(2019 Congregational Survey) October was a busy month spent listening to the congregation. It started with Pastor Rick introducing four key priorities for SOTV based on his listening over the past few years, and the congregation voting for their top choice during worship services. That was followed by paper and electronic surveys, thirteen focus groups, and lots of conversations. After getting through the month, we have 705 surveys, about 40 pages of focus group notes, and lots of charts and graphs to study. We will be diving into the data over the coming weeks and months, but here are some interesting observations from the data that I look forward to exploring and testing:
- The younger the respondent, the more important to have a personal connection. Younger people hear about our ministries from other people, and are more likely to attend when they are personally invited or know people who will be there.
- Younger people are less connected to worship than older people. But younger people are more engaged in learning than older people.
- People that feel connected here are engaged in a variety of ministries (worship, learn, connect, and care). People that aren’t as engaged as they’d like to be primarily see connection to worship only.
- The main reason people value connection to church is to pass faith on to children or other loved ones.
What’s next?
- In upcoming newsletters, I will break down the survey results in smaller chunks and share correlating focus group feedback. I’ll start in January 2020 with the four priorities.
- Most weeks an update is shared on the website. Check it out to see the latest news: sotv.org/survey.
- Staff are starting to connect with people based on their skills and interests. We know that when people get connected with their faith community, both the church AND the individual can benefit. We look forward to finding traditional and new ways to engage more people.
- Various leadership teams and Church Council will be discussing survey results and their implications.
Do you have a question or something to share? Contact Kari Slotten at kari.slotten@sotv.org.
