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The Foster Letter —

Religious Market Update

The FOSTER Letter is a bi-weekly e-mail publication targeted to Christian market channel and ministry leaders.  Each issue reports on news, trends, events and research that will directly or indirectly impact your audiences and businesses. Informed leaders make better choices!

Researched, Edited & Published by Gary D. Foster

Excerpts from the

January 25, 2007 edition of

The FOSTER Letter—Religious Market Update

ATM for Books The Espresso, a $50,000 vending machine with a conceivably infinite library will debut in 10-25 libraries and bookstores in ’07. The parent company, On Demand Books, has crafted the device to print, align, mill, glue and bind 2 books simultaneously in less than 7 minutes, including full-color laminated covers. It prints any language and will even accommodate right-to-left texts by putting the spine on the right. Initially the page count limit is 550 pages. There are approximately 2.5 million books available (about 1 million in English no longer under copyright). On Demand accesses the titles through Google and Open Content Alliance among others. The company optimistically predicts that within 5 years they will be able to reproduce every volume ever printed. (Fortune Small Business 12/06-1/07) 

Evangelism Vs. Outreach A new Ellison Research study finds 39% of U.S. pastors aren’t highly interested in offering more community outreach programs. They prefer to focus on their own congregation and on spiritual needs rather than physical needs. Other problems common to at least half of all churches include lacking sufficient volunteers (58%), sufficient staff (56%), sufficient lay leaders (52%) and sufficient funds (50%). Despite the lack of interest for increased community outreach, 97% of churches report doing something specifically for the purpose of evangelism over the past year. (Facts & Trends 1-2/07)

Power of Thank You A total 35% of workers and 30% of CFOs polled in Accountemps research cited frequent recognition of worker accomplishments as the most effective non-monetary means of motivating employees. Regular communication was ranked second by 20% of employees and 36% of CFOs. “No amount of team-building events or other perks can compensate for a manager personally thanking employees for a job well done,” said Max Messmer, Accountemps Chairman. “Individuals want to know their work is appreciated and makes a difference.” (Colorado Springs Business Journal Daily, 1/18/07) 

Get It Right or Lose More than 90% of online shoppers abandon a web store after 3 or fewer unsuccessful efforts to complete a purchase. 75% of online shoppers complain web sites generally load to slow, and more than half will switch to a competitor’s site when this happens. (Internet Retailer 1/07) 

Consumer Status Lifestyles Transient Lifestyles-Consumers are being driven more by experiences, entertainment, discovery, fighting boredom, increasingly transient lifestyles and freeing themselves from the hassles of permanent ownership and possessions. Participative Lifestyles- Younger consumers view participation as the new consumption. For these creatives, status comes from finding an appreciative audience (similar to how brands operate). Connecting Lifestyles-In a post-material world, all that’s left to covet is…. other people? It’s all about who you connect to and who wants to connect to you, tribal-style. Eco-Lifestyles-Millions of consumers now actively try to be eco-responsible. (Trend Briefing 1/07) 

Who Makes Teens Happy? Mom makes them happy, say 91% of tweens and 77% of teens. Friends (85%), Grandma (69%) and Dad (67%) round out the top 4 people who make youth happy. (Center for Media Research 1/16/07) 

Media Shift Predicted In ‘07 we'll see the start of a massive migration away from marketing budgets and promotion, and a dramatic trend toward certain forms of consumer media, especially the kind that can stimulate buzz and generate traffic, both online and in stores. (Media 12/06)

 Customer Pain At least 85% of U.S. consumers have had a negative experience with a company so dreadful they’ve yelled, cursed, hit, and broken things, gotten headaches, felt their chests tighten, and even cried. Only 3% claim they’ve never had a negative experience with a company. (CRM 1/07) 

Christianity’s Global Shift Gordon-Conwell’s Center for the Study of Global Christianity says 62% of the world’s 2 billion Christians live in Africa, Asia and Latin America, a percentage destined to rise. Compared with Westerners, Penn State’s historian Philip Jenkins observes, younger churches demonstrate “much greater respect for the authority of Scripture, especially in matters of morality; …a special interest in supernatural elements of Scripture, such as miracles, visions, and healings; a belief in the continuing power of prophecy; and a veneration of the Old Testament. The Bible speaks to everyday, real-world issues of poverty and debt, famine and urban crisis, racial and gender oppression, state brutality and persecution, and situations where pestilence and extreme poverty promote awareness of the transience of life.” Meanwhile, Western Christians face pressure to interpret the Bible in terms of secular trends in an age of doubt and secularism. (AP 1/7/07) 

Boomers Moving About 6% of American boomers aged 55-64 move each year, reports the National Association of Home Builders. Some change addresses when the nest empties or an early retirement beckons. Others want to reduce upkeep or spend time traveling. Whatever the motive, some experts see a shift under way. Many Boomers have an adventurous spirit, following careers, following dreams. Are you adapting to this shift? (Christian Science Monitor 1/11/07)

