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When the Foothills Presbytery of Greenville, S.C., ordered an area-wide demographic study for its 66 churches, ministers discovered a new group of people to serve.

"There is a growing population of adults without children," said Bill Lancaster, who works with church health and growth at Foothills. "We had no idea about that." The surprise quickly turned into an opportunity for outreach for the churches.

According to Peter Wernett, president of Percept Demographics, information about surrounding peoples isn't used only to start new churches.

This story and all the great free content on Church Central is supported by: Percept For information about Percept's line of demographic resources, including the Ministry Area Profile, which is relied upon by 40,000 U.S. churches, visit us at http://www.Percept.info or call 800-442-6277. Advertise on Church Central.  Click here for details.

“Without a doubt, church leaders are constantly using demographics to evaluate possible new church sites as well as relocation possibilities for existing churches. But the primary use of our information is by existing churches as they evaluate and seek to become more effective in their ministry," he said.

In answer to that, Percept developed the Ethos Survey Series, which they use to regularly survey extensive cross-sections of the American public about beliefs, attitudes, concerns and religious behavior. Percept contracts with National Family Opinion of Toledo, Ohio, to conduct the Ethos Survey. NFO is nationally known and respected and used extensively for consumer research by several U.S. Fortune 500 companies.

What the Ethos Survey reveals is usually news for established churches, according to Wernett. “It's rare that any person you ask three demographic questions about their area will answer all of them correctly,” said Wernett. “Most persons will always find surprises in their report.”

Most churches are unaware of the number of people under age 40 in their community, for example. Wernett said most churches don't know the actual racial and ethnic composition of their area, either, or its growth rates.

That information can serve churches interested in re-focusing their ministry, Wernett said. The Ethos Survey Series can provide churches insight into specific program interests of their community.

Visions-Decisions Demography for Churches in Atlanta also offers churches more information about the communities they serve, providing statistics that go beyond census data and are of special interest to churches. They have exclusive services such as:

• Unchurched/Churched Index, showing rates of affiliation in an area
• Religious Preference Index, showing religious leanings in an area
• National Church Database, showing most of the established churches in a community, their theology, denominational family, race/ethnicity and membership size.

Anthony Healy, president and founder of Visions-Decisions, said that with his study, churches can get a feeling for how people in the community live and how [the church] might fit into that.”

Demographic studies may include maps, detailed reports, even names and addresses from which churches can start a direct-mail campaign. Rates for studies range from $85 to $8,000.

No matter how many questions are answered, the answers can be very motivating, as the Foothills Presbytery found out.

"If churches are aware,” Lancaster said of demographics, “they can be inspired."