Victory Baptist Church Young Families Initiative Research Project 2022

Research Project VBC Young Families Initiative Andrew Ryan Scoggins October 2022

To God for the ability and privilege to conduct this study To Victory Baptist Church and Staff for cooperation To Dr. Hood and Dr. Allen for guidance and direction To Liberty University for providing the training for the research To Family and Friends who helped and prayed for this study VBC Young Families Initiative Acknowledgements

VBC Young Families Initiative Heart The heart of the initiative was to design and implement a plan that educates, equips, and engages individual church members to evangelize young families in Weatherford.

The Passion of the VBC Young families Initiative Evangelism- Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20 KJV) Discipleship- All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Role of the Family- Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

Problem and Purpose The problem at Victory Baptist church is that most of the membership does not conversationally share their faith with younger families in the community. The purpose of this DMIN action research project is to design and implement a plan that educates, equips, and engages individual church members to evangelize young families in Weatherford.

Methodology Analyzed visitor data Evaluated Outreach attendance and efforts Administered surveys and questionnaires of members Conducted Workshops to educate, equip, and engage Analyzed the effects of the workshops Evaluated resulting visitor data post-initiative

Overview of Results Increased attendance of Church- wide outreach (average increase of 25%) Increased percentage of families visiting VBC (31% to 63%) Increased positive perception of participants ability and involvement in sharing the Gospel and reaching young families (overall positive feedback)

Causes of the Results The VBC young family initiative cannot be established as the sole cause of the results noted during the intervention period A Summer push for outreach and church fellowship functioned as an objective for the initiative Increased awareness of the need for VBC members to engage the community in evangelism can lead to the results achieved at the end of Summer

Outreach Attendance 25 20 15 10 5 0 Series 1 Church-wide outreach attendance increased during the intervention period The average prior to the intervention was 12 which went up to 15 during the intervention (an overall increase of 25%)

Visitor Data prior to the Initiative Visitor Data July 2021 to May 2022 This graph illustrates the demographics of visitors compiled from July 2021 to May 2022 This graph demonstrates that most visitors were not young families, but were mostly individuals with a majority in the category of 46 and up 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Youth Group age 13-19 20-25 26-35 36-45 46-up No age Multi-age families Did not list children Families/listed immediate children

Visitor Data during and after the Initiative This graph illustrates the demographics of visitors compiled from May 2022 to July 2022 While smaller in the number of visitors recorded, there is an increase in percentage of those that fit into a demographic of families visiting (32% increase) Visitor Data during and after the Intiative (May to July 2022) 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Youth Group age 13- 19 36-45 46-55 No age Did not list children Families/listed immediate children

Initial Survey Initial Survey 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 This graph indicates that the perception of the survey group prior to the initiative was that VBC is reaching young families This presented an unforeseen issue in that the survey group was not aware of the problem that the visitor data reveals 0 Strongly Agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree

Final Survey 12 Final Survey 10 8 6 This graph demonstrates that the workshops increased the confidence of participants as related to personal evangelism, the ability to reach young families, and the capacity of VBC to reach the community. 4 2 0 I attended one or both Outreach workshops. I believe VBC is able to reach the community. I believe that I am equipped to invite young families to VBC. I believe that I can set goals in how I share the Gospel or invite others to VBC. I believe the outreach workshop/s were helpful to me. I believe I can help other VBC members in reaching others and young families in the community. Strongly Agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree

Suggested Changes if the initiative was implemented again Conducting the study during Spring or Autumn could have provided more participants as most families are in church regularly due to school being in session Offering childcare for the workshop could have allowed more members to attend Intentionally planning a special event for young families in order to provide participants with a goal in reaching young families in the community

Moving forward This research could provide a template for a scheduled yearly outreach emphasis and evaluation This initiative could be implemented elsewhere with a change in some of the contextual details, such as understanding the demographics of the context community This could further demonstrate a strategy for a targeted outreach toward a different demographic

VBC Young Families Initiative Andrew Ryan Scoggins 2022