I put the statement on social media. The responses were voluminous. After a couple of days, I had to stop counting and tally the results. There were hundreds of them.
In an effort to simplify my reporting of the results, I put the responses into several categories. I have to say, I was more encouraged than not. Sure, we got the usual complaints about other people and the worship services. But I was surprised to see how many respondents said the greatest change needed to be themselves. Pastors said it. Elders said it. Deacons said it. Other laypersons said it. That response, among others, greatly encouraged me.
My question was about one thing, so I had to disregard those who gave two things, or three things, or fourteen things (seriously). Keep in mind, each tallied respondent could only say one thing. So, when you read that three percent wanted a greater emphasis on prayer, it doesn’t mean 97 percent did not want a greater emphasis on prayer. It just means three percent put it at the top of their list.
Here are the top ten results. The numbers do not add to 100 percent, because there were many responses that did not fit any of the top ten categories.
If I could change one thing in my church, it would be . . .
- Other people (16%). No big surprise here. Other people need to get their acts together. The pastor needs to visit more. Other people need to attend more frequently. The essence of these responses is that everyone else is the problem.
- Me (13%). I was incredibly gratified to see this second highest response. So many of the respondents acknowledged the plank in their own eyes rather than the splinter in others. Indeed, this response was both a surprise and a great sign of hope for churches.
- A greater emphasis on evangelism (10%). Again, I was heartened by these responses. The second and third most frequent responses were “change me” and “share the gospel.” That’s very hopeful.
- The worship services (9%). No surprises here. It’s just hard for me to imagine that someone would say the greatest need in the church was to turn down the volume. Of course, there were the expected responses: more hymns; more contemporary music; more blended music, and on and on and on.
- The church facilities (6%). There were a number of concerns about church buildings. It seems like this problem is becoming more pronounced. Deferred maintenance is growing in churches. Then again, some of the responses were, well, strange: “If I could change one thing in the church, it would be light bulbs that are too high.” Now that’s important.
- The pace of change (5%). Almost all the responses in this category expressed a desire for increasing the pace of change. As one church member said: “We are moving slowly, and we are slowly dying.”
- A greater emphasis on prayer (3%). As I monitor church trends, I am seeing this type of response with a greater frequency. That’s healthy, very healthy.
- A greater emphasis on discipleship (3%). Again, as I read these responses, I was hopeful. Church leaders and members desire to return to greater emphases on evangelism, prayer, and discipleship.
- Our church polity (3%). Though a frequent response, there was no consistency on desiring any one type of polity. The theme was, for the most part, whatever our polity is now needs to be changed.
- Greater diversity (2%). “When I look around our church, I see nothing but white faces. When I look into the community I see diverse ethnic groups and races.” That pretty much says it all.
Out of the hundreds of responses, there were many memorable, some for good, and some not so good. One of those: “If I could change one thing in my church, it would be the toilet paper brand.”
There you go. That’s Kingdom thinking.
Posted on July 25, 2018
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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37 Comments
I read through the responses and thought those were valid concerns. But what I wish I could change is the leadership attitude. Most of our current leadership attitude is rooted in antagonism, backbiting, unwilling to support each and their specific ministries. Simple changes in the church (painting and office, moving certain fixtures to a different place) has caused an uproar. As much as I have talked about love, compassion, willingness to forgive, emulating the character of God, seeking for a greater impact of the Gospel among our community, as deacons willing to go out and minister to the widows and the home bound and such. After three years as the senior pastor in this church, it hasn’t much changed. So how does one change such attitudes?
Sounds like you need new leadership. I know this can be next to impossible.
A Spirit-led genuine revival of the hearts and minds of your congregation , including your leadership, would be the prayer to pray repeatedly.
The song written by Eddie Espinosa would be the type of prayer to pray:
“Change my heart, O God, make it ever true,
Change my heart, O God, may I be like You.
You are the potter, I am the clay,
Mold me and make me, this is what I pray.
Change my heart, O God, make it ever true.
Change my heart, O God, may I be like You.”
Amen.
Passion… for the Great Commission… A few do good, but as a church we can do better..
I’m with you, Dan.
Without hesitation the number one thing I’d change in my church,if I could,is ME.
And since I CAN,I have no excuse not to.
