VITALS

S

What people are doing, seeing, believing

Compiled by Jami Becher

Investing in the future

urveys by the Barna Group reveal that only 1 in 5 senior pastors consider their

church’s ministry to children to be one of its most important efforts. Yet, their research confi rms that the moral foundations of the typical person are developed by the age of 9; the dominant faith commitments of a person are generally in place by age 13; and that a person’s faith perspectives, habits and beliefs are also formed when he is young, normally solidifi ed by the time he reaches his teen years.

Source: The Ministry Today Report, January 26, 2010

Quick Quotes

I believe that if God would grab hold of one generation the entire northeast region of

the nation would be changed.

Missionary Mike McQuitty on the life-change that would occur if Syracuse University students came to Christ and shared His love with their families

Meeting you and seeing your work completely changed my mind. God can and does use my talents in the fi ne arts to

minister to others and bring glory to Him.

High school student Alyssa Johns in an email to missionary and artist Kerry Jackson after meeting him at a KALEO conference

Is this a coincidence or is God up to something?

Professor Daniel Sanchez of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary pointing out that the Hispanic population in the U.S. is growing fastest in the southeast where Southern Baptists are strongest

Color blind

Fewer than 8% of American churches have a signifi cant racially mixed membership. How- ever, that trend may be changing among mega-churches. According to a study by Michael Emerson, a specialist on race and faith at Rice University, minority participa- tion among Evangelical churches of 1,000 people or more has quadrupled from 6% in 1998 to 25% in 2007.

Source: Time, January 11, 2010

By the numbers

40%

Percentage of Millennials (18-29 year olds) who say religion is very important in their lives

6 Summer 2010 • onmission.com

41%

Percentage who report praying daily

We remind ourselves daily that our Southern Baptist brothers and sisters gave sacrifi cially to plant our church.

According to pastor Bob Carpenter, the Cooperative Program is the number one budget priority of Cedar Street Baptist Church because CP funds made their church in Lansing, Michigan, possible.

I don’t know what you did but all I know is

that I want you here all the time.

Dan Hite, pastor of Christian Family Fellowship in Wentzville, Missouri, recalls a comment made to him by the complex manager of Hidden Valley Estates after the church began a multi-housing ministry there

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