NAC Viability Study Report

Report to the 2011 General Assembly

NORTH AMERICAN CONVENTION STUDY COMMITTEE

June 28, 2011

The North American Convention (NAC) is mandated by the General Assembly to be conducted annually by the Ministries Council. In September, 2008, the North American Convention Task Force noted the decline in NAC attendance in recent years and sensed the need for careful analysis and long-term projection. It recommended to the General Assembly's Executive Committee that there be established a Study Committee to explore this issue, including the perceived value and viability of continuing this NAC event as presently constituted. The proposed Study Committee was established by the 2009 General Assembly.

The North American Convention Study Committee has functioned since 2009, chaired by Rev. Vernon Allison, with the names of all its members listed at the end of this report. The Committee was commissioned to conduct a substantial study of the continuing value and viability of NAC and report the results and possible recommendations to the General Assembly for its consideration. An initial report was made by the Study Committee to the 2010 General Assembly, noting for General Assembly information the Study Committee's decision to work with Shank Public Relations Counselors of Indianapolis to develop and conduct the needed research project. The results of that project appear below, along with next steps that are being recommended to the 2011 General Assembly.

Study Design, Limitations, and Participants

Two research efforts have been undertaken by the Study Committee. The first was contacting sister faith communions to learn about the nature and meeting patterns of their governing bodies, camp meetings, and any other major "connectivity" gatherings. It was learned that most of these bodies are more "episcopal" in polity than the Church of God, having direct governance control over ministers, cooperative ministries and gatherings, acceptable beliefs and practices, and even local congregations—including mandated contribution levels to national denominational life. While voluntary gatherings in these churches have also seen some general decline in participation in recent years, the formal denominational settings (usually legislative and delegated in nature) have not declined because they are fully funded and participation is mandated. The North American Convention of the Church of God (NAC) appears to be a rather unusual periodic church event. In a Church of God setting of congregational polity, with its lack of usual denominational controls, NAC has functioned quite effectively in its "connectivity" purpose, one less needed by most others. Click here for the report summary.

The second and most extensive research effort pursued by the NAC Study Committee has been the one conducted with the professional expertise of Shank Public Relations Counselors of Indianapolis. Key considerations in its research design were that it be (1) inclusive in scope, giving all Church of God individuals, groups, and geographic regions of North America opportunity to participate, and (2) diverse in methodology, again to insure inclusiveness and to enhance reliability of the results. According to the research company, reliability of the resulting data from this research is very high.

In brief, the research methodology included (1) a highly-promoted online survey (more than 1,300 participants), (2) telephone interviews designed to insure key demographic sectors having opportunity for participation (1,000 contacts made, with 476 surveys completed by both recent attenders and non-attenders to NAC), (3) a Town Hall meeting during the 2010 NAC, (4) an in-person focus group with key church leaders, and (5) three telephone-based focus groups (senior pastors, young ministers under thirty-five, and regional pastors and overseers (area administrators). Click here for Shank Report Summary.

Prior to reporting central learnings from this extensive research project, two limitations should be noted:

1. NAC Non-Attenders. The perceptions, motivations, and priorities of both attenders and non-attenders of recent North American Conventions were within the scope of the study conducted. The responses of all who participated in the study were carefully reviewed and discussed. Even so, the responses of recent attenders were given most weight. As a generalization, non-attenders usually reported that their failure to attend NAC was from lack of time, lack of dollars, excessive distance to travel, and/or lack of perceived relevance to them directly. It was not clear what could be done that definitely would result in their future participation.
2. The General Assembly. The annual convening of the General Assembly of the Church of God in connection with the North American Convention is a circumstance that raises several questions should frequency and/or location of the General Assembly or of NAC be altered in the future. While these questions would have to be addressed should a significant change in meetings for either body be contemplated, they were not within the scope of this Study Committee's specific assignment and are not reflected below.

Cultural Shifts and the Continuing Value of NAC

Emerging from this extensive research and many discussions of the Study Committee are numerous issues and viewpoints received from people of all ages, generations, geographic regions of North America, and professional roles in the Church of God. The 150-page report from Shank Public Relations Counselors, filled with statistics, graphs, and sample comments from participants, has been placed in the hands of the Executive Committee of the General Assembly. Selected from all of this data by the Study Committee are two possibilities for change that appear to the Study Committee to carry widespread support, at least as worthy change possibilities, and thus, in the view of the Study Committee, deserve additional consideration. Before they are identified, however, one overall learning from the study needs to be stated clearly.

Whatever changes may need further consideration and possible adoption, the value of NAC itself has been strongly affirmed by the Church of God, across the range of its age groups, geographic regions, and professional roles. In light of this strong and broad affirmation, one also shared by members of the Study Committee, the Committee wrote a short Preface to the Future of the North American Convention that captures this high valuing of NAC. It appears in full at the end of this report. In the Study Committee's judgment, this Preface should be the opening framework for all future consideration of the future of NAC. It attempts to state briefly the historic and continuing significance of NAC to the life of the Church of God movement, and to do so without prejudicing the possibility of change should one or both of the following major learnings from this study be pursued further.

Two Central Learnings

It is obvious that the Church of God is being impacted by significant cultural shifts in contemporary society, and the church is seeking to minister simultaneously to multiple generations with varying perceptions and priorities. This brings considerable complexity to the task of identifying the best future of NAC. Even so, the high valuing of this periodic event in the life of the Church of God brings hope that such a future can be determined.

Two possibilities for change surfaced frequently during the work of the Study Committee and appear to have adequate support across the church to merit further consideration.

