A study of the difference in mean ranks of selected factors influencing a call to career missionary service among three groups affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention

Problem. The problem of this study was to determine the difference in mean ranks of selected factors influencing a call to career missionary service among three specified groups: seminary students preparing for career missionary service, career missionaries, and retired career missionaries. These factors were: personal prayer/devotion, group Bible study, pastor/teacher, missionary speaker/biography, parent/family, mission trip/project, children's mission program, other children's program, youth mission program, adult mission program, and other.;Procedures. The population for this study consisted of seminary students enrolled in missiology degree programs at five Southern Baptist seminaries, retired missionaries affiliated with both the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board, and current career missionaries of these boards. The groups completed a Call to Career Missionary Service Survey, which was a researcher-designed questionnaire. 1405 people responded to the survey. Respondents checked the factors that had influenced their decision to pursue a career in missionary service. Then the respondents ranked the top three factors in their decision. Kruskal-Wallis H statistic was used to determine the difference between the groups on their rankings. Chi-Square was used to test significance at p < .05.;Findings and conclusions. A significant difference was found in six out of eleven factors. These findings indicate that there is a difference between groups with regard to those factors. Certain factors have influenced each generation of respondents in unique ways. The conclusion drawn from the study is that what has influenced one group in one generation does not necessarily mean that other groups will be affected by the same factors. The church needs to use a variety of approaches to educate its people about missions.