Pastoral Leaders Respond to National Initiative
On June 17, 2016, local Church of God pastoral leaders received an important email from General Overseer Mark Williams. Attached to the correspondence was a survey designed to help determine the personal financial health of local Church of God pastoral leaders.
During the past ten years, the Lilly Endowment has done extensive research, which indicates many pastoral leaders in the United States are not able to effectively fulfill their leadership roles because of personal financial pressures. Consequently, the Church of God has been invited to participate in Lilly’s 2016 National Initiative to Address Economic Challenges Facing Pastoral Leaders.
If the Church of God is able to fulfill the commitments of the initiative, it will be considered for a $1 million grant to personally assist Church of God pastoral leaders who find themselves in extremely challenging financial circumstances.
One of the primary requirements for participation in the initiative was to conduct a survey among Church of God local pastoral leaders. The survey, which was anonymous, was designed to indicate some of the financial challenges facing Church of God pastoral leaders in today’s economic climate.
Even though pastors had only a two-day notice that the online survey would be coming, the response was phenomenal. Over 2,000 senior pastors and local church pastoral staff members responded. This was a 24% response rate for the surveys that were sent to the 5,995 local churches.
The data for the survey are being analyzed professionally at the present time. However, participants at the 2016 International General Assembly can see a preliminary overview of the survey results by visiting the display area of the Division of Education. A large-screen display gives the option of viewing how the pastoral leaders responded to the twenty-eight questions presented in the survey.
—H. Lynn Stone, D.Min., Division of Education
