By: Kenn Dixon, M.A., CDMP, APR
My PhD dissertation analysis across 25 Texas churches over 24 months revealed a clear pattern: churches are communicating, but not effectively—at least not if the goal is community engagement, attendance growth, and new disciples.
Below is the distilled story the data tells. The full published manuscript will be available in mid-2026. I will share the link when it is online. 🙂
1. Churches Are Posting Regularly—but Mostly to Themselves
Many churches believe frequency equals effectiveness.
But when the type of content is analyzed, the picture shifts dramatically.
Across the sample:
- Most posts were internal.
- Most livestream content was internal.
- Most website updates were internal.
- Most announcements were internal.
Only a small percentage of content targeted the community or spoke to their needs.
Internal Content Dominated Across Categories
Coded themes showed:
- Worship/Spiritual Life – high frequency
- Church Community (internal life) – high frequency
- Administrative announcements – extremely high frequency
- Event promotion – high frequency
- Community service/outreach – lowest of all five categories
The irony is striking:
The content category with the most potential for external engagement was the least used.
2. Channel Count Matters—A Lot
One of the clearest findings:
Churches that used 3 or more communication channels consistently exhibited stronger engagement patterns.
Churches using only:
- Facebook + pulpit announcements
- or
- A website + Sabbath livestream
…showed weaker community ties.
This aligns directly with Media Multiplexity Theory:
More channels = stronger relational ties.
Fewer channels = weaker ties.
3. Event Promotion Has Almost Zero Correlation With Baptisms
This is one of the most important insights for pastors and church leaders.
Data correlation tables revealed:
- Event promotion posts did not significantly predict baptisms.
- Outreach-themed content did not directly correlate with conversion rates.
- Even worship-themed content had only moderate relational effects.
Programs alone do not bring people in.
People bring people in.
Relationships bring people in.
Consistency across channels builds those relationships.
4. The Data Shows Churches Are Not Reaching Beyond Their Walls
Livestream view counts, average post engagement, share rates, and comments all pointed to one reality:
Churches are reaching members, not neighbors.
This is not a failure—it is feedback.
The content is not positioned for outsiders.
The channels are not calibrated for them.
The messaging is not contextualized for them.
5. Churches That Use Video Well Perform Better
AvgViewCount, AvgPostEngage, and LivestreamUse all revealed high correlations with broader engagement. These acronyms will make sense when you see the full report…lol.
Specifically:
- Video content increases relational closeness.
- Livestream consistency increases trust and predictability.
- Sermon clips perform better than long-form uploads.
- Videos featuring people outperform videos featuring events.
Churches that treat YouTube as a channel of ministry—not just an archive—show stronger community awareness.
6. Attendance Growth Is Associated with Multichannel Engagement
Within the data, a positive correlation was found between channel count and attendance growth.
It doesn’t guarantee growth—but it strongly predicts greater growth potential.
Churches with stagnant channels had stagnant attendance.
Churches with fewer channels had fewer opportunities for relational touchpoints.
7. Churches Are Producing Content—But Not Strategy
The biggest takeaway:
Churches are busy.
Churches are active.
Churches are posting.
But churches are not strategic.
The data suggests that most content is reactive:
- Announcements about events
- Last-minute promotions
- Weekly worship reminders
- Pastoral messages to members
- Volunteer requests
None of these are inherently wrong. But none of them are designed to reach the unchurched. If the church wants to engage its community, communication must shift from informing insiders to inviting outsiders.
