What Docent Research Group does

Docent Research Group is a privately held, Austin, Texas-based firm that provides custom content creation services for leaders of large churches. Founded in 2006-2007 and operating with approximately 29 employees, the company's core offering pairs graduate-level researchers with pastors based on theological compatibility, delivering research, consulting, and curriculum services on an ongoing basis.

The company's product surface spans four interlocking service lines. The research line includes sermon research, book summaries (with a proprietary archive of 300+ summaries), church surveys, demographic studies, and position papers. The consulting line works with executive teams of large churches on strategic and organizational questions. The curriculum line develops custom materials for small groups, discipleship programs, and leadership pipelines. A separate "Sermon Series Planning" service is also offered. The Shopify storefront (docent-research-group.myshopify.com) indicates that individual book summaries are sold as standalone digital products, supplementing the core service engagements.

Docent's revenue model combines recurring subscription revenue for ongoing research retainers with project-based professional services for curriculum development and consulting engagements. A "Test Drive" introductory offering serves as a low-friction on-ramp for new pastors. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company's target customer segment is senior pastors and executive teams of large churches, a niche but high-influence buyer cohort within the broader religious-nonprofit market. Operations are bootstrapped with no public funding rounds, no M&A activity, and no disclosed investors.

Name

Docent Research Group

Legal name

Docent Group

Website

https://docentgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Docent Research Group is an Austin, Texas-based firm that pairs graduate-level researchers with pastors of large churches to deliver theologically-aligned research, consulting, and custom curriculum services, operating with approximately 29 employees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Church Research and Consulting Services

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Sermon, Homiletics & Ministry Resource Publishing (Preaching Aids, Pastoral Resources) (MPAJAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Faith-Based Education & Formation (Seminaries, Religious Schools, Catechesis) (BPAGAJAD), Religious Education & Catechetical Publishing (Sunday School, Catechism, Study Guides) (MPAJAHAC)

Keywords

• Church research services
• Pastoral consulting
• Custom curriculum development
• Sermon research
• Church demographic analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

AUSTIN, Texas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Services: Ongoing research assistance for pastors including sermon research, book summaries, demographic reports, congregational surveys, and position papers. Delivered as custom briefs tailored to each pastor's specific instructions and ministry context.
2. Custom Curriculum Development: Churches pay for custom curriculum created from scratch, woven with each client's DNA. Unlike mass-produced alternatives, curriculum is designed to fit the specific vision, mission, and values of each church. No licensing fees, making it more affordable than off-the-shelf options.
3. Consulting Services: Executive consulting for church leadership including best practices research, leadership development consultation, and cultural analysis to help executive teams navigate challenges.
4. Test Drive: Two to three lesson paid Test Drive period allowing new clients to evaluate the service before committing to ongoing engagement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Docent Research Group provides custom content creation services for pastors of large churches, including research briefs such as sermon research, book summaries, church surveys, demographic analysis, and position papers. It also delivers consulting for executive church leadership and develops custom curriculum for small groups, discipleship, and leadership pipelines. All content is created from scratch, woven with each church's specific DNA, vision, mission, and values, and delivered by graduate-level researchers matched to clients based on theological compatibility.

Product overview

Docent Research Group is a custom content creation service for church leaders, operating as a unified service model rather than a software platform. The company pairs graduate-level researchers with pastors to provide research, consulting, and curriculum services. Core offerings include: (1) Research services encompassing sermon research, sermon series planning, book summaries, church surveys, demographics analysis, and position papers; (2) Consulting services for executive teams covering curriculum development, leadership development, and cultural analysis; and (3) Custom curriculum design and development for discipleship, small groups, and leadership pipeline training. All content is custom-created from scratch for each church client, woven with the church's specific DNA, vision, mission, and values. The company does not write sermons or sell off-the-shelf curriculum, focusing instead on extending pastors' research capabilities and supporting church educational needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Comprehensive research services for pastors including sermon research, book summaries, church surveys, demographic analysis, and position papers designed to extend pastors' research capabilities and lighten their administrative load.
• Consulting Strategic consulting services partnering with church executive teams on curriculum development, leadership development, cultural analysis, and best practices research to help churches navigate operational challenges.
• Curriculum Custom curriculum development for churches covering small groups, discipleship programs, and leadership pipeline training, designed from scratch to fit each church's unique DNA, vision, mission, and values.
• Sermon Research Sermon preparation assistance providing research briefs with word studies, commentary synthesis, theological analysis, and connective tissue material including illustrations and application-focused content for pastors.
• Sermon Series Planning Long-term preaching strategy planning to help pastors develop comprehensive sermon series aligned with congregation needs and biblical breadth.
• Book Summaries Archive of over 300 book summaries covering authors such as Bill Hybels, Tim Keller, and John C. Maxwell, available as two-point overviews or in-depth analyses on partner request.
• Church Surveys Custom-designed congregational surveys that measure a church's unique DNA, with Docent building the survey in digital format, collecting responses from congregants, and analyzing the data into a full report with charts and explanations.
• Demographics Demographic reports using U.S. Census Bureau data and other trusted sources to provide detailed analysis of area composition based on ages, racial groups, incomes, education, housing, and family structures for ministry planning.
• Position Papers Crafted position papers that communicate church belief and policy on difficult cultural and theological questions in clear, winsome terms for congregant understanding, developed with a team of research assistants and reviewed with the church's pastoral team.

Quantifiable outcome

• Pastors maintain 10-20 hours weekly in personal sermon study while extending their research reach

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Crossway: Christian book publisher producing study Bibles, commentaries, and ministry resources used by pastors. Overlaps with Docent's research, book summary, and curriculum content from a supply-side publishing perspective.
• Faithlife (Logos Bible Software): Bible study, sermon research, and original-language tools marketed to pastors and church leaders. Overlaps with Docent's sermon research and theological analysis offerings as a digital incumbent in the pastor-research tooling category.
• RightNow Media: Large subscription streaming library of Christian video content for churches and small groups. Comparable as a content-license and resource provider that equips pastors and church leaders, though operating at much larger scale than Docent's custom research services.
• B&H Publishing Group (LifeWay): Southern Baptist-aligned publisher producing ministry and curriculum content for churches, including small group and discipleship curricula. Overlaps with Docent's curriculum development work from a denominational publishing perspective.
• Tyndale House Publishers: Major Christian publisher producing study resources, ministry books, and curriculum. Functions as a broad incumbent adjacent to Docent's curated content and book summary offerings for pastors.

Direct peers

• Church Fuel: Coaching and consulting organization serving pastors and church leaders. Comparable as a direct peer offering recurring, relationship-based services to pastors, mirroring Docent's emphasis on long-term pastor engagement.
• Ministry Architects: Consulting firm that helps churches with staffing, structure, and ministry design. Operates as a service peer to Docent in the church consulting space, addressing similar large-church leadership buyers with advisory engagements.
• Unstuck Group: Consulting practice that partners with churches on vision, strategy, and leadership processes. Comparable as a direct service-provider peer serving large-church executive teams through consulting engagements of similar nature to Docent's executive consulting line.

Emerging players

• Subsplash: Digital engagement platform offering mobile apps, content delivery, and curriculum tools for churches. Adjacent as an emerging peer providing digital content and curriculum infrastructure that intersects Docent's curriculum and ministry content services.

Regional players

• Concordia Publishing House: Lutheran-affiliated publisher producing worship, education, and ministry resources. Comparable as a denominational publishing peer producing pastoral and educational content used by church leaders.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/docent-research-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Docent Research Group