Study Reveals ‘Startling’ Statistics About Ky. Baptists’ Beliefs 10/15/2007 LOUISVILLE – Seeking to reverse a trend of declining discipleship training in Kentucky Baptist churches, the Kentucky Baptist Convention has partnered with LifeWay Research to evaluate the severity of the problem. The KBC commissioned a study by LifeWay Research regarding the spiritual maturity of Southern Baptists in the state, and the initial results will be released Nov. 14 during the KBC’s annual meeting in Elizabethtown. Steve Rice, director of discipleship and assimilation at the KBC, said one area of particular concern is the surprising weakness in biblical doctrine revealed in the study. He noted that the survey specifically targeted Southern Baptists in Kentucky. “One of the startling things we found is that 24 percent of Kentucky Southern Baptists believe we may be able to earn our salvation,” Rice said. “That shocked us." “Another doctrinal surprise was that 38 percent believe Jesus may have committed sins during his time on earth,” he said. “Sixty-four percent of Kentucky Southern Baptists believe that we may need to continually work toward our salvation or risk losing it. We've just not done a great job in teaching that key doctrine of our faith, eternal security.” Only 13 percent strongly agreed that they intentionally spent time building friendships with non-Christians for the purpose of sharing Christ with them, Rice said, referring to the data collected by LifeWay Research. “When people aren't discipled, they're susceptible to false doctrine,” Rice said. “They're also susceptible to temptation because they're not strong in their faith and because they don't know God’s Word. Maybe most importantly, they're not transformed into the likeness of Christ, which in turn gives a poor witness to unbelievers. “A poor witness can lead to lower baptisms because people are not seeing us act like Christ because we've not become mature in our faith,” he said. When Rice joined the KBC staff in January, he toured the state to meet with directors of missions and pastors. One recurring theme he discovered was that Kentucky Baptist churches are generally weak in discipleship. “Years ago we moved to a program approach to discipleship. We began to assume that's all discipleship was, but it is much broader than that,” Rice said. “It's not a program; it's a process. A program can be a valuable part of discipleship, but it is not discipleship alone. Discipleship is a life-long journey.” The LifeWay Research study, Rice said, was intended to identify the spiritual formation in our churches. The KBC will partner with our churches to formulate a strategy to help congregations move back to the Great Commission component of making disciples.” “A pastor can focus on the Gospels, showing what the disciples did and how Jesus made disciples,” Rice said, suggesting ways churches could implement a holistic approach to discipleship. “Obviously the letters of the New Testament - Paul's writings and the general epistles - all are helpful because they're all writing to churches for the most part.” “The members of the various churches were at different stages of spiritual formation. In some cases, the letters were written to encourage them, in some cases to instruct them and some to correct them. The letters helped them become more like Christ,” Rice said. Other ideas for discipleship include mentoring within the church, using small groups to study the Bible, and utilizing some of the discipleship resources available through LifeWay, he said. “We're still writing the prescriptive part of this strategy, somewhat of a 'What now? What do we do with the findings of this study? How do we react to it?'” Rice said. The KBC and LifeWay Research are currently working to address those questions and help equip churches to take action, he said. Additional information and insights will be shared with churches at the convention and throughout the next year. Researchers questioned more than 200 Southern Baptists in Kentucky, but Rice said “at no time did they know that LifeWay was conducting the survey or that it was connected to a Kentucky Baptist organization so the research would not be biased in that way.” The study measured a variety of behaviors indicating the progress of discipleship in each respondent’s life. Additional information gathered from respondents pointed to activities that most often correspond with the spiritual development of churchgoers. By comparing behaviors with biblical discipleship principles, the study identified the most challenging areas of discipleship that will require the greatest attention from church leaders. Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research in Nashville, Tenn., will present the study’s results at the KBC annual meeting. “I strongly encourage all of our Kentucky Baptist pastors and leaders to hear the initial report of this study,” Rice said. “I think they'll be helped, surprised and possibly alarmed.” The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of more than 2,400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative headquarters in Louisville, Ky. including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more. release prepared by Erin Roach, KBC Communications