Oneonta Culture Study Survey Results

The results are in for the email short answer survey sent to the residents of Oneonta NY and the surrounding area. The survey was designed to help me better understand the area's culture, especially in regards to people's religious perceptions. For a more detailed explanation about the survey and what my goals were, please read this previous blog post.

I think the first lesson I learned from the survey is that mass communication to strangers is an ineffective tool that is not worth the time and effort. It took lots of time and energy to compile 3,000 local email addresses and create a professional-looking document; but, with less than 1.5% of people responding I went ahead and pulled the plug after sending out 1,250 surveys. I also had to face the reality that out of the few responses I received, some people were genuinely offended at receiving a religious survey...so not a good first impression for a new church.
This goes against the training I received as a church planter, to use all media to mass market the new church to everybody. I was never comfortable with that advice, I think I prefer the old time-proven church growth method of word-of-mouth. The media blitz idea is designed to advertise the church to 20,000+ people so that hundreds will attend your first public service. I think this is fine if numbers is your goal, but I desire slow and quality growth so I think I will back away from future attempts of mass marketing to strangers. This survey confirmed to me the value of slow and natural church growth.

But even though I pulled the plug early, I still received enough feedback to compile the results with hopefully some degree of accuracy. Here are the results:

Question 1: "Would you say the values and economy of the Oneonta community, make it easy or hard for an individual entrepreneur to start-up a new service-oriented business?"
50% = Hard
25% = Easy
12.5% = Success is possible
12.5% = Depends on the business (service = easy, retail = hard).
*A few concerns about starting a new business in Oneonta were taxes, and the cost of rent and real estate.

Question 2: "Would you say Oneonta offers sufficient evening entertainment for it's residents, or do community members often travel to larger cities for evening entertainment?"
44.5% = Residents both find entertainment in Oneonta and travel to larger cities.
22% = Lot's to do in Oneonta
22% = The entertainment available does not serve all age groups well.
*Many residents will seek activities in Oneonta, but drive elsewhere to shop. Some people expressed how teens and young adults do not have sufficient activities offered to them.

Question 3: "What social needs in Oneonta do you feel to be the most prevalent and the most urgent?"
44% = Issues dealing with teens and young adults: drinking, drugs, lack of community involvement.
33% = More shopping options.
22% = Need of a stronger Christian influence.
22% = Poverty and the need for more jobs.

Question 4: "Do you think a new church making strong efforts to reach the social needs of Oneonta would be welcomed by the community?"
60% = Yes
30% = Not sure
10% = Too many churches already

Question 5A: "Do you believe that God is concerned with you on a personal level?"
67% = Yes
11% = "Higher power" yes, "God" no.
11% = Not Sure
11% = No

Question 5B: "If yes, would you say you believe in the message of the Bible as taught by Christianity?"
67% = Yes
33% = No

Question 5C: "If yes, does your belief in the Christian faith include participating in a local church?"
56% = No
44% = Yes
*Of those who attend church, some drive outside Oneonta to be a part of a church that better suites their needs. Of those who do not attend church, some have strong feelings against church, while others see church as boring or just after their money, or they do not have time for church.

Question 6: " How would you describe the influence churches have on the culture of Oneonta and the surrounding area?"
44% = Strong and positive influence.
33% = Churches need to do more.
22% = Unsure
*Several people spoke well of the churches different social programs, while others see a lack of connection with young people.

Question 7: "What is your opinion of a new church using modern methods and technology to communicate their message?"
66% = Great
22% = No opinion
11% = Technology is useless.

Question 8A. What is your opinion of Evangelicals?
60% = Do not like them for various reasons.
20% = No opinion
10% = Do not know who they are.
10% = They're great.

Question 8B. What is your opinion of Pentecostals?
60% = Do not like them for various reasons.
20% = No opinion
10% = Do not know who they are.
10% = They're great.

Question 8C. What is your opinion of Catholics?
70% = Do not like them for various reasons.
20% = They are great and respected.
10% = No opinion

Question 8D. What is your opinion of non-denominational churches?
50% = Do not like them for various reasons.
20% = No opinion
20% = They are great.
10% = Depends on the congregation.
*Combining the results of questions 5 and 8, I would have to agree with some of the conclusions made in a book I am currently reading about religion and culture by Dan Kimball called, "They like Jesus but not the Church." This tough reality poses many new challenges when starting a new church in the midst of a culture that opposes "organized religion" and does not deem it necessary to be a part of a local congregation. But I believe if a person is open to the idea of a personal God (67%, question 5C) then that is a great place to start.

