Science
in Christian PerspectiveScience
in Christian Perspective
Research, A Key to Renewal*
EDWARD R. DAYTON
Director, Missions Advanced Research & Communication Center
919
W. Huntington
Drive Monrovia, California 91016
From: JASA 21 (March 1969): 15-17.
It is the purpose of this paper to make a plea for additional research into the operational life of the church, to describe the type of information and research center that might be useful in carrying out such research, and to describe briefly the work of the Missions Advanced Research and Communication Center in Monrovia, California.
THE NEED FOR APPLIED RESEARCH
It is paradoxical that the Protestant church, and in particular, the American
Protestant church, has lagged in doing systematized research on the
effectiveness
of its own operations. In a society which is characterized by its emphasis on
feedback and its glorification of the new and changing, little has
been done descriptively
to place the church in the society in which it finds itself. This applies not
only to those church members and leaders who come out of a
nonscientific background,
but it is also true for that part of the scientific community which
calls itself Christian. A review of ASA Journals of the past few years adequately makes the
point. There is considerable concern for a scientific approach to
geology, anthropology,
linguistics, and the nature of man. There is a good amount of discussion about
the spirit and the body of man. But in this writer's view, there is a dearth of
discussion about the church and how it is operationally to face the
world in which
it finds itself.
The explanation for this is manifold. In a paper prepared for the
March 1967 edition
of the journal, I attempted to trace one cause of secular/spiritual dichotomy
back to the initial split in the church caused by the introduction of
the Darwinian
theory into scientific teaching. It is also a reaction against the preoccupation of the "liberal" wing of the church with the
social salvation
of mankind. (Even here we find very little research into what the
church is really
accomplishing and what is its impact in the world,) A
third explanation for this operational separation between the church and its
society' lies in an inadequate theology of creation and of man. The result is
a modern version of gnosticism in which the world is equated with worldliness
and the operation of the church is viewed from a spiritual (other
worldly) view.
But the church is, after all, a social organization - social
organization hopefully
designed to interact with all the social systems that surround it. It
is purposeful
in its nature. Paul's model of the human body as a description of the church is
much closer to the systems engineer's description of life than that
of the organization
chart mentality which is so prevalent in many ecclesiastical organizations. The
total system called "the body" is made up of a large number
of subsystems-circulatory',
respiratory, digestive, nervous -all of which must operate properly
for the health
of the entire body. If one attempted to draw an organization chart
for this body,
instead of the typical pyramid which is the favorite of most
organizational leaders,
we would find a broad-based rectangle with a single head dominating
the whole.
God has placed His church in the world to carry out His will. Even as we state
this, we should face the fact that the Bible places two contradictory
facts side
by side. On the one hand, we have is clear description of the fact that through
mans preaching of the good news, God puts men right with himself, It is left up
to man, On the other hand, we have the many statements that God will bring men
to Himself. He will bring glory' to Himself. He needs no man. It is
iay personal
opinion that carrying these two concepts in tension through life is
part of what
faith is all about. When we try to understand what motivates men's hearts, when
we seek to find better information and communication systems with
which to impart
the good news, when we try to create feedback systems which will help
us to measure
our own effectiveness, we are not trying "to do the work of the
Holy Spirit,"
but only acting under God with the tools that He has placed in our hands.
The life of the church is filled with organizations devoted to missions of one
type or another - evangelism, social concern, schools, medical
assistance, all types
of social welfare programs. More than 500 Protestant North American
mission agencies
have some 35,000 missionaries overseas. Somewhere between 8300 million and 8400
million is invested yearly in overseas missions. Over one billion
dollars is spent
each year in the United States for the construction of church
buildings. And yet
it is doubtful that more than 8200,000 a year is being spent by the
entire Protestant
church in trying to uncover God's strategy for today's world-to carry out the
type of applied research that most of the people in this audience are convinced
is a vital part of life and progress.
Here are some illustrations: Between 1925 and
1967 there was no comprehensive encyclopedia of Protestant missions printed in
the world. The Missionary Research Library, which was begun in 1914 with such
high purpose, soon lost the support of the mission organizations who
helped found
it. A great many' hooks have been written by missionary theologians
in an attempt
to define the purpose of "missions" or "mission"
or "evangelism,"
but even within vital mission associations there has been little
meaningful analysis
of total strategy. Not one large mission organization in twenty has
assigned anyone
to do applied research of the kind most organizations find imperative to their very life.
It is almost as though it said somewhere in the Bible that when one considers the task of evangelizing a lost world, one should switch to a completely non-rational approach to the problem.
The average churchman, missionary committee member, and even some
mission executives,
have only scant knowledge of which organizations are working where.
In Latin America
the Pentecostal church is growing many times faster than the population. In the
Naga Hills of Assam, India, the Nagaland church believes that all of the people
of that area have been evangelized. In Indonesia the growth of the
church is phenomenal,
In Thailand Christianity has had no effect after a hundred years of
evangelization.
