The new church start pastor should have some awareness of the nature of the community and sense of mission before he or she arrives. For example, a pastor sent to a typical growing suburban setting will already know that he or she will not be starting a City Center ministry. A pastor sent to a retirement community will not expect to start a Gen X church. The new church start pastor will have basic knowledge, but refinement of that knowledge will make the new start more effective. The conference/district will also have certain expectations about the new church start.

A new church start will not succeed to its full potential if it tries to be a "one-size-fits-all" ministry.The most effective ministry happens when the ministry style connects with the people it is intended to reach. This means understanding who is there, deciding which people groups to target, and doing it. "Build it and they will come" is not a safe assumption. Large churches can offer multiple ministries to connect with multiple people groups. Small churches and new church starts need to be selective, given their limited resources.

In marketing terms, defining people groups is called segmentation. There are countless ways to segment — by gender, age, race, income, lifestyle, interests, musical tastes, and so on. Furthermore, we can combine categories to define very specific segments. In assessing the community, the more precise we are, the better equipped we are to reach one or more of the segments. The process of choosing which segment(s) to focus ministry is called targeting.

One of the most basic requirements for knowing the community is defining the boundaries of the community. The conference/district should have provided some guidance on this. No community is perfectly homogeneous; but the wider the boundaries are, the more diversity you will find. Sometimes new church starts are given specific marching orders in defining the geography of the community, such as when a parcel of land has already been purchased. At other times, there is more flexibility. Important factors in defining the community dimensions include natural boundaries such as freeways, preexisting boundaries such as city limits and school districts, clear demographic demarcations, local media circulation, population density distribution, and church resources available for outreach.

When getting to know the community, there is no substitute for time on the ground meeting people and circulating. Demographics can be very helpful, though. In using the demographics, the first challenge is to match the boundaries of your community to the demographic boundaries available. Common demographic units include counties, zip codes, census tracts, and block groups. Some demographic providers can work with a three- or five-mile radius; but to do so, they use statistical "fudging" to adapt the block group data. If the demographic provider cannot match the exact boundaries, the information is still useful — if the user makes an effort to compensate for the differences in geography. Thematic maps, based on block groups, can provide clarification of how boundaries affect various demographic variables.

Standard demographic categories include age, income, population, race, ethnicity, education, marital status, number of children, owner versus rental households, type of employment, commute times, and frequency of moves, among others. Assembling this information can give a vital view of what types of people live near the proposed church site. Although it is not possible to ask for each of these categories as a subset of the community (for example, "What is the income distribution of unmarried households with two children?"), you can still get a good sense of the characteristics of the community as a whole.

Another demographic tool is the lifestyle cluster. This is a sort of "created stereotyping" done by demographics marketing companies. It classifies people by their demographics and by their interests and how they spend their time and money. The cluster descriptions are generated by sophisticated computer software and are remarkably useful. Both Percept and the Research Office of the General Board of Global Ministries provide these clusters for study areas, but in different formats. Both providers get their data from a company called Claritas, which supports Microvision and Prizm clusters. Microvision, used by Percept, has 50 clusters. The Research Office uses Prizm, which has 62 clusters.

Lifestyle cluster information has the added benefit of giving insightful information on such characteristics as music preference, recreational activities, magazines read, TV programs watched, and worldview issues. All these can contribute to a clearer understanding of the type of people living around the church site. Additionally, the Research Office of the General Board of Global Ministries offers recommendations for ministry in the areas of worship, church school, and outreach.

The schools should be visited to get a sense of what the current numbers of children and youth are and what the schools anticipate them to be. Are there patterns in the enrollment changes? What is causing these? The other churches in the community should be visited. How strong are they, and who do they serve? Are there segments of people who could be served by a United Methodist Church? Demographics can offer some idea of the percentage of unchurched people in the area.

Church planters need to become as knowledgeable as possible about who lives in the target community and how they might be defined or segmented. This information should be considered in light of the founding pastor's gifts, talents, experience, skills, and training. The key is to determine how to best match the ministry resources to the segment (audience) that is most appropriate. In other words, what people group is present in significant numbers with needs that the new church might meet?

The founding pastor should not be expected to have to cross too many cultural barriers to connect with a segment of people. For example, it may become clear that in the community there is a substantial unreached group of young, single Gen Exers. A married Baby Boomer pastor with children may not be the best person to connect with this audience.

The spiritual dimension is crucial and should form the foundation for all other considerations. Those associated with founding the new work need to be in prayer throughout this discernment process. God may give them a distinct sense of calling to reach a certain audience. This is really the essence of what should be happening. God sometimes does this as information is processed; however, unless a clear revelation is given, the data research is recommended as well.

John H. Southwick is the (Acting) Director of Research, General Board of Global Ministries, New York, New York. For more information go to http://research.gbgm-umc.org or e-mail John at jsouthw@gbgm-umc.org.