The State of Southeastern Conference and Seventh-day Adventist within the Church and Religious Group Industry
Industry Identification
“About 270,000 religious congregations in the US have combined annual revenue of $80 billion. Slightly more than 50 percent of Americans belong to a religious congregation. In terms of membership, the largest faiths in the US are Catholic (about 25 percent of the population); Baptist (16 percent); Methodist (7 percent); Lutheran (5 percent); Presbyterian (3 percent); Pentecostal (2 percent); and Episcopalian (2 percent). Church membership statistics are notoriously unreliable.”(Hoover’s 2008)
“The size of individual congregations varies. Catholic congregations, on average, have 2,400 members; Jewish congregations, 1,500; Baptist congregations, 580; Methodist congregations, 300; and fundamentalist Christian congregations, 180. About 50,000 congregations have 1,000 or more members, including about 25,000 Catholic congregations. Congregations are usually limited in size because of the practical necessity of meeting for religious services. Geographical proximity and the physical size of a church building are limiting factors, as is the desire of members to be personally known to clergy. Many congregations can co-exist in the same geographical area because of the diversity of religious beliefs in most US communities.” (Hoover’s 2008)
This is the industry within which I find the organization which I am a part of the Southeastern conference of Seventh-day Adventist. This is an environmental analysis of this organization. The Macroeconomic variables which affect my organization as well as the internal variables which relate to these different macroeconomic variables will be discussed in this environmental analysis.
External Macroeconomic Variables: How they affect the Church
Societal Changes: Changing Member preference.
Governmental Changes: New Legislation: Impacting what can and can’t be preached
Economic Changes Real personal income changes: impacts Tithing
Competitive Changes: New Competition, New products
Supplier Changes: Number of Clergy Ordained & Licensed
Market Changes: Changes affected by technological change
These are some of the Macroeconomic variables which affect the industry which I am a part of. I will be discussing two of the macroeconomic variables which are most relevant to this industry and how they effect the environment of this assignment. The organization I belong to is the Southeastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventist. This is a conference of Seventh-day Adventist Churches located in the region of South Georgia and Florida. The two Macroeconomic factors which I believe affect this industry are the economic Changes. I will chart how the employment market and how that has affected the tithing within the church.
“By comparing each country's Gross Domestic
By 1763, although some colonies still maintained established churches, other colonies had accomplished a virtual revolution for religious toleration and separation of church and state. The Anglican Church was the only established denomination in England. In contrast, the colonies supported a great variety of churches. The largest were the Congregationalist, Anglican, and German churches, but many smaller denominations could be found through the colonies. In addition to this, a high percentage of Americans didn’t belong to any church. These differences could be attributed to the fact that many of the Europeans who immigrated to America didn’t fit in to or agree with the churches in their homelands.
Parishioners often ask me if there is really any difference between United Methodist and the Baptists down the road. The answer, “quite a lot,” generally surprises them. When they ask me to explain, I often point them in the direction of our polity and the theology it reflects.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly known as the FLDS Church, was officially formed in 1990 by Warren Jeffs. Ho...
The Auto Zone industry responded very well with change in its macroenvironment. According to Parnell, “macroenvironment is the general environment that affects all business firms in an industry and includes political-legal, economic, social, and technological forces” (Parnell, p. 93). Auto Zone industry did not have a tremendous downfall. The do-for-me business gave AutoZone gave an increase in the industry’s growth rate.
Christianity’s role in America has rapidly changed over the last decades. Although it is still the most popular religion in the country its power over the people has decreased significantly. However, there are still many misconceptions towards American Christianity and in order to understand the unique nature of this religiously diverse country; one must understand its history and its citizens own views on the matter.
Butler, J., Balmer, R., & Wacker, G. (2008). Religion in American Life : A Short History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eck, Diana L. A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Now Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001. Print
Their numbers are relatively small. They constitute less than 1% of those who indicate some religious preference. They rank 24th on the list of the 25 largest denominations in the United States. Despite these low numbers, there is no denomination in this country or in the world, which spends more time proselytizing. They are the Jehovah’s Witnesses. According to the Public Affairs Office of Jehovah’s Witnesses, last year their members spent over one billion hours on public missionary work. Jehovah’s Witnesses are the fastest growing denomination in the United States, with a growth rate of 2.25 percent. Fifty years ago, they numbered fewer than 100,000, now they number over one million. The very reason for their existence is to make converts. If they have not been in your neighborhood, or “come a knocking” at your door, it is just a matter of time. If you invite them in, be prepared for a well-orchestrated and rehearsed plan designed to make the convert feel spiritually astute with answers that correspond to the principles, which coincide with their fundamental beliefs.
Religion in the 1950s was a very important aspect to many citizens living in America. The amount that religion affected the population was shown by the increase of religious groups at the time, it was stated in “The 1940s: Religion: Overview.” from American Decades, “..by 1950 more than 55 percent were members of religious groups, a figure that would increase to 69 percent by the end of the 1950s.” However, this number had not been the same throughout 20th century America. The amount of people in America that had been going to worship their religious figures during the Great Depression was a very small percentage of Americans. The number only started to increase after World War II came to a closing and brought major economic prosperity to America. This burst of church growth in America during the time
It is apparent that the issues are similar at Willow Creek and New Hope, as both have experienced great growth. They are addressing these issues by adding additional services and by assignment of small groups or small ministries to meet their congregation's needs. They have been successful in addressing the issue based on each church's individual needs. Willow Creek has added services to accommodate the service seekers or the un-churched. New Hope attempts to match congregation member's needs through joining auxiliaries or other ministries of the church.
"Religions of the World: Numbers of Adherents; Growth Rates." ReligiousTolerance.org by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Web. 27 July 2010. .
The religious fanfare in America is overwhelmingly Christian. There appears to be a major increase of interest in spirituality. However, there is a vast difference in the devoutness of churchgoers in frequency of church attendance. The manner in which these individuals attend church is influenced by their ages and also whether or not they have endured difficult life situations. After attending a few church services, one becomes very aware of the various types of attendees. There are three types of churchgoer categories: the Never- Miss-a-Service Churchgoers, the Show-Up for Sunday Morning Service Churchgoers, and lastly, but certainly not the least, Holiday Churchgoers.
As a starting point, it is useful to consider what environmental influences have been particularly important in the past, and the extent to which there are changes occurring which may make any of these more or less significant in the future for the organization and its competitors.
week. They also believe in the second coming of Jesus. Adventist is the 8th largest Christian body which
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2009, over 228 million Americans classified themselves as practicing some type of religion. Due to the fact that most believe that their religion is the basis of their morals and values, this number would then also represent the number of people in our country who associate religion and ethics.