A Samford University professor soon could publish one of the most comprehensive studies of Southern Baptist worship practices in decades, but he will need the help of Alabama Baptists to do it.
Jonathan Rodgers, assistant professor of music and worship at Samford, is aiming to survey 10–15% of Southern Baptist churches in Alabama (some 226–340) regarding the elements in their worship services. The survey will occur in May and yield a report released in the fall. He hopes churches will cooperate by filling out the survey.
The study “could be encouraging in some ways and also informative in other ways,” Rodgers noted. “On the Samford front, it helps us know the landscape of churches, especially Southern Baptist churches. Not all of our students are Southern Baptists or will go to Southern Baptist churches, but many of them will. We need to know the landscape” and the resources necessary to serve.
Worship elements
Survey participants will indicate the elements present in their worship services and who leads corporate worship. The survey will include approximately 50 questions and take about 20 minutes to complete, Rodgers said. Most will be completed online, though paper copies will be mailed and a team will attempt to complete surveys by phone in some cases.
The study could stay open beyond the end of May, depending on the response rate. When it closes, Rodgers will travel the state to complete 20–30 interviews of church leaders, with open-ended questions about their worship services. He plans to unveil his report by the annual meeting of the Alabama Baptist State Convention in November.
The research is funded by a grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Rodgers’ survey could be groundbreaking among studies of Southern Baptist worship practices. In 2022, Will Bishop of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary surveyed 127 Southern Baptist congregations about their worship practices. He found that Chris Tomlin is the most common composer of songs sung in Southern Baptist churches, with Fanny Crosby coming in second. But Bishop’s sample was not large enough to be representative.
One of the last large-scale studies of Southern Baptist worship now is too old to be helpful, occurring in 1938. At that time the Southern Baptist Convention’s Baptist Sunday School Board (precursor to Lifeway Christian Resources) surveyed nearly 1,400 of the approximately 29,000 Southern Baptist churches, focusing on practical concerns like music budgets and composition of musical ensembles.
Taking a ‘snapshot’
A dustup last year over Lifeway’s plans to shut down its Lifeway Worship website illustrated the lack of accurate research on contemporary worship practices, Rodgers noted. After stating it would shut down the lifewayworship.com website in July, the SBC’s publishing house reversed course two months later in response to an outcry from churches. Lifeway Worship provides arrangements, charts, sheet music and other resources.
“Based on [Lifeway’s] data, the need was not there” for Lifeway Worship, Rodgers wrote in his grant proposal. “But they quickly discovered after intentional conversations, focus groups and networking dialogues that the need for their resources was/is still there.
“I think data from this research would help provide a small snapshot of the landscape for those wondering about what is working, what isn’t, where there are needs to continue providing existing resources — and where there are not — and where there are needs for new resources and training.”
But Rodgers said his research isn’t just for publishers, universities and seminaries, adding he hopes the new study will expand the horizons of all church leaders — because their opinions of worship music tend to develop in echo chambers.
Connecting with others
“Sometimes it’s easy to get really insulated and siloed,” Rodgers acknowledged. “You do what you do at your place and you don’t connect with other leaders. You don’t attend conferences or workshops to get a sense of what’s going on.”
Yet to get accurate data, Rodgers needs participation. So how will he get Alabama Baptist leaders to answer the questions?
“We’re just hoping out of the goodness of people’s hearts” they will fill out the survey, he said. “Samford wants to know what churches are doing so we can resource future leaders that are going into the churches. Help us help you.”
Alabama Baptists should look for online announcements of the survey May 1, in The Alabama Baptist and The Baptist Paper as well as on Samford’s website and through social media.
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