A Study of Planning Techniques for Local Congregations

Abstract

The evolution in church planning techniques is examined in the light of the experience of one major denomination (United Presbyterian Church). Specific tools of that denomination are described and compared. The results of an empirical study of their use are reported and the implications of the differences upon the variance in results are discussed. In religious institutions, as in other institutions in American society, the practice of long-range planning has become a frequent part of the life of many organizations. This paper reports a study of three planning techniques for local congregations developed by the Board of National Missions of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. The research, conducted during the summer of 1967, was sponsored jointly by the Institute of Strategic Studies of the Board of National Missions and an eastern metropolitan presbytery. The study was limited to planning in the United Presbyterian Church, but other evidence suggests that it exemplifies a much wider evolutionary development in church planning. In some respects, this evolution parallels the growth in city planning from the emphasis on architectural facade and imperiously utopian master plans to the current emphasis on broad policy and priority statements with maximum community participation in the decisions. A brief description of this evolution in city planning is contained in the writings of Perry Norton (1960: 108122; 1964:77-86). RANGE OF THE STUDY In historical sequence, these are the three techniques examined in this study. First was the "survey." Used in the late 1940s and '50s, this technique involved assigning a sociologist from the Board at the request of local church leaders to conduct a survey. Such a survey normally included the comparison of population trends for the city with the trends in Presbyterian congregations. Membership residential distributions were plotted, and church buildings were evaluated both for the suitability of their sites and the adequacy of their facilities. Recommendations were made for changes in location, program, etc. that appeared desirable to the surveyor, in the light of his investigation and his experience in other communities. Throughout the Survey, the assumption was clear although implicit that the basic unit of the Presbyterian Church was the geographically cohesive congregation or parish. It is possible to see the essential concepts of this survey technique in Douglass (1928). Second, in 1960 the Board developed the "Self-Study Guide," similar in approach to the technique described by