I recently hosted Dr. Gary McIntosh at the Kentucky Baptist Convention building for a conference that discussed assimilation principles taken from his book, Beyond the First Visit. Fortunately, while he was here, Dr. McIntosh unveiled the findings of a recent national survey he conducted. I’m going to discuss some of the findings of his study in a few of my upcoming posts.
Today, let’s examine the paramount role the pastor plays in reaching and keeping people in a local church. Consider these findings:
- 90% of respondents said that the pastor’s preaching influenced their decision to attend a particular church.
- When asked to rank the order of reasons why they chose to attend their church, the preaching of the pastor ranked #1.
To examine the specifics of the pastor’s role, the survey asked, “What factors of the pastor’s ministry influenced your choice of this church?” Here are their responses listed in the order of their ranking:
- Preaching that teaches and applies to my life.
- Athenticity of the pastor.
- Pastor’s convictions.
- Pastor’s leadership skills.
This study confirmed what most of us already suspected–the pastor plays a pivotal role in the growth of a local church. Somewhat surprising was the overwhelming importance of preaching.
