How Many Churches Have New Member Classes?

I have been an outspoken advocate for new member classes in churches for nearly two decades. In my 1999 book High Expectations I presented research on churches that had required classes for membership. These churches had much higher retention rates than other churches. Further, the research revealed that simply encouraging new members to attend a class engendered higher retention than having no class at all.

I was thus excited to commission LifeWay Research to discover how many churches in my denomination actually have new member classes, and what the level of expectation they had for new members to attend them. The results were a mixed bag.

Some Encouragement, Some Challenges

On the one hand, it is encouraging to note that four out of ten churches now have new member classes. Though I don’t have longitudinal data, I suspect the numbers are much higher today than they were in 1999. On the other hand, the numbers are still a challenge because six out of ten churches don’t have any entry level class for new members. These new members are therefore not afforded the opportunity to hear information about their church, and expectations about their membership.

The research broke down the matter of new member classes into four categories:

57% of the churches had no membership classes. There was nothing for the new members even if they requested some level of training. 7% of the churches had available membership classes, but they did not encourage new members to attend. The class was more or less an option among many in these churches. Church leadership had no systemic plan to move new members toward the classes. 21% of the churches had membership classes and encouraged new members to attend. While attending the class was not a requisite for membership, the class was a high priority with the leaders. They exhorted the new members to attend. 14% of the churches required the new member class to be a member of the church. Not coincidently, these churches tend to have the highest assimilation rates.

Clear Differences with Size of Church and Age of Pastor

There was a clear relationship between the size of the church and the presence of a new member class. Simply stated, the larger the church, the more likely the church would have a new member class. Furthermore, the larger the church, the greater the likelihood the church would make a new member class a requisite for membership.

The age of the pastor was a major factor as well. The older the pastor, the less likely the church would have a new member class. For example, look at the following clear pattern:

23% of pastors ages 18 to 44 were in churches that had required new membership classes. 20% of pastors ages 45 to 54 were in churches that had required new membership classes. 9% of pastors ages 55 to 64 were in churches that had required new membership classes. 4% of pastors ages 65 and older were in churches that had required new membership classes.

The Need for Entry Point Classes

Next Saturday I will address some possible issues that are hindering churches from starting new member classes. And I hope to offer some ways to overcome those challenges.

I am obviously biased in my advocacy of new member classes, but I really think the research points in this direction as well. These classes not only can dispense good information about the church, they can provide clear membership expectations as well. And raising the bar through expectations results in greater member retention and, more importantly, more biblically functioning church members.

What is your perspective of new member classes? What is your church doing?

*In the months of April and May 2012, 1,066 SBC pastors participated in a survey asking a number of questions. The sampling was weighted to represent accurately churches by worship size and geographic location. The sample provides a 95% confidence that the sampling error does not exceed +/- 3.0%. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups

Pastor to Pastor is the Saturday blog series at ThomRainer.com. Pastors and staff, if we can help in any way, contact Steve Drake, our director of pastoral relations, at Steve.Drake@LifeWay.com . We also welcome contacts from laypersons in churches asking questions about pastors, churches, or the pastor search process.