I am the good shepherd. I
know my sheep and they know me.
- John 10:14
Why conduct a member survey?
A well-done survey combined with skilled
analysis provides a snapshot of your membership's views –
not just the views of the vocal minority. It can be
invaluable in assessing your congregation's needs and in
planning to enhance church functioning. A member survey can
help make participation in your congregation more
spiritually, educationally, and socially rewarding.
Building a strong and vibrant church community is not easy.
Clergy, lay leadership, and staff face many challenges
including recruitment and retention, increasing attendance
at worship services, offering effective religious
education, providing creative programming, and the
never-ending imperative of fundraising. You know that
achieving a spiritually rich religious community requires
hard work, collaboration, and patience. However, the task
can be eased by also having relevant, timely information -
by knowing the characteristics, needs, and desires of your
parishioners.
Here are some questions that a congregation-wide
survey can address:
General Evaluation: How well are we doing as a
Christian community? Are members generally satisfied or are
there areas of dissatisfaction? What are our strengths and
weaknesses? How might we build on our strengths? What
should be improved?
Strengthening Critical Functions: What are members'
views about worship services and sermons, religious school,
community service programs, charitable giving, and
fellowship activities? What creative strategies can help?
Recruitment and Retention: What are the church's
main qualities that could be communicated to attract new
members? How many families and congregants have been
thinking about leaving, and why? (Having a reading of this
critical indicator of the organization’s health can be used
to help reduce attrition.)
Engagement and Participation: How much do
congregants participate in various activities? What are the
best ways of stimulating a stronger sense of connectedness,
especially among less active members, thereby increasing
attendance, active engagement, and retention?
Strategic Planning, Initiatives, Expenditures,
Staffing: What are members' preferences for new
directions? If you are looking to fill a key staff vacancy,
which attirbutes would have the most appeal? How much do
members support proposed major expenditures such as
building renovations or additions? (A survey can justify a
policy or action by demonstrating its popularity, OR
avoiding one that could turn out to be unwelcome.)
Leadership - Membership Relations: Are relations
between clergy/staff and members cordial and trusting?
(What about among various member segments?) Do tensions
exist that could emerge into serious problems if not
recognized and addressed? (Survey findings can serve as an
early warning system of simmering discontent.)
Communications: How much do members read church
newsletters and bulletins? How often do they use its
website or listserv? In what ways are these useful? What
changes might increase readership or participation?
Special Needs of Member Segments: Are there groups
in your church whose special needs are not being ministered
to, such as teens, single adults, young families, seniors,
persons with disabilities?
Religious Beliefs and Commitments: A confidential
survey, if carefully constructed and conducted, can profile
members' true beliefs about God, prayer, sin and morality,
salvation and the afterlife; also, the extent of worship
service attendance and other church participation. A survey
can measure how much parisioners are aware of, and embrace,
key principles of the faith. It can be an effective tool
for gauging the spiritual growth and maturity of the
membership.
Opinions on Current "Hot Issues": What are your
parishioners’ opinions on contemporary hot issues,
especially those that might be related to religious
beliefs, church policies, pronouncements, programming, or
governance?
The Congregation Surveys service is a professional,
customized research approach tailored to the specific
interests and needs of your church -- not a standardized,
"off-the-shelf" tool. It consists of (a) initial
discussions with leadership to learn the issues and
identify researchable questions, (b) design and programming
of an online questionnaire which is engaging and not
burdensome to complete (with accommodation for those unable
to take the survey by computer), (c) a proven approach to
eliciting a strong response rate, and (d) detailed analysis
of the results with action recommendations.
In the words of Rev. Ron Foster
of Bethesda United Methodist Church:
Dr. Sid Groeneman was a pleasure to work with. Not only
did he develop a comprehensive survey instrument to help
our congregation sort through some of our current and
future needs, but he also presented our church leadership
with insightful analysis of the data. Many church members
and friends commented to me how they were happily surprised
to see how professional and thorough the survey was and how
easy it was to take online.
Dr. Sid Groeneman has co-authored (with Dr. Gary Tobin)
"The Decline of Religious Identity in the United States".
Thanks to recent technological advances,
confidential surveys can be carried out efficiently,
unobtrusively, and for a fraction of what it used to cost.
Contact us for more
information or to arrange a no obligation meeting:
301 469-0813
sid[at]groeneman[dot]com
Click here to view a printable
brochure containing more information about the Church
Congregation Survey service.