Leaders in churches often have a lot of unanswered questions about their congregations, such as:
- Do people in our church feel truly connected to one another?
- Does our congregation trust our church’s leadership, and if not, why not?
- Why can’t we seem to grow?
Finding answers to questions like these can be tough. Sure, you can ask people directly, but you may not always get honest or complete answers. In some cases, people may not even know why they do the things they do or why they feel the way they feel about the church.
Gaining clarity has a lot to do with asking the right questions and helping people feel comfortable in sharing their answers. Working with an outside organization like VitalChurch Ministry can help you get the answers you’re looking for. Not only is our organization an unbiased third party, but we are also experts in assessing churches. Over our many years in ministry, we’ve learned what questions to ask in order to gain helpful insight into congregations.
So, what kind of assessment does your church need? Will an online church survey be sufficient, or does your church need a more in-depth diagnostic assessment? Below, we’ll outline the various options of church assessments available from VitalChurch Ministry so you can determine which one is right for your church’s situation.
An Online Church Survey
VitalChurch offers an online church survey geared toward churches who want some basic, but still insightful, information about their congregations. The questions on this survey are the result of many years of experience working with churches that are looking to answer questions like:
Why do people attend our church?
What level of acceptance and belonging do people feel in our church?
How much untapped volunteer potential is there among our current congregation?
You can also find out basic demographic information, as well as other information that can help you with strategic planning.
With our online survey, which we call our Church Vitality Survey, your church is able to gather a good deal of information at a price that is affordable for most churches. It is recommended for churches that are generally healthy and have stable leadership in place.
After your congregation has completed the survey, you will receive a report from VitalChurch Ministry’s diagnostic experts that will explain the results and provide you with prayerfully considered recommendations for moving forward.
More In-depth Church Health Assessments
If your church is in need of a deeper analysis of its congregation, you will want to consider either our Focused Church Assessment or our Comprehensive Church Assessment. Both of these church assessments allow you to ask specific questions of your congregation for which you are seeking answers. With the Comprehensive Church Assessment, the Diagnostic Team from VitalChurch Ministry will actually come on site and conduct interviews with key staff members, leaders, and volunteers to gain additional insight and clarity on your issues of concern. During these visits, our team often finds answers to questions that your church leaders didn’t even know to ask!
At the end of your church assessment, your church will receive a full written report that will include easy-to-understand data and analyses, as well as detailed recommendations related to your church’s core issues. You will also have the opportunity to discuss the results with diagnostic experts from VitalChurch Ministry, many of whom are pastors with decades of experience. The Comprehensive Church Assessment includes an in-person presentation to both church leadership and the congregation as a whole to discuss the assessment results in great detail.
These in-depth assessments are geared towards churches that are experiencing some internal issues, such as church conflict, a major leadership transition, or any ongoing struggles (a lack of engagement in church life, lack of discernable spiritual growth, a steady decline in attendance, etc.).
Learn More about VitalChurch Ministry’s Church Survey and Church Health Assessments
You can learn more about all the assessment tools we offer by visiting our Diagnostic Analysis page. You can also reach out to us, and someone from VitalChurch Ministry will get back to you to discuss the various options and help you determine which one is right for your church.