Time Ticking Down to Take CRC Survey

Time is getting short if you would like to offer your thoughts on such topics as the health, the devotional depth, and the range of outreach activities of your congregation and the denomination as a whole.

The annual denominational survey is currently open. While approximately one fifth of all CRC congregations are intentionally invited to promote the survey each year, the survey is also open each year to all members of the Christian Reformed Church in North America to complete as they feel led. Responses to the 2020 survey are due by the end of February.

Administered by the Center for Social Research at Calvin University, the survey asks participants to give their input on what their church means to them, how it affects their relationship with God, and how close they feel to the denomination as a whole.

The survey also gives people a chance to reflect on and answer questions that will help the denomination gauge the effect that Our Journey 2020, the CRC’s current five-year ministry plan, is having on churches.

The survey, which takes about 30 minutes to complete, asks questions about the worship style of your church, about the sense of belonging your church provides for you, and about your opinions on leadership and the current health of your congregation.

Churches that have a minimum of 20 responses from their members have the opportunity to receive a custom report of their own congregation’s perceptions. Those results are sent to the specific church council to review and discuss.

In addition, the survey provides denominational leaders a better understanding of where all congregations are in relation to various topics relating to ministry, discipleship, and collaboration. This feedback is then used to align ministries and agencies to best assist churches.

The denominational survey is anonymous, which is important, so that respondents can be honest without concern that someone will be able to identify them and see their answers.

In taking the survey, researchers encourage people to be honest, neither glossing over challenges nor making things sound better than they are. You can give low marks, neutral reactions, and high marks where they fit.

The CRCNA survey process changed in 2017. Previously the denomination surveyed all of its members every five years. In 2017 the process shifted to conduct surveys annually while focusing on a cohort — about 20 percent of churches — selected for participation each year.

To encourage participation, bulletin announcements and other promotional materials in English, Korean, and/or Spanish are sent to the congregations in the cohort.

Churches that were encouraged to participate this year received an email in December with information about the survey. Weekly reminders are also being sent.

The survey is available in three languages: English, Korean, and Spanish — and participants can choose their preference upon beginning the survey. To take the survey, visit crcna.org/survey.