CAT Survey Results Provide Helpful Insights

A Summary by Pastor Chris Smith

Pastor Chris Smith
Senior Pastor

Thank You! 
The Church Assessment Tool (CAT) Survey was completed by 927 people between January 19 and February 16, 2014. This is fantastic! The large sample provides results which have high validity and yield reliable insights. Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. Below is a summary of key findings from the survey. A full copy of the report with an explanatory DVD is available at the Welcome Center for check-out.

A High Energy Church 
The people of Shepherd of the Valley (SOTV) report that the church is a high energy center of ministry in the name of Jesus Christ. SOTV is a transformational church where people express overall high satisfaction with their experience of its ministry and appreciate the diverse opportunities for worship and growth that our church offers.

An Adaptable Church 
SOTV people also report that they experience the church as a flexible, adaptable place of mission and ministry. We are willing to adapt our worship and our programs in order to meet the changing needs of our current members as well as to reach out to others in our local community. We are also a theologically diverse community of faith. We think and talk about God in a variety of ways and make room for others with differing viewpoints.

Particular Strengths 
The CAT survey highlighted a number of areas of strength in SOTV’s ministry: 

• Music and Worship – Worship at SOTV is characterized by music and other worship elements that are outstanding and inspiring for faith 
• Educational Offerings – SOTV provides opportunities for education that are high quality and suit the needs of our community. 
• All Called to Ministry – SOTV does a good job of equipping its people for ministry and helping them know that they make a difference. 
• Energetic Spirit – At SOTV, people experience the presence of God in ways that impact their faith and how it connects to other aspects of their lives. 
• High Morale – People at SOTV are energized and transformed by their experience of the church so that they invite others to experience the church as well. 

Of course just because these are strengths of SOTV does not mean that these same aspects of our ministry do not need attention and improvement. CAT results also point to ways we can build on our strengths to enhance the experience of the ministry and mission of SOTV.

Places for Improvement 
The CAT survey also revealed a number of areas where SOTV can improve: 

• Governance – CAT results suggest that the Church Council and other governance teams at SOTV do two things: First, include broader representation from the congregation and, second, make information about key decisions more accessible for review and comment. 
• Transformation and Meaning – While people experience an energetic spirit and high morale at SOTV, they also seek greater meaning from their experience in worship and beyond to apply to their lives every day.
• Conflict Management – SOTV has gone through a variety of changes in recent years. Changes like these will happen more effectively through broader engagement and excellent communication in the process of making decisions and implementation. 
• Invitation and Welcome – SOTV needs to explore new ways to welcome and engage the diverse community around us. 
• Activity Level Beyond Worship – While the people of SOTV affirm worship as a key priority in their faith development, their involvement beyond worship is at a lower level than most churches. How can we inspire greater participation? 
• Opportunities to Give – The people of SOTV on average give 1.28% of their household income to support the mission and ministry of SOTV. A giving increase of just one-half of one percent of household income would fully fund our mission and enable us to be far more generous with those in need. 

Your Priorities 
The CAT survey provided the opportunity to name priorities and hopes for SOTV. The results ranked four as high or very high priorities: 

• Serve Our Community – The people of SOTV want to do much more to reach out and serve those living on the margins of society. This means that our church needs to develop ministries that bring healing to those broken by life circumstances.
• Reach Out – The people of SOTV want to develop and implement new ways to invite others to engage in the life and ministry of SOTV. 
• Build Relationships – The people of SOTV want to form new relationships with others in our community of faith. This priority means that we need to create new and diverse ways for people to meet one another and build relationships. 
• Worship that Transforms – Worship and music are already key strengths of SOTV. The people of SOTV want these experiences to deepen their connection to God and one another and to bring greater meaning to their faith in daily living. 

The Vision and the CAT 
It’s exciting to see how the results of the CAT survey align with the vision of SOTV. Our vision is to invite all people to experience the welcome, transformation, and sending of Jesus Christ. This vision supports devoting more energy to reaching out, building relationships and community, and creating transformational worship experiences, all priorities for SOTV. These efforts would also build on our strengths as a church. As an adaptable, high energy church we have the capacity to put into action much that the CAT survey results suggest.

