Worship Survey Results

Several weeks back I put up a survey online concerning worship preferences. We had a really good response to that online survey. Over 78 people responded. I want to take time to share with you the results of that survey.

The first question was, "When I come to church I think the atmosphere should be..." 56.5% responded that they felt it should be comfortable. The next significant answer was "sort of like when I visit family." (30.4%) This means that we have to work hard at making sure when people come to the building to worship we need to make sure we have a relaxed, family-like atmosphere to welcome them.

Ways to accomplish this may be the way we paint. Maybe the type of music we play as they enter. But nothing can replace the importance of YOU, the individual making sure you greet those you don't know and making them feel welcomed.

The second question was, "I think the most important thing in a worship service is..." And over 60% thought "PREACHING" was the most significant aspect. That was followed closely by "MUSIC" (46%) and "COMMUNION" (37%). This means that we need to make sure those three elements are done very well. The preaching should be engaging and relevant. The music should be lively and positive. The communion should be clear and done with purpose. Overall all aspects need to be done with excellence.

The third question was interesting. It was simple and straightforward. "I prefer the worship style to be..." And the two possible answers were "Traditional" or "Contemporary." The majority of people responded "Contemporary" (74.6%). I believe that this means we need to understand this is what most people enjoy in their worship style. I believe we have come through any worship wars of the past and have moved on. No need to dig up old corpses. We need to know that this simply is the way that we are going to reach lost people...period.

The next two questions were about the use of media and who the worship service should be for. Simply stated most people enjoy varying forms of media that we use and overwhelmingly most people believe that the worship service should be for BOTH the non-Christian and the Christian.

Questions six and seven dealt with the importance of smooth transitions in a worship service and the place that announcements have in the service. Most people don't care if it is absolutely polished or not. (Which I find interesting. Maybe we should care about our authenticity instead of having a seamless flow to the service.) And, surprisingly to me, most people want to have announcements included during the worship service.

Question eight dealt with the sermon. 65% of people felt the most important part of the sermon is "CONTENT" followed closely by "RELEVANCE" (43.5%) and "APPLICATION" (41.3%). Which means it isn't so much how something is said as much as it is what is said and what that means in my life.

Question nine was no surprise. It dealt with the importance of communion. Overwhelmingly, 67.4% felt that communion in each weekly worship service is "ESSENTIAL." It's good to have our foundations affirmed.

Question 10 was probably the biggest surprise for me. It dealt with hearing prayer requests during the worship service. Most people (60.9%), want to hear requests shared. I think as we grow, realistically we will not be able to accommodate hearing requests shared from the floor. So the compromise is sharing them via the prayer cards we provide in the chairs.

All in all, the thing I think everyone should take away is that we are wanting to improve our corporate worship experience. I don't think we should take it for granted that we can just get together each week and sing a few songs and preach a sermon. We need to always be working on it. We need to make sure that the God we serve is getting our very best. He deserves it.

And the people who walk through our doors need to sense that it is our highest priority that when we gather on Sundays to worship together that we are doing something that we have put a lot of energy, effort and thought into. Eternity is at stake. So we need to quit playing games and be real and do our very best for the Lord!