I just finished listening to a CD with a couple of staff people from Willow Creek discussing a big survey project they did in 30 churches of various styles from across the country called ‘Reveal’. In the survey they designed questions that could measure spiritual development from a number of perspectives. The analyzed results will be available in book form this summer entitled Reveal. But, a couple of interesting observations came to light that I thought I’d share.

First, and not surprisingly, new converts are the most effective in sharing their faith with the lost, not seasoned veterans who know exactly how to do it. New converts had a passion that was transferable to their former friends, while more mature Christians seemed to lack that.

And, a second interesting observation was that in measuring a person’s satisfaction with their local church, the longer a person had been attending that church, the less satisfied they were. It was the new attenders that were very satisfied.  That can be a blow to a pastor’s ego.

Thirdly, neither age, gender, nor race had much bearing on the result of the survey, interestingly popping another myth.

I’ll look forward to reading more about these interesting findings when the book is released.

Tags: Revealed, satisfaction, sharing your faith, survey