Survey of Anabaptist Life and Thought to be Conducted

In 1972, researchers Howard Kauffman and Leland Harder opened a new window of understanding into Anabaptist faith and practice when they surveyed members from Mennonite, Church of the Brethren, and Brethren in Christ churches about their faith and Christian practices. The study, entitled Church Member Profile I (CMP), was repeated in 1989, and findings from both projects were published by Herald Press as Anabaptists Four Centuries Later: A Profile of Five Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Denominations (1975) and The Mennonite Mosaic: Identity and Modernization (1991).

Much has changed since these studies were conducted and it is important to update the profile of the BIC Church. Now the CMP is being carried out for a third time in cooperation with the Mennonite Church USA and the Church of the Brethren. Donald Kraybill of the Young Center of Elizabethtown College is serving as the senior project director, and Ron Burwell, professor of sociology at Messiah College, is directing the BIC portion of the project.

Project leaders from the three denominations have developed a questionnaire after substantial consultation with hundreds of persons from within each denomination including scholars, church leaders, and pastors. Questionnaires will be mailed in late February to 1,300 individuals whose names were randomly selected from the membership rolls of 50 BIC churches in the U.S. and Canada.

“We are eager for the BIC voice to come through loud and clear in the 2006 study,” Rebekah Basinger, director of congregational relations, states. “The information gleaned through the Church Member Profile will help place our churches within a wider context and will be helpful as we focus on starting and sustaining healthy congregations.”

The 2006 CMP includes questions from the previous surveys, along with newly developed questions that reflect issues of relevance to today’s churches. The survey looks at the respondent’s faith story, devotional practices, religious beliefs, family life and background, congregational involvement, evangelism, political views, and more.

**<<Return to Momentum home>>**

WELCOME