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Worship @ First Pres: An Update
On March 16, Palm Sunday, a worship survey was offered during each of our services. A total of 1,324 paper-based surveys and 74 web-based surveys were completed by First Pres members and friends – that’s nearly 1,400 responses!
The following paragraphs include a summary of those results, including a quick description of why the surveys were conducted, what the broad results were, and what the follow-up to the survey will be. To view a complete description of the survey results, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the link to access the "Worship Survey Analysis - Full Report" document.
Many of us will recall that, last September, we made some changes to Sunday morning worship at First Pres. There were two big goals behind those changes. First, we wanted to relieve the overcrowding in some of our worship services so we could be more welcoming toward and make room for more worshipers. Second, we want bring in more younger members while still being a beloved home for all of our current members. Growing younger is critical if we want to position our church for a strong, vital ministry of spreading the Gospel and Christ’s love for many years into the future.
In February, the Worship “Next Steps” committee, a subcommittee of the Worship and Music Committee of Session, was charged with answering the question, “How are we doing?” with regard to worship. Why? Essentially, two reasons: to share the results with the church leadership and the congregation as a whole, and to inform suggestions for mid-course corrections that would improve the overall worship life of the church. The committee solicited feedback from all the deacons and elders, and, thanks to enormous help from church members whose professional expertise is in surveying and marketing, created the survey to which many members and friends responded. A marvelous team of volunteers graciously did the data entry for the more than 1,300 paper-based responses, including nearly 50 pages of written comments.
While there are truly many fascinating things to learn from the survey results, the single biggest message to take away is this: good news! The vast majority of responses were favorable, encouraging, and supportive of the worship changes. The graphs to the right show some excerpts of the detailed analyses. For nearly all of the factors or aspects probed, the responses suggested that the changes were deemed positive and/or that the aspects were liked. Of course, the surveys have indeed also provided feedback about areas that need adjustment or refinements, and that’s a very important part of the story, too. The survey has been and continues to be a very important tool for listening and responding to the congregation.
And how are they being used? Session – the elected body of elders and ministers charged with overseeing the worship life of the church – received the worship survey analysis in April. All spring, aided by staff and its subcommittees, and with the benefit of the survey results, dozens of phone calls, and countless reports and insights from staff, Session has been working hard to determine what fine-tuning adjustments might be appropriate. At its June 17 meeting, it will likely vote to bring about some of these refinements.
Click on the title above to download and read a full report of the Worship Survey Analysis.
