Take the 2026 Denominational Survey!

Members of the Christian Reformed Church in North America are invited to participate in the annual denominational survey, which is now open and accepting responses.

The CRCNA has been using surveys since 1987 as a way of tracking worship practices, congregational health, denominational demographics, and other trends. While originally a paper survey was sent out every five years, the survey moved online about 10 years ago and is now conducted annually as a way to provide staff and synod with a snapshot of how the church is faring.

As part of this process, all Christian Reformed congregations have been assigned to one of five cohorts, each of which includes a sampling of churches that reflect the diversity and composition of the denomination.

Each year, one cohort — or 20 percent of the denomination — is specifically invited to participate in the survey. The churches in this group are asked to strongly encourage their members to participate to ensure a robust number of responses. This year’s cohort includes the churches on this list. To assist in this promotion, the CRCNA has created several promotional tools.

Churches and members who are not part of this year’s cohort are still welcome to participate. That’s because while only one-fifth of congregations are asked to strongly promote the survey each year, the survey is open to all CRC churches and members every year.

The denominational survey is used to help the CRCNA listen to individual church members, to gauge how ministry is affecting the churches and the denomination, and to assist in planning for the future. Available in English, Spanish, and Korean, the survey can be found here.

The survey is anonymous and does not track any identifying information about participants other than their congregation’s name and some of its administrative attributes. Please answer openly and honestly.

The survey is administered by CRCNA staff in cooperation with Datawise Consulting.

“Together with you, we seek to conduct surveys not as the world might do, to exploit human weaknesses for worldly gain, but as heaven would, to learn together how to invite God to infuse his strength into our many shared weaknesses to minister to God’s people, especially to the weak and vulnerable among us,” CRCNA leaders wrote in a letter about the survey.

Results from last year’s survey show that 190 churches were invited to recruit responses to the survey. And a total of 1,067 people from 92 churches responded.

The survey results provide a glimpse of what congregations are thinking on various topics and show where the denomination can assist them in such areas as discipleship or collaboration. They also serve as a means of measuring change in connection with the four milestones of Our Journey, the CRCNA Ministry Plan.