 The Real Christian Divorce Rate It’s commonly believed Christian marriages end in divorce just as often as non-Christian, but according to University of Connecticut’s Bradley Wright, using reliable General Social Survey data, this is not true. Christians, especially those who frequently attend church, have relatively low divorce rates. The divorce rate among Christians that attend church once or more per week is 32% vs. 41% among all Christians and 48% among non-Christians. The church is making a difference! (http://brewright.blogspot.com 12.19/06) 

Generation Next One in 5 18-25 year-olds say they have no religious affiliation, are atheist or agnostic, nearly double the percentage of the late ‘80s. Just 32% attend church at least once a week vs. 40% of those over age 25. Only 4% say people in their generation view becoming more spiritual as their most important goal in life. 63% of Nexters believe all life, including humans, evolved over time, while only 33% say all living creatures have existed in their present form since the beginning of time. 14% say they most admire an entertainer rather than a political leader; only 6% named spiritual leaders. Theirs is the most tolerant generation on social issues such as immigration, race and homosexuality. (Pew Forum Weekly Update 1/11/07) 

For the First Time, more American women are living without a husband than with one. In ‘05, 51% of women were living without a spouse, up from 35% percent in 1950 and 49% in ‘00. Census Bureau data found only 30% of black women are living with a spouse, vs. 49% of Hispanic women, 55% of non-Hispanic white women, and more than 60% of Asian women. Among the more than 117 million women over the age of 15, 63 million are married. Of those, 3.1 million are legally separated, and husbands of 2.4 million are not living at home. That brings the number of American women actually living with a spouse to 57.5 million, compared with the 59.9 million who are single or whose husbands were not living at home in ‘05. (NY Times 1/16/07) 

International Bible Society and Send the Light have announced their intent to merge the two organizations by 3/1/07. The merged organization will be called IBS-STL and Keith Danby, STL CEO will assume the position of global CEO for the blended organization. David Passman will be President of IBS/STL USA. (CBA Industry Brief 1/15/07) 

Billy Graham, 88, ranked #5 in Gallup’s latest poll of most admired people in the world. He set a record by being in the top 10 for the 50th time. Graham has preached to over 210 million people around the world. (Various sources 1/07)  

House Churches A Barna Group study finds 68% of house church attenders are “completely satisfied” with the faith commitment, leadership and level of community in their fellowship. In contrast, just 49% of those attending traditional churches hold this view. Among all U.S. church attenders, 74% attend only a conventional church, 5% attend only a house church and, 19% do both. The other 2% are part of groups not considered to be either. It is estimated 20 million Americans attend a house church in a typical week. Most (80%) of house churches meet weekly; usually on Wednesday (27%) or Sunday (25%). The typical gathering lasts about 2 hours, averages 20 people, and 64% involve children. They’ve been active in their current gathering for a year or less, say 75%. (Barna Update 1/8/07)

 Thankfulness Vs. Materialism Harris Interactive researchers sought to provide a more accurate portrait of materialistic youth by examining the role of thankfulness in offsetting the negative social effects of materialism. They found increasing materialism among youth does not immediately translate into less generous behavior; rather, gratitude plays an important role in influencing their level of generosity. Youth (ages 8 to 18) who are materialistic but not thankful or appreciative for the things they have, are less likely to be generous. (Center for Media Research 1/16/07) 

LifeChurch.tv has been named the most innovative church in America by Outreach magazine. More than 18,000 people attend weekly at 9 campuses in Oklahoma, Arizona, Texas and Tennessee via live satellite and over the Internet. Founded by Pastor Craig Groeschel, it is the largest congregation in the Evangelical Covenant Church. (Outreach 12/06-1/07) 

Women Fans More and more women are watching the world’s top sporting events, according to Initiative Sports Futures research. They’re behind a good part of the growth in the top events. In some countries, women account for more than half the viewing for some major events. Celebrity sports figures are a key driver. (Media Life 1/18/07) 

RFIDs for Humans Under the federally supported National Animal Identification System, digital tags are expected to be affixed to the U.S.’s 40 million farm animals to enable regulators to track and respond quickly to disease, bioterrorism, and other calamities. Is this a forerunner of a similar system for humans? The theory: Test it on the animals first, demonstrating the viability of the radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) to monitor each animal’s movements and health history from birth to death, and then move on to people. Too far out? Kevin McGrath heads Digital Angel, a small growing company that makes RFID chips for animals…and people. Scott Silverman heads VeriChip Corp., a company that sells the rice-size people chips, the only ones with FDA approval for implantation in an individual’s right biceps with an identity marker linked to medical records. His goal: to create “the first RFID company for people.” Both are moving aggressively toward the day when chips in animals and people are the norm. They’re already selling infant and Alzheimer patient ID bracelets with an RFID for hospital use. Adoption of the chips doesn’t necessarily need to be legislated to become nearly universal. If enough hospitals and insurance companies begin requiring them, or treat patients wearing them more expeditiously than nonusers, or provide discounts for usage of the chips, they well could become the norm. (Business Week Online 1/11/07)

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