Several years ago, Willow Creek Community Church did a survey of the congregation that revealed some very interesting and surprising data. That data brought new, relevant information to the leadership at Willow and influenced everything from strategic planning to budget and staff allocation. Since that time, the original survey has morphed into a huge research project — called REVEAL.
III. Implications of the Four Segments
A. Realizing that spiritual growth doesn’t necessarily happen as people get more involved in church activities has significant implications for a church’s strategic planning.
B. By knowing the impact different ministries have on the spiritual maturity of those who are involved, a church can put the most resources toward ministries that demonstrate an ability to move people to the next stage of maturity.
C. Putting people into different buckets according to spiritual maturity may not seem that significant, but it’s not as simple as it appears.
D. The greatest power the findings have is the understanding of what people in each stage need to catalyze them to move on to the next stage.
- The research looked both at things that the church does and at things that a person does in order to catalyze growth to the next stage.
- For example, weekend services were found to be disproportionately catalytic for those earlier in their spiritual journey.
- For new believers, being in a small group is most catalytic, and then serving in the church becomes very important.
- For those further on the spiritual continuum, groups themselves become less important, while spiritual friendships — whether inside or outside of a group — become more important.
- The further along a person is, the more they want accountability and mentors.
- These findings questioned the assumption that certain things are equally important to everyone.
- Although some people may assume the Bible to be less important early on, it’s clear that engagement with the Bible really matters at every stage.
E. One of the findings that generated the most surprise initially was that the most active evangelists are those in the Christ-centered segment.
- Many assume that the most fired-up evangelists are new believers, so churches often emphasize encouraging new believers to evangelize.
- Some pastors may think that their Christ-centered believers don’t evangelize, but they’re confusing a person’s age with their spiritual maturity.
- A person may have been a believer for 30 years, but they may be stuck in the growing-in-Christ stage.
- When Christ is at the center of a person’s life, evangelism is a lifestyle, not a project, for them.
F. Similarly, those in the Christ-centered segment are the most active in serving the under-resourced and those in need.
Notes from Defining Moments Audio Journal ‘Inside REVEAL’ with Bill Hybels, Greg Hawkins, Cally Parkinson and Nancy Beach.
Other topics covered in this resource:
- The Dissatisfied Sub-Segment
- The Stalled Sub-Segment
- REVEAL’s Impact on Church Strategy
- Ongoing REVEAL Research
Related Resources
Defining Moments Audio Journal - Inside REVEAL
REVEAL Books
REVEAL Online Conference
REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey
