Dr. Erich Baumgartner teaches leadership and intercultural communication at Andrews University, where he also directs the PhD in Leadership Program. He combines his interest in Intercultural Communication with his passion for developing organizational leaders. This is reflected in the two core courses he teaches on leadership theory, diversity, and culture. In the course Issues in Leadership Theory, he introduces experienced leadership professionals to the universe of theory. His seminar on Diversity, Leadership, and Culture brings participants face-to-face with our global workplace’s realities. However, most of his recent time has been spent working with doctoral students on their dissertation research and serving as senior editor of the Journal of Applied Christian Leadership.
Monte Sahlin began in ministry as a licensed minister on the Voice of Prophecy media ministry staff. Here, he served as the assistant communication director. Sahlin also worked at an internship in the War on Poverty and acted as an assistant to the president for communications and community relationships at Columbia Union College (now Washington Adventist University). As director of a coffeehouse ministry in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC., Sahlin has served in a variety of different ministerial positions in the Atlantic Union Conference, Pennsylvania Conference, and Ohio Conference. In each position, he sought ways to minister in the surrounding urban areas.
From 1985 to 1987, Sahlin worked as an assistant to the president of the Ohio Conference, after which he joined the staff of the North American Division (NAD). His primary focus was on developing innovative methods to change the structure of the Adventist denomination and develop new ministries while continuing to focus on urban missions. He was also the Adult Ministries Coordinator with responsibility for outreach, Sabbath School, and family life, among others. During his time as an administrator, Sahlin worked to change organizational processes used in departmental work in the denomination. He also served as a volunteer pastor at churches in Maryland. In 1998, he was elected vice president of the Columbia Union Conference while leading a church plant in New York City. Sahlin is now retired.
Erich Baumgartner, on behalf of the Journal of Applied Christian Leadership: When and how did research become an important element in your service to the Seventh-day Adventist Church?
Monte Sahlin: My involvement with research goes back to college when I was given permission to take a graduate school course on the sociology of religion at Loma Linda. I did a survey at the La Sierra Church, asking people about their conversion process, and learned that most grew up in the Adventist faith (as I did). Because of this upbringing, many members learned what it means to be a follower of Jesus as they grew or, in some cases, had an experience where the spiritual dimension broke through and resulted in a more intimate relationship with Christ. Few came from a background outside of the Adventist church and converted into the Adventist faith. I have been interested in the results of original research ever since.
Since the 80s, I have been increasingly involved in conducting, and later also teaching, research while working in unique positions at various levels of my denomination. I worked closely with Roger Dudley at the Institute of Church Ministry to implement annual surveys of pastors and members. In close collaboration with Paul Richardson, we developed the Center for Creative Ministry as an ongoing research and development enterprise to understand and meet the needs of new generations. Later, along with Bruce Moyer, we started the Center for Metropolitan Ministry at Washington Adventist University. For years I was also involved in interfaith congregational research Faith Communities Today (FACT).
JACL: From your experience, how can research help the executive leaders of Christian organizations understand reality?
MS: First, research provides information directly from the source. The information is often anonymous and thus is not filtered through layers of the organization, each tempted to describe things as they see them or want them to be.
Second, research provides an opportunity to analyze information carefully. We cannot apply many analytical tools to mere anecdotal evidenceat least not in terms of realistic processes in most organizations. The ability to track data over time and see trends is very important.
Third, research allows for the examination of a variety of “what-if” scenarios without fueling rumors and starting debates; in these situations, individuals and groups take sides before there is time for an appropriate decisionmaking process. Analysis tools can provide estimates of the impact of various opportunities and provide information to anticipate the response of various segments of the constituency in advance of actual discussions.
Fourth and finally, research provides the basis for a small circle of trusted advisors to review a situation before a much larger group gets involved in the discussion. This serves to better focus planning and decision-making processes on viable options, rather than a long list of wild ideas.
Perhaps the most important thing is that research focuses on evaluation, planning, and decision-making on reality instead of floating off into an idealistic dreamland or simply doing the same thing the organization has always done with incremental goal advances. Religious organizations are particularly vulnerable to operating on the basis of unrealistic ideals or simply going in circles and never significantly moving forward.
JACL: That’s great information. So, with that in mind, why is church research important?
MS: Without it, leaders and organizations are flying blind into a whirling storm of constant change, as the pace of change in the world only goes faster and faster. Organized religion in all parts of the Western world is losing all but a small segment of the next generation. The context for the mission of Christ in the West has radically changed. Research is essential to have any reasonable idea of what is happening and what to do about it.
If we care about God’s church and the mission of Christ, then we will want to know all we can and have the best information possible. The New Testament identifies knowledge and wisdom as gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is clear to me that God gave us the tools of research and analysis to help us be more faithful servants in His work in the world. To ignore these tools and the information they can provide is a kind of unfaithfulness to the mission to which Christ has called us.
JACL: Can you share some examples of changes you have observed in church life during the last 30 to 40 years?
