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Church Survey 2014
By Lafe Tolliver, Esq
Guest Column
I have resisted the repeated calls to formulate a
simple church survey so that the readers could weigh in on
what’s happening with and within their place of worship,
aka: The Church.
My hesitancy was based upon trying to accurately survey,
via a multiple choice type of questionnaire, how you are
matriculating in your particular worship setting.
As you will see from the poised questions, the gravamen
of the questions do not depend upon whether your church is
characterized as being fundamental, charismatic,
conservative, liberal, uppity or simply a social gathering
of like-minded people. (note: some churches are in essence
social clubs).
What counts is how you see yourself in your church
environment and whether or not you are an active participant
or just a pew sitter who literally does nothing more than
warm the pews once a week, drop in two or three dollars in
the passed offering plate, attend certain church holiday
events and you call that assembly, your “church home.”
As you can see from the questions and the weighted
answers, this survey will either prompt you to get involved
in your local assembly or cut bait and leave and find
another place of worship where you can go from the milk
saucer to the meat platter as to your spiritual growth.
Some of the questions will be toughies and some will be
softballs because when you evaluate any gathering of people
in a local assembly, you will find a broad spectrum of
tastes, beliefs and attitudes.
If you are not a current member of a local assembly of
believers, still answer the questions because it will give
tell-tale signs of why you are on the outside looking in.
So, with that in mind, please answer truthfully and away we
go!
(1) Do you sit under a woman pastor?
a. Yes, because it does not matter to me what the gender is
of the pastor.
b. No, because the Word of God in the New Testament does not
allow for
a woman to be a pastor.
c. Don’t care either way.
d. Did not know there were applicable scriptures on this
issue.
(2) Are you informed on a regular basis of the exact
financial health of your church assembly?
a. No. we are told that the financial records are not our
business and to trust the pastor.
b. Yes.
c. Not on a regular basis, but now and then. Especially when
they want to
raise money.
d. I don’t care to know. I trust my leadership to do the
right thing with my
giving.
(3) Is your pastor accessible to you when needed or
do you go through layers of people to get to him or her?
a. Not accessible all the time when I might need counsel.
b. Yes, available on a regular basis
c. Too many hanger’oners around him or her and I must submit
a request for a meeting.
d. Not the kind of pastor that I would want to counsel with
anyway.
(4) Does your pastor preach and teach from the Word
of God?
a. Most of the time.
b. Sometimes.
c. All the time
d. Rare. Mostly inspirational messages that do not include
scriptures.
(5) Why do you attend your particular fellowship?
a. Been here all my life. Where else would I go?
b. Just habit.
c. I like the people.
d. Good music and the service is short and you are not
pressed to do things.
(6) Has the preaching and teaching from the pulpit
made a Godly difference in your lifestyle?
a. Yes.
b. No.
c. Only if I let it.
d. Depends on what is being taught or preached about.
(7) If you could change one thing about how things
are done at your church, what would it be?
a. Too much emphasis on money. Need to tone it down.
b. The music is too loud and played too long. No mix.
c. More social gatherings so we can know each other.
d. More outreach so we can do things besides come to this
building.
(8) Does your church pastor play “favorites?”
a. If it is with family members, yes he does.
b. No. I haven’t seen it happen.
c. Yes. Especially if you are known to be a big giver of
money.
d. I noticed that they prefer people who are nice and clean
and do not
ask a lot of questions at church meeting times.
(9) If you do not attend a church at the present
time, why not?
a. I wasn’t treated well when I attended there.
b. I felt that my talents were not needed.
c. The people were very cool and aloof towards visitors
d. I knew too many of the people there who were not living
anything right.
(10) What do you think is the mission or ministry of
the church.
a. Proclaim the gospel without compromise or partiality.
b. Help and assist the down and out.
c. Tell people that they are OK.
d. I don’t know. I don’t read the Bible.
Well, there it is. Each answer is weighted according to the
Rann-Felsen
Statistical Survey Report (via The Carthena University
School of Theology) and the below are the answers based upon
the questions given.
a. Three points
b. One point
c. Zero points
d. Two points
If your score is 0-5, you are considered a person who is in
need of fellowship and reassurance before you are able to
come into an established church body.
If your score is 6-15, you are considered a person who needs
to rely less on the opinions of others and engage yourself
in the Word of God for your answers.
If your score is 16-23, you are considered to be a reliable
person who can discern between good and evil and are not
quickly led astray from sound doctrine.
If your score is 24-30, you need to start a church formation
and mount the pulpit.
Your talents are needed!
Contact Lafe Tolliver at
Tolliver@Juno.com
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