Overall, the results of the survey have been helpful, but it looks like the best way for me to learn about the Oneonta community is to build relationships with people and to indiginize myself by living in the area for an extended period of time. The mindset of indigenization has traditionally been used to train foriegn missionaries, and the way I see it I am a missionary, and Oneonta is my mission field. Living in Oneonta and learning about Oneonta, this is what I am currently doing. I pray that while I am living here God will show me important cultural insights so I can put into place church miniseries that will reach Oneonta and do the most good for the community.

The New Church At-a-Glance

Currently, the new church is a "church of the mind;" meaning, there are no walls, no elders or members, no service times--pretty much nothing is in place right now that would qualify it as a "church" in the eyes of most people. But the church does exist--as a God-infused dream in the heart and mind of my wife and I. We are both working on the hard step of turning a dream into a reality by establishing the necessary foundations (walls, piles of paperwork, purpose statements, ministry teams, etc. x10).
Many times I am asked "What kind of a church are you starting?" Because the church is only in my mind at this stage, this question can be difficult to properly answer. To help myself and others, I want to share in this blog some of the key church characteristics that are on my heart, this is the church-at-a-glance.

Church Classification

Christian-Protestant-Evangelical-Bible as the authority.
We are also an independent/nondenominational church right now. This is not our first choice, but most church organizations do not want to invest in a new ministry for Oneonta NY, due to the town not growing and Oneonta already having a church represented from each organization.

Doctrine

1. Our distinctive, to not be distinctive: Many churches stand apart from each other by believing different interpretations of the same text and building a distinct identity around that particular interpretation. I would like a different, more unifying approach: to hold tight in one hand the essentials of Christianity (the Lordship and Divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, the Bible as the inspired Word of God, the necessity of repentance and a faith commitment to Jesus, and so on.) while the other hand, I want to hold loosely the things so many churches disagree about (end time events, the application of spiritual gifts, what individual holiness looks like, the particular definitions of communion and water baptism, and so on.) Think C.S. Lewis "Mere Christianity."
2. Gospel-Centered: I want the focus of preaching/teaching on the Good News of Jesus Christ. By keeping the Gospel message central, other pet issues that can easily distract a church will not make it through.
3. Expository Preaching: The Bible will be interpreted and taught using the authors original meaning for their audience (literally or metaphorically depending on the passage), and applied with the intention of guiding the church community and individual life.
4. Kingdom Minded Ministry: God's Kingdom is both here today while simultaneously on the way. This means we will participate in the Kingdom of God by bringing the beauty of the Kingdom to earth via the lives of those around us. This will translate into less of a focus on "the Heaven to come", and more emphasis on bringing about "Heaven on Earth."
5. Worth of Every Person: every person is valued and loved by God. We are to treat people accordingly.

Worship

1. Music: mainly modern, but I do not want to get stuck on any one genre or instrumentation, so I want to encourage a variety of music types, and instruments, and even different worship bands with different styles.
2. Beyond Music: I want to teach heavily that worship saturates all parts of our life, and not just a song service. Worship is everything we do as a church: communion, giving, meditating on the Bible, and everything you do with your life, even outside the walls of the church.
3. The Lord's Supper: I would like to take communion almost every time we meet, to help us keep our focus.
4. Water Baptism: I want to encourage all believers to take the plunge as a public expression of your new faith in Jesus Christ.

What will the church look like?

1. Casual: no need for suits and dresses, come as you are and even sip some coffee during the sermon. I would also like to "de-sacredtize" physical things that I believe churches get distracted with: for example, instead of "the sanctuary," it will be "the big room," no Sunday school, no altars, I would even like to find a better alternative to the American-Sunday-morning-church-service format, a "beyond Sunday morning" if you will.
2. Preaching: I am conversational in my preaching (not old school yelling), which means I preach as if I am talking normally with you. The preaching will be heavy on the teaching of the Bible, and light on personal stories. I also love to use teaching illustrations: physical props, videos, field trips, whatever God puts on my heart to bring the point home.
3. Experimental Church: the message will be the same, but the format of church services will be always changing in order to fit the current needs of the current group and avoid religious ruts.
4. Technology: I want to make use of all the different technologies that will be helpful to our purposes.
5. Simple Church: Flashy stage shows and T.B.N. golden/flowery sets will not be on the menu. Instead I desire a church that is is simple. I of course would like things to be neat and tidy, but not to the point where you intimidate people with the magnificence of the building. I would even like to go so far as to make church more of a participation/fellowship event, and less of a come-and-watch-our-fine-tuned-stage-performance event.