Ideas Please! 
Your leaders on the church council and on the church staff will be discussing the CAT results in the weeks and months to come. If you have ideas about putting insights from survey results into action, please share them. We need good ideas! And, thanks again for completing the survey!

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Full CAT Survey Results 
Download the full Vital Signs Report (PDF) prepared by Holy Cow Consulting. A full copy of the report with an explanatory DVD is also available at the Welcome Center for check-out.

You may also view a video explanation below of the Vital Signs Report, by J. Russell Crabtree, called the Vital Look Session. This video lasts an hour and 17 minutes.

Worship Survey Results

By Kari Slotten, Project Manager: Vision Implementation

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If you're looking for info on the Congregational Assessment Tool (CAT) survey we are administering in January and February of 2014, please click here.

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In November, we circulated a survey (an online and a paper version) regarding worship, with the goal of using your feedback to develop a new worship service on Saturday nights.

We were pleased to have 489 people answer our worship survey. The congregation had thoughtful ideas about current and future worship, and I’ll share the themes that emerged and some ways the pastors and staff are looking to address those items.

Who answered the survey

First, I’d like to talk about who answered the survey. This is important to know, as we realize who’s represented well, and who is missing.

• 69% worship with their family
• 62% were between 30-55
• 83% worship most weeks (drops to 49% in summer)
• 67% worship with the same frequency as a year ago
• 39% worship with their kids, and 36% don’t have kids 0-18 at home
• Preferred worship times:
• Sunday 9:45 (162)
• Saturday 5:00 (127)
• Sunday 11:00 (95)
• Sunday 8:30 (77)
• Preferred worship style:
• Organ/piano-led  (292)
• Band-led (171)

There was a heavy response from Saturday worshipers, as a core part of the survey explored the possibility of adding a band-led worship service on Saturdays. We are especially short on answers from people under 30, and those who attend sporadically. We will use other research and targeted conversations to complement our survey data as we evaluate next steps.

Current worship

Obviously, what happens in the sanctuary affects each person’s worship experience. We also know factors outside of the sanctuary can impact how people perceive their worship experience. We had feedback about both, and have ideas on how we will address some areas that need improvement.

Finding: 50% of people who prefer organ/piano, and 33% of people who prefer band, like worship as it is.  The rest seek improvement primarily with sermons and music.

Response: There are ways that sermons and music can be enhanced, without taking away the things people appreciate about them. Each ministry area will have the opportunity to review conclusions, process them, and plan accordingly.

We know some of the people who prefer band-led worship miss the former “Table” worship in the Great Hall, and with difficult change comes a grieving process. As we move through that, we will continue working to improve the feeling of intimacy, warmth, and community in the sanctuary.

Finding: Other ministry options (especially Children’s Ministry), feeling welcome and a sense of community, and difficult parking experiences impact how people feel about worship.

Response: These three areas outside of the sanctuary drew the most comments in the survey, and we are in the process of addressing each of them.

We have many strong ministries, and we’re actively looking at ways these different ministries can work with worship to support each other. Children’s Ministry especially is considering different options for bringing regular programming back on Saturdays, and discerning if there are ways to make Sunday programming more welcoming.

Our Invitation and Welcome ministry is gaining momentum. Not only will this ministry focus on connecting and inviting in our community, but a major emphasis will also focus on making sure people feel welcomed and invited to get connected once they are at SOTV.

Parking at SOTV presents a number of challenges. We are exploring several options, including shuttles and parking services, as we work to address this issue.

As we develop plans in these and other areas, we will be sure to share them. We also invite your ideas and feedback!

Saturday Worship

Finding: 2/3 of people who prefer organ/piano-led worship, and 3/4 who prefer band-led worship, said they would consider Saturday worship. Although the preferred time for each group was 5:00, the second-place option for each group was 5:30 (for organ/piano), and 4:00 (for band). Interest in Saturday worship increased significantly with the possibility of adding Children’s programming.