Prayer is definitely my number two.
Well said, Ron.
Wouldn’t changing yourself be something you’d already done?
Craig,Speaking just for myself,I find I’m always in need of improvement.
There were some encouraging responses, I agree, but that number one answer being what it was is really discouraging to me. As a pastor for 35 years, I am not surprised, but discouraged that there are still so many people in churches, in MY church, who haven’t got a clue as to why we (churches) are here! WOW!
That is exactly the reason why I wrote “I Am a Church Member,” Martin!
Seems like no. 4 has slipped a few notches. Perhaps those who complained just moved to different churches where their needs/worship styles were better met. Seems to me as one gets older the volume of the PA does make a difference. For whatever reason hearing others around me singing, even loudly, doesn’t bother me.
What I miss as part of the service is intercessory prayer/corporate prayer. Prayer chains throughout the week seem to of replaced them.
Thank you for this. It encourages me to see the priorities.
Me too, Ellen.
What if a person said his/her pastor?
I would not recommend a pastor asking his congregation that question unless he has incredibly tough skin.
I saw your comment and had to reply…our church did an internal survey a few years ago and there were several very negative responses concerning our pastor (now retired). His comment to staff was, “I’ll never do that again…”. I think any church doing this should understand from the beginning that there will most likely be some very “nasty” responses.
In some churches I have attended, I would like to get rid of the idea that there are first-, second-, and third-class Christians based on litmus tests.
True.
Do you have any insight into how a pastor could share a question like this with a congregation? I think there could be real value in getting a quick, single response from people, but I always fear when opening up things like surveys to the masses that there is then an expectation of “I said it….now you need to do it.”
Joe,
Its always good to know what the people want, or what they perceive needs to be done. A check up every year or two can be helpful. But, just because someone reported it on the survey, or even a bunch gave the same answer, does not guarantee that change will happen their way. Keep the survey informational rather than authoritative. Make that clear from the beginning.
Joe –
I would not do a formal survey. Ask the question informally and one-on-one to individuals over several weeks. Those conversations will be richer than a survey, and your members will be grateful you asked their opinions.
Great idea. I like that a lot and that also gives an opportunity to talk through those potential issues that could be possibly solved with a conversation about vision instead of actually making a change that doesn’t match up with the vision.
We recently did a survey using Google Forms. (Incredibly easy and totally free). We published and promoted a link and asked people to respond anonymously. We got 113 participants.
We asked more than one question, but not many. Demographic qualifiers; gender, age range (60); how long they had attended (5 yr); “In your opinion, why do we exist? (Mission awareness)”; “One or two things we do best?”; “What is our greatest need? What one or two things would make us better?”; “One important thing I wish leadership knew is?”
Be prepared to hear things that you never expected to hear. Be prepared to feel uplifted and attacked in successive responses. Be prepared to find out about 80% of respondents can’t articulate your mission, even though it is repeated in every message and in every print/electronic medium you use. Be prepared for it to feel like Monday every day for a couple weeks. Be prepared to put on the hair shirt and do it again next year to see if the things you did in response made a difference.
Viewed from the perspective of business, and if Harvard Business School’s service profit chain research can apply, then learning–somehow–the views of the membership currently is critically important because higher quality service by them results when their leaders attend to their concerns (i.e., no attending to those expressed views = no high-quality service to the public; but attending to those expressed views consistently = high quality service to the public consistently). HBS’s research was/is (since 1994) among organizations in the service sector (sector 3) of the US economy–where local churches would be grouped (if service is what we are about . . .); more study of this would be interesting, Thom–maybe a next LifeWay Research project?
It’s interesting that the list did not include any references to preaching (considering the priority that preaching has in the life of the Church).
That’s true. Obviously, most church leaders and members do not want to change the preaching. It’s probably a good sign.
Ask most anyone to tell you about the pastors sermon last week; will he/she be Abe to even tell you the topic?
I had a preacher comment on that very topic once. Just because I can’t remember what I had to eat doesn’t mean I wasn’t fed.
I’m surprised increasing missions/compassion ministries did not make the top 10. Reemphasizing prayer, worship, Evangelism, discipleship, and missions would probably benefit most churches.
Yes. If the latter happens, increasing ministry emphases will be a likely outcome.