Small Churches that Evangelize and Share the Gospel with Nonbelievers, Retain Most Converts

A study published by LifeWay Research has found that small evangelical churches that make a strong effort to evangelize and share the message of Jesus Christ with non-believers retain the most Christian converts.

"The phone survey of 1,500 pastors of small churches — evangelical and black Protestant congregations of 250 or fewer — asked how many converts each church had in the last 12 months and whether those converts stayed with the church after they came to faith," the study explained.

"Researchers then compared the 20 percent of churches with the most retained converts (11.7 or more per 100 attendees) to the 50 percent with the fewest retained converts (5.56 or fewer per 100 attendees)."

The findings noted that among those with the most retained converts, 93 percent indicated that their church shares the Gospel with unchurched people at least every six months.

Another 92 percent of pastors said that they constantly hear church members talking about their evangelistic conversations and sharing their faith with non-Christians.

Sixty-eight percent of pastors at such churches also offered classes for new attenders at least every six months; 66 percent asked others to make a commitment to Jesus on a weekly basis; and 57 percent shared their faith with a non-Christian outside the church at least once a week.

Researchers also listed the No. 1 predictive factor by noting: "Churches with more converts tended to attract and keep more unchurched people. Pastors of churches with the most retained converts were more likely (35 percent) to say half of their congregation used to be unchurched. That dropped to 18 percent for churches with the fewest retained converts."

(Zaimov, “Small Churches That Evangelize, Share the Gospel With Non-Believers Retain Most Converts,” ChristianPost Online, August 29, 2017).