The REVEAL study sought to find the answers revolving around this question: "Can we really know if our church is making a difference in the ongoing spiritual growth of our people?" The study’s findings are published in a new book, “Reveal: Where Are You?,” co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church.
Since Willow Creek released the results of this multi-year study, there's been quite a bit of conversation in the blogosphere and now on radio too. MondayMorningInsight.com has already noted the buzz last week in a post titled More Willowcreek "Revealsqueal"::
There have been literally hundreds of articles in newspapers and posts on blogs about the recent "Reveal" Study put out by Willow Creek. The Christianity Today blog got it started when they ran the headline "Willow Creek Repents?" This caused Willow to respond to all the negative coverage with their own take. Well, here are a couple of other stories about about "Reveal"; something we at Leadership Network are now calling "Revealsqueal". Revealsqueal can be good or bad... it just means people are talking. Like this story from US News and World Report; and another from and another from the Florida Baptist Witness...
Reveal Squeal continues to spread, and these blog posts caught my attention -- Tony Morgan clears up the misrepresentations about the study in his post titled "It's not just a Willow-thing", where an official statement was issued by Willow Creek Association, excerpted here:
Earlier today, I received a copy of a statement from the Willow Creek Association addressing misrepresentations in the blogosphere about their new REVEAL project. Some folks erroneously reported that Willow and Bill Hybels were admitting failures in the seeker movement. The reality is that Willow's surveys are finding new insights on spiritual growth issues for all kinds of churches including plenty of churches (40%) that do not consider themselves "seeker-focused" or "seeker-friendly."... Here are several quotes based on partial or incorrect information:
* World magazine; November 10, 2007: “‘We made a mistake’. Bill Hybels... on a study that showed the Willow Creek model had not produced spiritually mature Christians.”
* Bob Burney, Townhall; October 30, 2007: “The report reveals that what they’ve been doing for these many years and what they’ve taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ…Numbers, yes, but not disciples….”
* H.B. London, The Pastor’s Weekly Briefing; November 9, 2007: “Hybels goes on to say ‘If you simply want a crowd, the “seeker sensitive” model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it’s a bust.” Bill Hybels did not say this. Focus on the Family is printing a retraction.
(Be sure to read the entire statement from Willow Creek about REVEAL.)
Sociologist Bradley Wright blogged an 11 part series about the REVEAL study, starting with a review of "Reveal: Where are You?", to analyze the research methodology of using church surveys. Futuristguy is getting reading to dig deeper into his own study and analysis, as he shared his initial reaction and why this is worthwhile in Preparing my own self-study on Willow Creek and Reveal.
And the REVEAL study is starting to get air-play on the radio airwaves. Yesterday, Scot McKnight (author of The Jesus Creed) and David Fitch (author of The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and Other Modern Maladies) were interviewed on WMBI radio (ht: Bill Kinnon) David Fitch added this postscript after the radio show, The WMBI REVEAL Interview: What I Would Have Said If I Had had the Chance. Scot McKnight in Willow’s Reveal Study, added his main responses to the major criticisms that are circulating about Willow’s Reveal study.
--- DJ Chuang, Director of Digital Initiatives and Asian American Churches
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