1. Frequency of Convening the North American Convention. One possibility for change surfaced frequently during the study process. It is the option of convening NAC in alternate years rather than annually. This is a concept affirmed as reasonable by many, even preferable by some of study respondents of all ages, geographic regions, and professional roles. For instance, one year might be NAC, the next the International Youth Convention, then again NAC, followed by IYC, etc. This option seems to address positively the issues of cost, planning time, etc. The success of IYC and its alternating pattern of years might serve as a guiding model.
2. Alternating Locations for Convening the North American Convention. A second possibility for change surfaced less frequently than the first, but still often enough to deserve further attention. Might there be a change in the location of NAC? Most respondents expressed considerable appreciation for the traditional Anderson, Indiana, location, many even thinking of it as "sacred ground" (although this perception is less strong among younger leaders). The available facilities, the long tradition, the favorable costs, etc., were named as reasons for NAC remaining in Anderson. Even so, there was openness to the possibility of alternate locations, possibly rotating (one NAC in Anderson, the next elsewhere, then back to Anderson, then elsewhere, etc.). This openness to at least considering location change, while limited especially because of presumed cost implications, is judged by the Study Committee to also be worthy of further consideration.

Recommended Next Steps

In light of all the above, two next steps are recommended by the NAC Study Committee to the 2011 General Assembly.

1. The considerable detail of this now-completed study project should be made available by the General Assembly's Executive Committee to any member of the General Assembly who might desire it. This should be done with the obvious caution that the research results are bulky and complex, and that nearly any viewpoint imaginable can be found from someone somewhere in the research results—and should not be lifted from the whole and judged significant without careful thought and informed analysis.
2. The General Assembly should initiate additional study, this time focused only on the two major findings of this present research and reporting process, with the results brought to the 2012 General Assembly for additional information and possible action. The core question for the additional research would be: "What are the costs and other implications of proceeding with either or both of the two major findings of the NAC Study Committee's research and, given these implications, should the General Assembly authorize the implementation of one or both of these possible changes?" If changes are proposed for the meeting pattern and/or location of NAC, that proposal should take into account the relationship of such change to the future meeting pattern and/or location of the General Assembly itself.

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A Report Addendum

The following paragraphs were written by and have the full support of the NAC Study Committee as a beginning framework for any future consideration of altering the frequency, location, and/or format of the North American Convention of the Church of God.

A Preface to the Future of the
North American Convention of the Church of God

One belief is crucial to the very lifeblood of the Church of God movement (Anderson). The church of God is the whole family of God's redeemed children. All who have found salvation in Jesus Christ are blessed with a natural connection to each other because of the shed blood of Christ and the shared presence in them of God's gracious and guiding and gifting Spirit. The church is not a regimented denominational community controlled by human organizations, creeds, and regulations. Rather, it is a living spiritual organism, a gift of community from God, a special fellowship that requires regular nurturing for its life and mission to be understood, whole, stable, and strong.

The unity of God's people, while a gift of God, is also a necessary accomplishment of faithful disciples. Lacking the organizational ties typical of denominational bodies, the Christians associated with the Church of God movement are in particular need of intentional means for enhancing their connectedness to each other. One important means for enhancing community connectivity is what has come to be known as the North American Convention of the Church of God. Since the early years of the twentieth century, large crowds of Christians have gathered annually in Anderson, Indiana, sometimes from the four corners of the earth, to celebrate the joy of their divine togetherness and deepen their ties of fellowship, friendship, and united commitment to service in Christ's name.

These periodic Anderson gatherings have been reunions of the divine family. They have been characterized by intense periods of worship, inspired preaching, educational opportunities, and the spawning of fresh impulses to unity in holiness and cooperation in mission. They have been one regular place where Church of God people of diverse locations, ethnicities, generations, and callings come together to realize and champion their oneness in God's Spirit and their common call to be Christ's body together in today's world.

The second decade of the twenty-first century finds the Church of God movement in an important phase of its history as a particular people under God. The movement has understood itself to be a divinely-inspired "cause" rather than another denominational body. This distinctive cause has birthed and shaped an important reforming heritage within God's larger family. It is a precious heritage that, by its vary nature, persists only as it is regularly rehearsed and renewed. This rehearsing and renewing are done best together, one generation heralding the movement's heritage to the next, with visionary disciples equipping each other for Christ's mission in changing times.

For the Church of God movement in North America, such cause renewing, identity rehearsing, gospel heralding, and ministry equipping have been the central goals of the North American Convention. These goals are met in part in other ways and places, of course, but a vital movement among God's people needs special and regular attention given to its overall cohesion and sense of direction as a pilgrim people journeying together. The periodic family gatherings known as the North American Convention have provided a setting for such regular and vital attention. As this people called the Church of God journeys on, guided by a common Spirit, dedicated to a divine cause, and determined to travel and minister together, a periodic setting like the North American Convention remains a crucial element of its united church life.

Respectfully submitted by the Study
Committee on the Future of the North American Convention

Study Committee Membership:

Vernon M. Allison, Jr., Chair
Hosea D. Anderson
Barry L. Callen
Charles Ron Culberson
Ronald V. Duncan
Ronald J. Fowler
Craig F. Frank
John M. Kuykendall
Jorge A. Palacios
Melissa L. Pratt
Randall W. Spence
Larry Taylor
Maureen Woodman

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Click here for the report on the practices of sister faith communions. (530 KB)

Click here for the report from Shank Public Relations Counselors. (1.2 MB)