Rapid Ethnographic Assessment for Ministry Purposes

Rapid Ethnography allows missions practitioners the ability to enter a community and engage with stakeholders to set a foundation for church planting.

Are you in the dreaming phase of something that God has laid on your heart? A church plant, a new outreach, a new ministry? Over the next few weeks I want to introduce you a Qualitative Research approach that is a game changer to starting new ministries called Rapid Ethnographic Assessment Process (REAP)

What is Rapid Ethnography?

REAP is a short research project (14–90 days) using the tools of Ethnography like observation, interviews, and narrative analysis. You may wonder why it’s even worth your time to think about, let alone do? I liken a REAP process to a new startup asking for a loan. Do investors jump at entrepreneurs without a business plan or market analysis? No, they politely show them the door! One of the many benefits of a REAP is giving you an analysis of where your idea (like your new church plant) fits into the community. It’s a soft sell to your target group on what will thrive in the community and what obstacles you may face.

Rapid Ethnography Helps Meet People

One of the key takeaways you will receive from a REAP is the ability to enter a new community for evangelism. Entry involves engaging a new population segment (ethnically, linguistically, socially, economically) with the gospel. The easiest way to enter a community is through the narrative of the city. Every city has pride and problems. The pride of the city are the things that make billboards and magazines to entice people to move there. The problems are hidden, but community members can easily tell you. For example, in my hometown, the pride is that they are the fastest growing city in Tennessee, but one problem is there is an opioid problem plaguing youth and young adults.

Every community has a story, and this story is a shared environment among members. One indicator of success of a church plant is the ability to meet a need in the shared environment of the community. One example is the successful revitalization of Bashford Manor Baptist Church. Organizationally speaking, Bashford was on its last leg as a church as they only had a few months before money ran out. They went through a REAP process and confirmed their community’s story had changed to a multicultural narrative. They have changed their DNA to be a gathering space for multicultural congregations in their building, now filling an tangible need with their community’s narrative. Furthermore, they have doubled the people at their new church as they began to join the community narrative with a gospel answer.

Find 3 Examples Here

You can find three examples at Quality Missions of churches that have gone through a REAP research process. The first question to ask yourself is do I want to meet a tangible need in my community with the gospel. The best place to answer what is that need is through community members themselves.

In the next post, we’re going to overview the individual ethnography tools you can use to create your own project. In the meantime, drop us an email if you would like to discuss your thoughts.