what to look for in adult church education

Learn which questions to ask to help you better meet your congregation's needs.

The holidays are a fourth dimension to focus on the skillful in the world and brush negative thoughts aside in the spirit of the season. At least that's the message I took away from all the Christmas movies I watched growing upwardly.

This especially holds true at churches, where Christmas services are typically among the highest attended of the entire year, and the warmth and tradition of the season can encourage a positive outlook and increased giving.

Like drifting snowfall covering curbside litter, the obligatory good cheer of the holidays tin can temporarily put bug with your church building out of heed.

But what happens when the snowfall starts to melt, attendance wanes, and things go dorsum to the way they were before the holiday season? Do you tighten your belt, hunker downwardly, and wait for the Easter omnipresence spike?

Or do you take action and detect out what would make your congregation as excited to come to church in February as they were in Dec?

One great way to discover out what your congregation and visitors are looking for is with a church membership questionnaire. A questionnaire allows you to poll church members on what they savor about your church, what they feel is defective, and whatsoever is on their mind about their church experience in general.

Survey software can make the process much easier, particularly when used in conjunction with the member database in your church management organization.

What church building survey questions should I be asking?

Distributing a survey is 1 thing, only you also need to know what questions to ask on the survey. And to do that, you'll need to know what direction you're trying to have your church in. Are you looking to heave attendance, or trim spending, or aggrandize to new locations? Each situation calls for different questions.

As Brett Andrews, lead pastor of New Life Christian Church in Chantilly, Virginia, says, "Y'all don't always have to have a goal, as long equally you have a management."

Let's take a look. Merely showtime, a few general tips on crafting church survey questions:

• Keep your survey equally succinct as possible. The longer it is, the less likely information technology is that someone will take the time to complete information technology thoughtfully.
• Exit space for optional comments. You lot don't want to preclude someone from sharing what's on their mind just considering you didn't specifically inquire about it.
• Whatsoever technology you use to distribute the survey, allow respondents the option to fill it out manually. The more responses you lot get, the clearer the picture show, so it should be equally attainable as possible.
• Request basic demographic information such every bit historic period, sexual activity, and residence, and other bones info such every bit frequency and years of omnipresence, so that you tin can track trends.

Church survey questions to boost attendance

If your goal is to boost attendance, you should accept a ii-pronged approach: brand sure that your regulars are happy so they'll continue to attend, and also observe ways to evolve to make certain that your church is an appealing destination for new visitors.

Here are several sample questions to help you illuminate the path to increased attendance:

1. What practice you almost enjoy most attending services here?
2. What, if anything, would you modify about attending services hither?
3. Would you recommend this church to a friend or family member? Why or why non?
4. What are some ways that you lot call up we could make our church family more welcoming for new visitors?
5. Have you lot attended a unlike church in the terminal year? If then, what—if anything—did you savour about that church that is unlike from our church?

What to look for: When you go these surveys dorsum, keep an centre out for things that your members savor nigh attending services at your church, but be fifty-fifty more aware about what they're missing.

Do your members wish that they could get a cup of java on their way in? Hook it up! It's a small-scale price to pay for keeping your loyal members happy and perchance even attracting some new members.

Church survey questions to trim spending

In his book, "Dissection of a Deceased Church," Thom Rainer writes, "In dying churches the concluding expenditures to be reduced are those that keep the members virtually comfy."

Indeed, a salubrious upkeep is one of the most important vital signs of a healthy, growing church. Whatever church can notice a manner to spend more money: on ministries, facilities, or even merely charitable giving.

But if your budget is out of whack and y'all're spending more money than is coming in through donations, you lot need to trim the fatty.

Here are five questions to help detect places to cut:

1. Amidst our service times, which practise you usually nourish, and which are you least likely to attend?
2. Which of the following ministry building opportunities are y'all most interested in participating in during the coming yr? (List upcoming ministries)
3. Which of the post-obit ministries are you least interested in participating in during the coming year? (List upcoming ministries)
4. Which of the following amenities (free java bar, mission trips, church building barbecue/field day) do yous enjoy the most?
5. Which of the following outreach programs would you be most interested in volunteering with? (List outreach programs)

What to look for: By determining which services and ministries are the most popular, and which are merely going through the motions, you can zero in on where to focus your spending and resources to become the about in return. Church attendance tracking can too be a valuable tool for figuring out which programs could most benefit from boosted funding.

Coming at it from a different approach, you can also look for which programs your members are most interested in volunteering in. If someone wants to donate their time to do something, it's a good indicator that information technology is a worthwhile investment.

Church survey questions for churches looking to expand

Surveying your congregation is one of the most important parts of the church planting process.

If your church building is looking to open a new location, you're in good visitor. To get here, you've created an surroundings that people want to be a part of, you're spending your money and resources wisely, and you're ready to grow beyond the walls of your electric current location.

This process is more than complicated than only opening a new location across town, though.

Hither are some questions to ask if yous're looking to aggrandize:

1. Which religious services, if whatsoever, exercise you lot avert because they are as well crowded? (Include worship services, Bible study, etc.)
2. Accept you e'er attended—or considered attention—church online instead of in person?
3. How far do y'all travel to attend our church building, and where practice you lot travel from?
4. Have you recommended our church to friends or family unit in the area? If and so, where do they live?
5. If nosotros were to open a new location, which members of our leadership squad do y'all call up would exist best suited to help launch the new location?

What to look for: Past asking these questions, yous can determine if crowding is becoming an effect, or non, and if livestreaming your services—or even starting a dedicated online campus—might help alleviate some of the overcrowding.

You can also hone in on which expanse of your region would make the most sense to expand to. Finally, a new location volition require some of your staff to relocate as well. Your congregation deserves to have some input on this process.

What questions do you want answered?

These examples are simply that, simply hopefully thinking well-nigh them has at least greased the wheels a piffling in your own mind. If you lot have whatsoever church survey questions of your own that have been useful for your congregation, please share them with your young man church leaders in the comments.

As well, if your vigor for church comeback has been piqued, bank check out these other helpful articles:

• 7 Free WordPress Church building Themes to Upgrade Your Website
• How to Build Your Church building Social Media Strategy to Heave Engagement
• How Churches Today Can Use Engineering science to Rebuild Community

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Source: https://blog.capterra.com/church-survey-questions-to-better-meet-your-congregations-needs/

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