Every two years, Vineyard Columbus takes a survey of our congregation. Our most recent survey was taken in April 2016. What did we discover about our church?
We are becoming more racially diverse. I recently had a conversation with a sociologist at The Ohio State University. One of her fields of specialization is multi-racial churches. She told me that according to her study, what we are doing at Vineyard Columbus is somewhat unique in the church world. Even in 2016, there are simply not that many multi-racial churches, particularly churches that average over 1,000 in attendance. I am aware of only one other large multi-racial church in Central Ohio defined by having at least 20 percent of the congregation being non-majority.
Vineyard Columbus has gone through massive change and growth and in the last 14 years. In 2002, white Anglos constituted 89 percent of the congregation. Now white Anglos make up 59 percent of our adult population.
Of our church, 27 percent is African American or African, 5 percent is Asian, 5 percent is Hispanic and 4.9 percent is other (bi-racial). The percent of Asians and Hispanics in our church mirrors Franklin County. We have a slightly higher percentage of African Americans and Africans than our county: 27 percent at Vineyard Columbus vs. 22 percent in Franklin County.
We are highly educated. Of our church, 65 percent has at least a college degree. Slightly more than 26 percent possess a graduate degree. We have nearly twice the percentage of college grads as does Franklin County: 65 percent at Vineyard Columbus vs. 36 percent in Franklin County.
Our campuses are especially highly educated. At our Lane Avenue Campus, 80 percent of the attendees have at least a college degree, while 75 percent at our Sawmill Campus have at least a college degree. Our educational levels are high across all races.
Engagement in discipleship activities is heavily determined by age. When we aggregate behaviors like the number of times each week people have devotions, how often people serve, how involved people are in small group, whether folks are members of the church, whether people invite, etc., gender has almost no effect on these behaviors. Men in our congregation are just as involved as women are with these measures of discipleship. However, age is directly related to engagement with these activities. The least engaged in our congregation are 18- to 30-year-olds. The next least engaged are 30- to 40-year-olds. Next are 40- to 50-year-olds, then 50- to 60-year-olds and the most committed overall are those over 60. (Hurrah for my generation! I’m 60!)
Discipleship participation is also related to income and education. As a general rule, the more educated people are and the more wealthy people are, the more they participate in these discipleship measures.
We have a higher percentage of women than men. In Franklin County, 55 percent of our county are women, 45 percent are men. At Vineyard Columbus, 59 percent of our congregation are women and 41 percent are men. One thing stands out when we overlay our gender data with our marriage data: if men divorce or don’t marry, they are much less likely to go to church than women. Among those divorced in our church, 79 percent of divorcees are women, but only 20 percent are men. Another way to put it is this: As a general rule at Vineyard Columbus and all across America, if men are not married, they don’t go to church. This is a major issue for us in thinking about how to attract and engage single and divorced men in our community.
A few years ago, I wrote, “It is a great tragedy that men in America generally don’t participate in church unless they are married because every study confirms this fact: church is good for men! If a man is involved in church, they are much more likely to be engaged as husbands and fathers in their families. Church lifts people out of poverty. Church attendees have greater self-esteem, less depression and much higher satisfaction with life. Church involvement is the single most important predictor of marital stability and happiness.”
Somehow we need to more effectively communicate the benefits of church attendance and church involvement to single and divorced men.
Vineyard Columbus has an increasing number of foreign-born attendees. We found that 16.6 percent of our attendees were born outside of the United States. That’s higher than Franklin County’s foreign-born percentage, which is between 11-12 percent. We have attendees at Vineyard Columbus from over 125 different countries. This is one of the things that makes Vineyard Columbus so wonderful — the opportunity to fellowship with people from across the world. I believe that every church should be an outpost for the Kingdom of God in their communities reflecting the characteristics of the Kingdom in their local settings. One of the characteristics of the Kingdom of God is the breaking down of dividing walls between people. This is a great strength of Vineyard Columbus.
What else does the survey tell us about Vineyard Columbus? Small group attendance at our church is going up. In 2002, only 44 percent of our church attended a small group. Now 55 percent of our adults are involved in a small group. Our Good Life Campaign helped introduce many Vineyard Columbus people to the blessing of small group involvement.
The frequency of church attendance is going down. A declining percentage of our church attends services weekly. In 2002, 81 percent of our church reported that they attended weekly. That number is down to 65 percent (which has been constant for the past four years). Frequent, but not weekly attendance (at least two times a month) has held constant over the last 14 years. As in 2002, 90 percent of our church says they go at least two times a month.
A higher percentage of our church has become members than ever before. We experienced a 5 percent jump from 2014. It was 58 percent in 2014, and it is 63 percent in 2016. The percentage of attenders who were members was only 53 percent in 2002. An increasing willingness to member is a good sign!
The percent of people who say they tithe has stayed relatively constant over the past 14 years. For 14 years, approximately one-third of our church say that they tithe. Another 56.7 percent say they give, but less than 10 percent. Only 11 percent of our church says they don’t give anything. That’s the lowest percentage in the last 14 years.
Nearly 40 percent of our church says they committed or recommitted their lives to Christ at Vineyard Columbus. That’s fantastic news! That’s up from 30.4 percent in 2004. And it’s the highest percentage that we have ever recorded.
What are areas of concern for us as a church? The percentage of people who volunteer at least once a month at Vineyard Columbus is declining. It was 41 percent back in 2002. Volunteerism hit a peak with the opening of our Community Center in 2006 and went up to 55 percent of our congregation. Now it’s down to 31 percent. Vineyard Columbus has to figure out how to better communicate the goodness of serving within the church community. It is clear that many people experience the competing demands of children’s sports, longer work hours, etc., and no longer serve in the church.
A second area of major concern is the declining percentage of people who regularly invite others to come with them to Vineyard Columbus’ weekend worship services. Certainly, part of this is a growing fear that church members have of inviting someone who does not regularly attend. Statistics in America are clear that one out of four people who do not attend church say they would go if someone just invited them. So we need to do a better job of assisting our congregation to be inviters and includers with unchurched family and friends.
Finally, with the closure of Joshua House, and our lack of investment in campus work, the percentage of our church that is 18-30 has significantly declined. In this next year, Vineyard Columbus will once again refocus attention on the many college campuses in the Central Ohio area. College is a key time when people make long-term decisions about life, and it’s a key time when people make long-term decisions for Christ. While there are many campus groups working at our local universities, “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” (Matthew 9:37-38) We need to once again invest in campus work.
To summarize, as we look over our survey data, there are some encouraging signs. Giving, fellowship, membership and commitments to Christ are all rising at Vineyard Columbus. That’s good news! We need to keep going. At the same time, we have a huge amount of work to do in encouraging people to serve in the church and to invite more regularly. And we need to be more intentional about reaching single, unattached men and young adults in our community. Please join me in praying for the witness and the growth of Vineyard Columbus over the next year.