Executive Council Gets Survey Report
The meeting of the Church of God International Executive Council late last month, was like none other. In the middle of Wednesday afternoon, April 27, the security guard at the International Offices announced that the council members should immediately recess to the basement of the building. Tornadoes in Cleveland, Bradley County, were now threatening the Church of God office complex. As suggested, the meeting was temporarily adjourned and council members found safe haven on the lower level of the Leadership and Communications Center building.
Thankfully, even though several automobiles in the parking lot were severely damaged by the intense hail storm, the buildings did not take a direct hit from the tornadoes. After approximately forty-five minutes of delay, the session resumed, the agenda was completed, and the April meeting adjourned. The majority of members were able to return home safely that evening or the following day. Even though the Church of God International Offices, Lee University, the Pentecostal Seminary, the Publishing House, and local churches were spared any significant damage from the storm, tragically, nine persons were killed in Bradley County, many more were injured, and property damage was in the millions of dollars.
But the storm did not darken the enthusiasm for the positive nature of the April meeting. The foremost agenda item was a report from General Overseer Raymond F. Culpepper on the Church of God Discipleship Survey which was conducted early in 2011. In order to assure confidentiality and scientific expertise, LifeWay Research in Nashville, Tennessee, was contracted to do the survey, compile the results, and prepare a report and executive summary.
A paper survey and letter were mailed to all 6,298 senior pastors in the United States and Canada on January 6, 2011. An email invitation was sent to all pastors on the list with a valid email address. Respondents could return a completed paper survey in a postage-paid envelope or complete the survey online.
The 1,521 surveys returned was an excellent twenty-five percent of the total number mailed. The fact that this survey was a census (every local church senior pastor was directly involved) rather than a sampling (in which only a “scientific sample” would have been involved) gives an astonishing credibility to the survey. Consultants at LifeWay Research were thrilled with the splendid return.
But Dr. Culpepper explained that one particular result of the survey was even more amazing to the researcher consultants at LifeWay than the stellar response. They were simply astounded at the loyalty of Church of God pastors to the denomination. No other research by this excellent organization has demonstrated this type of allegiance. When Research Director Scott McConnell was questioned further about this, he responded in a written letter: “We were jumping out of our seats to share with you that this is outstanding and worth building upon.”
–H. Lynn Stone, D.Min., administrative liaison to the general overseer
