As of today, we have just over 1,000 responses to our online survey! At first take, that seems like a lot. However, less than one quarter of those responses are from people who do not regularly attend church. To paint a truly descriptive picture of how church is viewed from both outside and inside we really need more responses from people outside church walls.
Our best hope of doing this is you! Send the link below to your friends via Facebook, email, Twitter, Tweetbook, whatever. A large part of this project is getting regular church goers to talk to those who are not, and have a polite conversation with them.
http://tinyurl.com/cqwttcb
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None the less, the results so far have been very interesting. Most people inside the church are clearly on fire with the Holy Spirit and a few are not quite there yet. The results from people inside the church seem -to my eye at least- to match up well with the survey conducted by Russ Crabtree. For scientific minds, that's good news: we have validated data!
The results from people outside the church are what I see as being the real meat of this project. That is the group we are trying to reach out to and in some cases, to simply discover. For the first month and a half, many external answers were negative. The words 'judgmental' and 'hypocritical' were common and were in the top 25 most common words for a long time. Recently this has shifted a little bit and more positive responses are taking the lead in this group. Words like 'love' and 'god' are now near the top. Still, we do have those descriptive answers like 'stained glass' which is in the top 20.
The results have been very dynamic and still are. The more responses we can get from those outside church walls, the better data we will have. By no means is this project over! Keep telling your friends about this!
Robert
I love God, and believe God's love and mercy extend to all, everywhere; that we are all God's children and will all go Home. I am also an Episcopalian, drawn to and kept in this branch of the Church by the liturgy and music, especially plainsong and the like. What I don't understand is why we have to be something else, someone else, to draw in the unchurched. Why do we have to use contemporary music and change the service, sometimes beyond familiarity, in an attempt to draw others in? Why are we not happy to be who we are? I don't mean an exclusive club, but I do mean that people are drawn by ancient music and tasteful liturgy, by chant and silence and deep prayer. In fact, those things are "in" right now; why are we shunning them in an attempt to be Hip and Now and Cool? Besides, it is our lives, lived in the world, that speak loudest for God. Maybe we should be examining how we live out God's love in public spaces, rather than turning inward (yes, this is a turning inward) in painful convolutions to achieve something we were never meant to be? It is not shameful to be an Episcopalian, trappings and all. Should this quest to draw in others grow to be the church's greatest aim, we will lose those who came to Episcopalianism for what it used to be. You can throw out the exclusive spirit without losing the gem that is our tradition. Debbie Butler, Vashon
ReplyDeleteI agree Debbie. I think we have to draw new members by marketing who we are now, not who others want us to be
ReplyDeleteRobert
I agree. With one minor change. I don't think we have to market who we are now; I think we need to just be who we are-and in fully being ourselves, invite others to be with us.
ReplyDeleteThere is a core of Anglicanism - the welcoming of mystery, meaningful ritual, the balance of scripture/tradition/reason, the centrality of grace - that we want to embrace and celebrate. I also think we always need to be careful of the desire to "keep what I have because it works for me." I don't advocate change in order to grow the Episcopal Church, but I am willing to challenge myself in order to place myself in the most effective place to be part of God's redeeming work in the world.
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