In Japan the church is viewed as something outside the Japanese culture and of
little importance to that country. Yet, few people are asking "Why?"
and even those with normally scientific approaches to problems are willing to
"leave it in the hands of the Holy Spirit." This is equally true of
the work which they are personally supporting. It is almost as though it said
somewhere in the Bible that when one considers the task of evangelizing a lost
world, one should switch to a completely non-ratioual approach to the problem.
Let me be quick to say that I am making no brief for some mechanistic' solution
to the task of the chords or the problems of the world. If a strong case can be
made for applied research in the church, it is only because of the tremendous
imbalance that now exists.
There is a need for a network of socio-religious research centers
around the world
which will "tell it as it is," as the young people say',
and which will
act as switching points for information between those who are involved in the
task of the church. The Roman Catholic socio-religious research
centers have been
brought together in a loosely knit organization known as FERES (International
Federation of Institutes for Social and Socio-religious Research).
They have been
boldly examining their own program, reviewing the work of both the
Catholic church
and the Protestant church. The work is carried out at a high academic level with
good documentation.
It is available to all who are interested. There are also a number of isolated
Protestant research centers around the world. Some of these are
engaged in purposeful
applied research, others are operating at what might be considered a
solely theological
level. As far as we know, the Missions Advanced Research and
Communication Center,
which is a division of World Vision International in Monrovia, California, is
the only Protestant organization in the United States that is
attempting to specifically
apply today's tools of research and today's information and
communication systems
to the work of the church worldwide.
WHAT TYPE OF RESEARCH CENTER?
How would one describe all ideal Christian research center?
1) First, it should be goal oriented. It should have thought through
the ultimate
theological reasons for its existence, and should then be judging the worth of
its present and anticipated programs ill light of this goal.
2) Second, it should enter the problem at an operational level with a problem solving approach.
3) Third, it should be able to communicate with and operate within not only the
academic community but also the ecclesiastical and the industrial.
4) Fourth, it should be able to articulate the results of its research.
.5) Fifth, it should be at home with oil the tools
of industrial, social, and psychological research.
6) Sixth, and obviously most important, it should
be staffed by men competent in their callings
and dedicated to bringing their skills and energies to bear for the
glory of God.
What kind of staff is needed? This, of course, is dependent on where it begins.
However, there is a synergistic quality about research teams. The
right combination
and content of skills and personalities produces results far beyond
the sum total
of the parts. It accomplishes little to put one good man to work
unless you plan
to support him. Sociologists, social anthropologists, information
theorists, systems
engineers, computer analysts, long-range planners, operational
managers, theologians-men
who love Cod and righteousness and are willing to be honest with the past and
truthful for the future-are all needed.
MARC has officially been in operation for over two years. Let me describe some
of our programs:
-An in-depth survey of the 9200 delegates to
the IVCF triennial missionary conference at Urbana, Illinois. Done in
association
with the Fuller Theological Seminary Schools of Psychology and World Mission, this study promises to provide new insights into the
motivations of Christian youth with a view toward leading them to
Christian service.
-The design of an action/ motivation probe for the local church. By
using a standardized
question format we are able to provide the local church with a
low-cost analysis
of its membership.
-An information study of the country of Brazil. More than 2600
missionaries have
been queried as to their goals and accountability. Statistics on local church
growth over a ten-year period for every Protestant, Roman Catholic,
and spiritist
congregation are being analyzed. A directory of all mission agencies operating
in Brazil has been compiled. A survey of church-related institutions in Brazil
is now under way.
-A joint project with the School of World Mission at Fuller
Theological Seminary
surveying factors present in the conversion experience and in the
spiritual maturing
of Christians. A computer analysis program is available and the
approach is being
refined.
-A survey of some 1600 religious organizations on their use of electronic data
processing.
-A survey of information systems in the local church and the role of
the computer
in making the church more effective in its ministry.
-The computer assembling of a new directory of
North American Protestant Ministries Overseas
for the Missionary Research Library with data on most U.S. and Canadian mission
agencies and their fields of operation.
-The beginning of a computerized abstracting and information retrieval service
for current mission research.
-The publication of various papers dealing with technical planning
and a systems
approach to the mission task of the church.
-The establishment of ties with ethers involved in socio-religious research.
We are not interested in becoming the great Protestant research and
communication
center in the U.S. We are interested in becoming a model for applied research
operations in many other Christian organizations.
CONCLUSION
God has entrusted some men with skills and training particularly suited for the
needs of His church. When we understand that these are to be used for
His glory,
then renewal of His church will begin. Research is one key to that renewal.
REFERENCES
E. H. Dayton, Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation,
19,27 (1967).
*Paper presented at ASA Convention, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 23, 1968.