The Demographic Study
This is the fourth in a series of articles on church consulting we are presenting on the Church Encourager platform. We are writing them to give some insight on what the Virtual Church Consulting service looks like. Also, the information will be helpful to churches who are looking for a DIY church consulting approach.
After doing a review of a church’s online presence the next thing I do is a demographic overview. Demographics are not the end all be all in church consulting, but demographic information is helpful in getting an overview of what is happening in the community. There is a lot of demographic information available for free that can be a big assist to the church in evaluating the relevant data on their community.
What is Demographic Research?
Demographic research is a “lens” that helps us to see people in a specific community. Demographics reveal movements in age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, occupation, etc.
Two Free Resources
1. City Data Guide
The City Data guide provides very helpful information for a quick demographic overview. For many churches, this one simple free report will provide more than enough information for your church consulting needs. All you need to do is input a specific zip code or city name and you will be provided with a quick report of data concerning population, housing type, education, income levels, age range, and more.
2. The Association of Religion Data Archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is one of my favorite websites for demographic and psychographic data for churches. It is free, easy to use, and provides a wealth of relevant information.
To get a quick look at the Arda, go to the ARDA website and look for the “Congregational Resource Center”. There are some great instant reports that you can generate by entering your zip code and a search radius. Start with a radius of 5 miles or less and then run reports with a greater radius if you want more information.
We will talk more about interpreting the information from the City Guide and Arda reports in the next article in this series, The Community Insight Report.
Steve Lawes is a Certified Church Consultant and a Church Encourager.