MS: In North America, church members today are less willing to go door to door to distribute evangelistic materials or find participants for Bible studies. This is because a larger and larger percentage of both church members and the general population live in suburban communities where strangers ringing the doorbell, especially to talk about religion, is considered improper by the vast majority of the residents. Most residents will not answer the door, and some will even phone the police. There are exceptions to this attitude in some small towns and ethnic communities. However, this is a reality that has been confirmed by solid research. This approach is seen as an illicit activity, and therefore church members are loath to engage in it. In growing churches, this method has been replaced by relational networking by where church members minister to their friends, work associates, and people they meet through involvement in community service activities.
Large-group activities have been replaced to a significant degree by smallgroup activities. For example, Sabbath School classes sitting in sections of the sanctuary have been replaced in more and more congregations with small groups, meeting in a variety of side rooms and even sections of church hallways. An outreach method that is growing in popularity across the NAD is for a community Bible study group to meet in a nearby restaurant or other facilities during the Sabbath School time. The free discussion of a small group sitting in a circle is more accepted than a teacher standing up in front of a group and “teaching the lesson.” The more a group attracts younger people and those outside the tradition, the more this is true.
Emphasis on established rules and traditions is also becoming less and less respected. This is generally true in North American society today, even when associated with political factions. There are those who are upset with the declining respect for traditions and rules. And there are those (the majority, according to many surveys) who see traditional rules as inauthentic and even unspiritual. Some even view traditions as expressions of prejudice rather than righteousness. It is easy to get division and anger stirred up in congregations over some variation of this tension, and it is counterproductive to outreach and evangelism.
JACL: Within those changes, what specific changes have you seen that have impacted the church but are little understood?
Adventist local churches are often unaware of how the perceptions of the local community impact the growth of the congregation. About two-thirds of the general population in North America believe that a church (of any denomination) is not genuine in its spirituality if it is not making some contribution to the needs of people outside of its membership in the local community.
MS: Adventist local churches are often unaware of how the perceptions of the local community impact the growth of the congregation. About two-thirds of the general population in North America believe that a church (of any denomination) is not genuine in its spirituality if it is not making some contribution to the needs of people outside of its membership in the local community. If it does not operate a homeless shelter, daycare center, free clinic, etc., then it is not seen as a real religious body of any value. I am sure that it seems unfair to many small congregations, but this is a real perception that has been identified in significant research involving multiple denominations.
JACL: How has research helped to clarify those issues and helped the church to gain new perspectives on reality?
MS: In a number of studies, I have shown the correlation between community involvement and church growth for Adventist churches. For example, see Chapter 2 of Adventist Congregations Today (2003, AdventSource), which was also published as an article in Ministry (November 2004). Additional studies since that one continue to provide the same strong correlation.
Equally important is the research on how relational networks are key to church growth. People come to Christ through family and friends, and as society becomes more secular, this becomes more important. The role that community involvement plays in church growth strategies is to expand the relational connections of church members to wider circles in the community.
JACL: What impact should research findings have on pastoral ministry? And do you think this happens in actuality?
MS: The importance of understanding and responding to community needs as part of the outreach and church growth strategy has become more accepted and practiced by pastors in the NAD and in other parts of the world. Among younger generations of Adventist pastors in the secularized West, I believe it is now widely accepted that a congregation with visible service to the local community and members who have a friendly, caring attitude toward local residents are essential elements for an outreach strategy that brings new people into the church and to Christ.
Research provides a set of tools that can help us understand the people we are leading and the people we seek to win to Christ and bring into the church. If we just hammer at production and do not seek to understand people or demonstrate our care for them in practical ways, we misrepresent the God we serve; we cannot expect to be successful in ministry.
I started teaching a regular course on research for the Doctor of Ministry program at Andrews University in the early 2000s. About that time, I also received a significant number of requests to do community assessments and member surveys for local churches. Between those two activities, I know of hundreds of pastors and congregations who have used research to provide a basis for strategic planning and to address key problems. The Institute of Church Ministry, the Center for Creative Ministry, and the Center for Metro Ministry continue to provide this service. My observation is that this has become a regular practice in many placesespecially when a new pastor has arrived in a congregation or when a church is thinking of a building project or sponsoring a new church plant.
JACL: As we look to the future, how can research best serve our denomination (without wasting resources)?
MS: We face a time when research is more important than ever. Organized religion in North America and throughout the Western world is going through major changes. The same thing is happening in Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia, where urbanization is becoming the norm. We cannot assume that the procedures and structures that have worked well for generations will continue to be effective. New generations are doing things differently, living differently. The means of communication have changed. The ways people relate to one another are changing; the ways local communities function are changing. It is a more secular world and one in which people (even those born and raised in the Adventist faith) are becoming less and less likely to follow traditions or rulesespecially those passed down by large organizations in which they do not have a personal, face-to-face role in planning and decisionmaking.
How will we share the Adventist message in this new context? How will we start and grow congregations? How will we find what works, and what does not work in terms of outreach and evangelism?
In this reality, we cannot afford not to do research. It is more essential than ever. The cost of doing research has been reduced some with the use of online surveys and Web conferencing, and suppliers of sophisticated demographic data for local communities and people groups. It is not good stewardship to think one can provide effective leadership without spending a small percentage of the budget on research and good information.