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seeking to understand what God is doing in the Church today

40+ years of applied research

Applied Research is at the heart of all we do at the Emmanuel Gospel Center. This timeline illustrates our track record of 40+ years of applied research at EGC informing and strengthening ministries and leading to all kinds of good fruit. 

The reports pictured immediately above and below the yellow timeline represent major studies undertaken by the Center since the mid-1960s. The pictures and diagrams surrounding these reports represent the various ministries and activities that have sprung from or have been supported by the research. The blue ovals and rectangles show the impact resulting from this work. See interactive flash image...

What we do

Research is an integral part of EGC. We work with area urban churches and para-church organizations to identify priority community needs; facilitate the development of strategies for church and para-church ministry response to these needs; build church and para-church ministry capacity to engage in these strategies; and launch partnership initiatives using these strategies and capacities.

Our research staff has an appreciation of the methodology and value of applied research, familiarity with basic sources of data (including demographic data and other local and national data on community needs and faith-based activities), extensive experience in community listening (frequently we use a facilitated method that utilizes hexagons) and learning teams, and access to pastors and church leaders.

What is applied research?

Applied research describes any original work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge, or translate existing knowledge, with a specific application in view. But, in our experience, it is actually far more. Applied research…

• is a proven approach to community research which assumes that solutions to community issues can be found within the community.
• means working with the community to deepen understanding of the issues, obtain new information, clearly articulate the issues, and assist those affected to develop and implement an appropriate response.
• is about engaging in a conversation that leads to deeper understanding and positive appreciation of the people and issues involved. This understanding and appreciation is needed to develop responses that make sense both to those seeking to serve and those being served.
• leads to better ministry which leads to positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.

See the Applied Research Tree, illustrating how fruitful ministry grows from research.

Watch a fun video about applied research!

Research in the ministry context

EGC uses applied research to understand both the changing needs of urban communities and the resources and programs we can offer to support urban churches in their work. In addition, churches ask EGC to provide them with information and program models so they can make decisions and do their work more effectively. Our many years of experience have given EGC an understanding of how to work with churches to design well-planned and sustainable ministries that positively impact low-income urban community systems. Many churches look to EGC, rather than to secular or other sources, for this kind of support because we understand how churches operate, have developed strong relationships in the urban church community, have a strong track record of service, and know how to communicate our findings and recommendations effectively to pastors and church leaders. Because of this, church leaders trust that EGC will keep their best interests at heart.

Publishing what we are learning

Many of our findings are published in the Emmanuel Research Review.

General Guide to Research 

        Our General Guide is a helpful and comprehensive gateway to finding information on any subject using links to the variety of sources and tools available on the web. It provides links to demographic information.

Examples of our research

• The Boston Church Directory. EGC has been documenting the changing face of churches in Boston since 1970. In analyzing the various editions of the directory, a trend was identified that EGC has labeled “The Quiet Revival.” The data collected in these studies indicates that despite popular perception which indicates that churches in Boston are on the decline, the number of churches in Boston has grown significantly in the last 35 years. This growth has gone unnoticed because it has occurred largely in non-white, ethnic churches and communities.
   
• New England’s Book of Acts. In preparation for the Intercultural Leadership Consultation in October of 2007, EGC collaborated with various groups within the church to compile stories, articles, and resources from numerous people groups and ministries that help tell the story of what God is doing in New England. For some groups, we updated and expanded reports that were written for the previous Multicultural Consultation of 2002. For other groups not covered in 2002, we opened a new chapter that we hope will continue to grow. The 2007 New England’s Book of Acts compiles key stories and articles of the ongoing work of God through a sampling of the ethnic and immigrant churches of Greater Boston from 1965 to 2007. Read and download New England’s Book of Acts (pdf) ...
   
• Boston’s Book of Acts. A multicultural initiative began with a request from a local pastor to understand the vision of church leaders from diverse ethnic communities. Emmanuel Gospel Center convened a diverse committee of individuals from 14 different ethnic groups (including Chinese, Korean, Hispanic, Haitian, African), and planned a Multicultural Leadership Consultation on November 9, 2002. At this consultation, EGC presented a working study called Boston’s Book of Acts. This study built upon EGC’s past research on “The Quiet Revival” (mentioned above) and explored the development of ethnic churches and communities as documented members of the different groups. Also at the consultation, information was gathered on church development, social concerns (e.g., resettlement and youth issues) and visions for the future of each community.
   
• Educating Urban Christians in the 21st Century. In 1997, EGC researched for The Pew Charitable Trust how to make seminary education more accessible for urban Christians. What we found, however, was that urban Christians were not going to college, let alone seminary, and that increasing access to higher education in urban communities was much more pressing than improving seminary education.  Based on this research, we formed a 5-year partnership with the Nellie Mae Foundation and established church-based Higher Education Resource Centers (HERCs) in Boston (two sites), Brockton, Lawrence and Worcester. HERCs provide information and academic enrichment to help local community members (whether affiliated with the church or not) to gain access to higher education.