Response: We will add a band-led worship service on Saturdays, at 4:00. This option also supports what we’ve seen in other churches and through targeted conversations. We will shift the organ/piano-led worship to 5:30 to avoid congested parking issues. A time table for this additional service has not been decided yet, but should be decided over the next month as we look at the implications of this addition (especially on Children’s Ministry). We will share that communication as we’re able.

Future Worship

Finding: People requested more worship opportunities for both of our worship styles. Some leading time preferences for more worship included Wednesday and Sunday evenings.

Response:  We will actively look at adding more worship opportunities once we’ve finalized Saturday plans. Wednesday and Sunday evenings have very different implications, as the facility experiences very different activity levels at those times. We will also continue to think about opportunities to respond to our congregation and the community through non-traditional ways, like adding a second site, if the need develops.

Thanks again to everyone who took our November worship survey. If you have questions, you can contact me at Kari.Slotten@sotv.org. You may also give us feedback at our website, or in the comments section below.

Please note: All comments made below will be received and reviewed upon submission. Vulgar or offensive commentary will not be posted for public view. You may also send questions or comments to council@sotv.org.  
 

Why So Many Surveys?

Updated 1/16/14

Shepherd of the Valley will begin conducting an important online survey called the Church Assessment Tool (CAT). We need all adults to complete this survey including youth in 10th grade or older. The survey will take about 20 minutes to complete, and responses are confidential. Thank you in advance for your time and input.

A few of you have asked, didn’t we just conduct a survey recently? Why are we doing another one so soon? 

Saturday Worship Survey

In November we asked the congregation to complete a Saturday Worship Survey. Almost 500 people completed the survey online or on paper, and we received a lot of great information that will help Shepherd of the Valley move forward with planning an additional service on Saturdays. Results from the surveys were discussed at a series of Congregation Dialogues on January 11 & 12, 2014. Thank you to all who attended and added to the discussion.

View a summary of the survey’s findings.

Other Recent Surveys

In addition to the worship survey, there have also been a few other ways we have asked for your feedback:

• Late in the year, a few staff and volunteers conducted informal interviews with about 30 members regarding their stewardship. 
• Some of you may have completed a brief paper survey recently regarding church communications.
• If you attended any of our Hot Breakfasts since June, you had an opportunity to complete a very short form asking you to rate the quality of your breakfast experience. 
• Also starting in June, we created two new ways for you to share your comments and questions with us, either by filling out a comment card at the Welcome Center or completing our online feedback form. 

Why are we constantly asking you for your opinion? Because we truly care what you think. Shepherd of the Valley is your church, and the pastors and staff are here to serve you. In order to do our jobs well, we need to know what your needs are, and how we can best serve them. The information we receive back from you is invaluable and has already had many positive impacts on our shared ministry.

Congregational Assessment 2014

This brings us back to the CAT, which will be conducted January 19 - February 16, 2014. The CAT is  different from any other survey we’ve conducted at Shepherd of the Valley. Our other recent efforts only measured a particular aspect of our faith community, such as worship, stewardship, communications, etc. The CAT measures across multiple dimensions of the church’s ministry to create a collective voice of the entire congregation. What we learn from this assessment will provide key indicators of our congregational health, guide us in decision making, and help discern where God will lead us in the next several years.

In order for the CAT to paint as clear a picture of the congregation as possible, we are striving for 1,000 of our members to complete it, including all youth in 10th grade or older. Click here to take the online CAT survey. Paper copies, and computer workstations will be available at church for those without internet access.

The CAT was created by the Rev. J. Russell Crabtree of Holy Cow! Consulting. We’ve partnered with Rev. Crabtree and with Rev. Charles Lane of Kairos and Associates in St. Paul to help guide this process. Rev. Crabtree and Rev. Lane both bring decades of experience in helping congregations assess their organization for the purposes of informed strategic planning.

Please watch this blog and our weekly News for the Flock for more information. If you have questions, please contact Jennifer Maxwell at jennifer.maxwell@sotv.org. Thanks again for your participation.