Values

Each value will manifest itself in the life of the church.
1. Relationships: lots of church activities geared towards making friends with each other. With the biggest relationship focus being your relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. Community: The church will strive to genuinely care for and love each other. This will mean making sacrifices for each other and truly being a "family of God," not just a social club that meets once a week.
3. Outreach: it is from your relationship with God that you find the strength to pour yourself out to help others. I would like the church to be a giving church, to each other, to complete strangers, and to the community of Oneonta. I would like to have small teams of people regularly going and doing acts of kindness, and the church hosting/participating in several community outreach events.
4. Seeker-sensitive: this term means that the way the church presents itself will be "sensitive" to people who are "seeking" truth (but not watering-down the message). People who are "seekers" may not be convinced of Christianity, and may not even know anything about it. This translates into a lot of explanation with preaching and church rituals, I cannot assume that everybody in the audience has heard this Bible story before and even understand why we sing in church. This should make it easier to invite people to church.
5. Church Unity: we will pray for and participate with other Christian churches in the community.
6. Community Involvement: we will pray for and participate with community groups that may not be Christian but are working toward the same goals.
7. Creativity: God who is the Creator, want us to be "co-creators" with Him, in the sense of us using our God-given talents and gifts for His glory, and help bring beauty and order to His creation.
8. Engaging Culture: instead of trying to create a Christian sub-culture and harp about how bad the world is, I would like to use our time and resources to engage the culture around us with the Gospel of Christ. The church will not be a safe fortress to hide from the scary world; but rather, the church will be a headquarters to coordinate operations of love to the culture around us.
9. Non-Political: Picking a political side will take away credibility when ministering to those who are have chosen a different side. I do not want involvement in politics to hamper the work of the church.

Church Government

1. Elder-Led, Member informed: We will have elders and deacons as prescribed by the New Testament. Not boards like corporate America. The members will be informed and have benefits, but it will not be an American democracy where you have to vote on everything. Basically our church government structure we will strive to be a New Testament church, and not run like an American business.

I will fine tune this blog entry as God's fine tunes this vision. I hope this will be helpful in communicating what kind of church we will be. Right now it is only, "a church of the mind," but I am super excited about making the dream a reality!

Moved to Oneonta!

It is the middle of August and Laura and I have successfully moved to Oneonta New York! Plus, the internet is finally up and running at our apartment, so be on the lookout for blog updates in rapid-fire succession.

Before we packed up the truck and moved up here (which is a blog entry in-and-of-itself), we took a week and visited Oneonta, and we loved what we found. Overall, we found the visit to be encouraging, in that all the things I researched about the community turned about to be true. What a relief it was to not find the town totally different than what I expected it to be, and have to start the search over again. God is faithful! It was also a relief that I didn't have to spend 6 months traveling to a new city every week like I originally planned, but through technology and prayer God dropped 1 specific town on my heart, and led me to it.

I want to share with you a video of our first 10 minutes in Oneonta from our July visit. It is not the greatest video in the world, but I think it captures well the excitement of following God, as well as chronicles this big step in the church planting adventure. Plus, as a community minded individual, I have always been interested in peoples first impressions of communities. I especially think any viewer from the area will enjoy seeing their town from a fresh perspective.



Laura and I have been living in New York for a week and a half now and things are moving quick. Here are some highlights: we have found a lawyer to advise us in drafting the paperwork to start a church, we have already found a possible building to start the ministry in, and we have a name picked out for the church (to be revealed later). Plus I won the "choice truck" trophy at a local carshow!

There is no shortage of news to write about, and Laura and I are amazed by God in new ways everyday as we step out in faith and stretch ourselves to make this happen. Thank you for your prayers, and feel free to contact me and I will try not to talk your ear off about all this :)