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A demographic study of the suburban Kansas City area where the new Parkside church will be planted indicated that the community is made up of young families with an interest in recreation.

“Lots of times we think the people look just like us,” said Brian Wright, campus pastor at Parkside in Lenexa, Kansas. He said the study presented findings that the church would not have uncovered otherwise and was crucial in planning for the new ministry.

“We need to look at the community and their needs, to really get in touch with the people,” Wright said. The demographic study helped Parkside leaders do just that.

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.

In addition to matching its outreach strategies to the demographics of the community, the Parkside church also is matching its building to the community. They will use a 26,000-square-foot community center for arts, education and recreation activities to draw people into the church.

Understanding community demographics is a first step in ministry, according to Peter Wernett, president of Percept Demographics.

“You really need to make a commitment to interacting and learning more about the community,” Wernett said. That process usually brings at least four surprises.

Surprise, surprise

Wright said he was surprised by two findings from the demographics study in Lenexa, namely, local income and education levels. According to Percept's Wernett, income findings generally surprise church leaders.

“People are not aware if you have an older constituency in the church, they tend not to make as much money as people do today,” Wernett said. Multiple income households are also a factor most church leaders don't consider in financial planning.

The biggest surprise from demographic studies is the number of younger people in a community. “People tend to not be aware of how young the population is or what the average age is because they tend to relate to one certain age group in their churches, and in a lot of churches that group tends to be a little older,” said Wernett.

The percentage of people under 40 is generally a big surprise, Wernett said. Often it is 60 percent to 70 percent.

That holds true for the ethnic and racial makeup of a community as well. This data usually surprises church leaders because they are stuck in a church time-warp. The community around them diversifies while the congregation remains the same.

“All of a sudden churches look around and see the community has changed when it's been changing for 10 or 20 years,” said Wernett. The fast rate of change is usually a shock for churches, as are socio-economic changes.

Another population shift has taken churches by surprise: the increasing number of single people.

“A lot of churches are geared toward couple relationships,” said Wernett. The new demographic causes churches to rethink ministry and outreach aimed exclusively at couples and families.