Last March, we circulated our first annual Ends Survey. Ends are statements that talk about the impact we want to see as a result of our ministry together. These ends were adopted by the Board of Trustees with broad-based input from the congregation a number of years ago. For the past few months, the board and I have been reviewing the results of the survey. Starting this month, we will be presenting highlights of our learnings from the survey in Parish Notes. Please read on for the first installment.
Demographics
A remarkable total of 181 people participated in the survey. Thank you! About 86 percent of the respondents
identified as members, 8% as friends, and 5% as visitors. 43 percent were over 65 years of age, 45 percent were 45-65 years old, and 11 percent were younger than 45 years. About half the responses were from people with ten years or less of church affiliation or membership, while a quarter each had affiliation of 11 to 25 years and over 25 years respectively. Sixty percent identified as female and 40% as male. The way we asked for family status turned out to be unclear for some, but here are the results: Single (20%), Married/Partnered – No Children Participating at Church (51%), Family with Children Participating at Church (19%), Other (10%).
End #1 Results
Our first set of questions was focused on understanding how well we are doing with the ‘end’ that states: “Our congregants create and experience authentic connection.” The graph below shows the results to the question: On a scale of 1 (low) through 10 (high), how authentic would you rate the connections you have made at church relative to other connections elsewhere in your life?
