Every year in April, before school let’s out and Andrews students leave, we do a worship survey at PMC. What is a worship survey? This is a simple survey to receive feedback from the church. This is an initiative that is led out by Jose Bourget, our pastor that oversees the second service.
I’d like to share with you the exact worship survey we used this past April. Afterwards, I’ll share some benefits as to why you should be using them as well in your own church. But first, let me share the main sections of the survey.
Sections
- Questions. There are four of them.
- Demographic info they can respond to. We ask them to identify their gender, age group, and how many times per month they attend church.
- Link with QR code. People have three ways they can respond to the survey. By the way, this is something we call the congregation’s attention to and spend several minutes doing it. Our senior pastor will lead this part. They can respond by filling out the piece of paper—it’s a bulletin insert—by snapping a picture of the QR code, or by using the link printed on the page.
Survey
- “Have you signed up for our new eLetter Pioneer Midweek (www.pmchurch.org/newsletter)? Yes, No, Why?”
- “Have you downloaded our Secure Give app? Yes, No, Why?”
- “If you could change one thing about the worship service, what would it be?”
- “Here are some suggestions I have for next year’s preaching:”
Benefits
- Feedback is valuable for church leaders. This point should not be underestimated. This is a tool by which church members can share anonymously. For a pastor, this is very valuable. For example, a few years ago we were considering doing away with children’s story in our second service, being as how it’s the university student service. We felt that perhaps it wasn’t as relevant. But after doing the survey, we discovered that this was one of the most popular elements in the service, even for university students. So we kept it.
- Sharing is healthy for the church. This point may sound a little similar to the previous point, but hear me out. It’s important to create some ways in which the voices of church members can be heard. This sometimes happens in a church business meeting, but if you think about it, there are not that many safe contexts in which someone can share how they feel about something in church.
I should add that it takes some boldness and vulnerability to ask church members what they think about the service or what they would change. Especially if you’re in a small church, this might seem quite intimidating. But I’d encourage you to figure out some way in which you can listen to the voices of people attending. You just might be surprised by what you learn.
So what about you? Have you ever done a worship survey in your church before? Did you learn anything that surprised you? To leave a comment scroll below or click here.
