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New ‘Lite’ Church Life Survey

The Church Life Survey has been on the scene in New Zealand for almost 20 years. A new 'Lite' version of that survey is now available.

Taonga News  |  29 Jul 2016  |

The interdenominational group which has been running in-depth surveys of the nation’s churches since 1997 has now launched a new ‘Lite’ survey.

Church Life Survey New Zealand (CLSNZ) is a non-profit group whose declared aim is to help churches “research the needs of their congregations so they can plan better for the future.”

The group’s full five-yearly survey – these are run in sync with the census, so the next one’s due in August 2018 – provides a snapshot of the whole church in New Zealand, and allow subscribers to compare different denominations and groupings with information provided by the census.

The new Lite survey is shorter (it has just 20 questions), quicker to complete, and where the full survey offers a ‘macro’ lens, this one is ‘micro’ – it aims to give local pastors, ministers and church leaders a useful tool for analysing their congregations.

The new survey has been trialled in a number of churches, and according to Professor Peter Lineham, the leaders of these congregations have given this survey a thumbs-up because it surprises them about their own members. “It helps them fully appreciate who they are,” he says, “and what resources they have.”

According to Max Scott, who supplies the programming know-how for CLSNZ (he was a theoretical mathematician before he was ordained) CLS Lite “is particularly suitable for churches that are in a moment of transition, such as a change of leadership.”

Max says the results produced also provide a benchmark against which perceptions can be tested.

The Lite survey is divided up into six sections:
 
 About you (eg: ‘How old are you?);
 
 About your church connection (eg: Do you have a strong sense of belonging?’);
 
 Participation (eg: ‘How much do you think you participate compared to two years ago?);
 
 Inviting others to church (Would you be prepared to invite your friends and family here?);
 
 About Children and Youth (eg: How satisfied are you with what is offered here for children under 12?) and:
 
 Personal spirituality and the Bible (eg: How often do you spend time in private devotional activities eg prayer, meditation, reading the Bible alone?)

The new shortened survey costs $50 for a single church, and the survey forms are available at: https://craorgnz-wwwsgss1.ssl.supercp.com/content/church-life-survey-nz

Once the survey forms have been collated, the user then inputs the data on to the CLNZ site – and a graphed, tabulated form giving an at-a-glance snapshot of your congregation is ready for printing, says Max, “within milliseconds”.

Each congregation’s data and survey results are secure, and only accessible by a code which is unique to the subscribing congregation. 

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