Church grows when pastor helps people find
Gods love
By PATRICIA LEFEVERE
New York
They came. They saw. They heard. They left too soon.
That has been the pattern in many churches and synagogues since
the Sept. 11 terror attacks dropped people to their knees and sent them
scrambling to houses of worship nationwide.
Research by the Gallup Organization indicates that the crowded
churches and synagogues of early autumn had by early November returned to their
pre-Sept. 11 attendance levels.
Paul Baard, a motivational psychologist who teaches at Fordham
Universitys Graduate School of Business, thinks churches have blown an
opportunity.
After Sept. 11, it was extrinsic motivation that drove
people to churches, Baard told NCR Nov. 29, during the week that Gallup
released its study. They came to have their fears quelled or to have profound
questions answered, he said.
But many found the church was the same old, same old,
he said. There was the same lack of relevance to their needs as that
which they left years before. He called that sense of futility
amotivational. Baard, who teaches communications and management at
Fordham, is not surprised that this group didnt return.
Still other non-churched people came and discovered that the
churchs ministers and its services offered them an opportunity to connect
with God and his people. So they stayed.
The reason some congregations -- largely mega-churches with more
than 2,000 members -- retained their post-Sept. 11 visitors is due to
motivation, said Baard, who has done empirical research on motivation and who
co-authored Motivating Your Church (Crossroad Publishing, 2001).
Baard calls motivation the energy behind our doing. It
is intrinsic or self-motivation -- the
I-really-want-to-be-here-doing-this kind -- that stimulates higher
levels of attendance, of giving and volunteering, he said.
The reason mega-churches such as Willow Creek in Illinois and
Saddlebrook in California, both evangelical Protestant congregations, became
mega is because they met certain psychological needs in people, the
researcher-psychologist said.
The need for autonomy -- to have influence, and to be free of
pressure from a member of the clergy or a church worker -- is a key factor in
building intrinsic motivation, Baard said.
People want to learn new things about God. Their attitude is,
Im either growing or Im going, he said.
Overall the need for feeling related is what keeps people coming
back. Without a sense of mutual caring among parishioners, few will stay.
Its like in Cheers, Baard said. I want to
go where everybody knows my name.
Baard, who was raised Catholic, is an evangelical lay leader of a
Protestant church in Manhasset, N.Y. The church has 300 registered members, 49
percent of them reared as Catholics. The church counts 500 to 600 weekly
attendees.
Baards research has shown that to the degree that churches
meet basic motivational needs, people attend more frequently, give at higher
levels, offer their services more often and even in some cases go on to
fulltime ministries. His studies have also shown that church size, denomination
and the personality of a congregation are not significant factors. Across the
Christian spectrum, he has found growing, thriving churches from storefronts to
great cathedrals.
One of these churches is St. Margaret of Scotland, a Catholic
parish in Selden, N.Y. Baard read about the parish when its pastor, Fr. Chris
Aridas, wrote about the church in The Long Island Catholic a few years
ago.
Here was a church that was doing what Baards research had
shown would produce a growing congregation. Baard telephoned Aridas to learn
more. The two have since co-written articles, run a workshop and co-authored
Motivating Your Church.
Aridas pointed to a connection between Baards theory of
motivation and the recent Catholic Stewardship Campaign, which has asked
Catholics to give of their time, talent and treasure. Stewardship is not
going to succeed without motivation, the priest told NCR.
Its too easy to lose sight of the time and talent elements and to fall
into looking only at treasure, he added.
As St. Margarets pastor for nine years, Aridas has witnessed
not only a phenomenal growth in numbers of parishioners, now at 5,000 families,
but also in levels of participation in parish life. People are getting
involved, theyre shouldering responsibilities, Aridas said.
When that happens, church income also increases, Baard said.
People give because they buy into the system.
Christmas will be the first occasion since Sept. 11 when church
attendance is likely to swell. Whether these Christmas and Easter Christians
ever show up on another Sunday or holy day depends greatly on whether churches
meet their motivational needs. You only have them for an hour,
Aridas said.
Both men agreed that a clear, well-prepared and well-delivered
homily is essential. Baard pointed to research by Fr. Andrew Greeley, a
sociologist, who observed that the strength of sermons has become a major
factor in whether a church was growing or declining in membership, attendance
and donations.
Baards advice to preachers: Recognize you have a
sophisticated audience. Dont should on them, dont
pressure them, dont shame them, dont scold them. Invite
them.
Both Baard and Aridas noted the importance of music. Ushers, too,
have a significant role and should not be talking to each other or going over
the ball scores during the service, Baard said. If it is raining or snowing,
they need to be in the parking lot with golf umbrellas, he said. At the end of
Mass, pastors and other church ministers should be at the door greeting each
person, asking their names and inviting them to return.
Not only the major church holy days such as Christmas and Easter,
but weddings, baptisms and funerals -- events that draw the occasional attendee
-- can be an opportunity if church leaders will remember that the primary
reason for the churchs existence is to help others discover Gods
love for them.
With that, the job becomes less daunting and more joyous, Baard
said.
Patricia Lefevere is a special report writer for NCR.
National Catholic Reporter, December 21,
2001
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