Dickerman or Paul
Nickerson, at (508) 875-5233.
So far, approximately 20 percent of the 435 Conference churches have
received the demographic information.
Gordon
Merten, pastor of the Trinitarian Congregational Church UCC in Norton,
said the information is “a great resource.”
“We
learned about the per capita income in the area — it was higher
than we thought,” he said. “Our budget is small and we need
to increase it. We need to increase our stewardship and this reinforces
the theory that we should be able to do that.”
He
also said the report shows that the people in the area say their life
goals tend to center around values and principles — which means
a stewardship campaign has to speak to people in those terms, not in
terms of a monetary goal.
“They
need to be excited about what the church is doing and seeking to do,”
he said.
For
some churches, the demographic data can also serve to confirm that their
programs are on the right track.
“We
have a very strong church school, we have strong youth programs, we
have strong small groups, we’re good at educational programs, and
this showed people are interested in that,” said Barbara Whitcher,
a lay leader at the Congregational Church of Topsfield.
The
Topsfield church held an all day retreat using the information at which
church members had a chance to brainstorm about needs and programs,
and a committee currently working on a visioning statement is also using
the data.
“This
is very helpful for a church that wants to know where it’s going,”
she said.
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