Following are the results of an evangelism survey we conducted in May with just over 200 people who participate in Care Groups; the most committed and connected people of CrossWay. I want to thank everyone who took the time to provide meaningful feedback; it is invaluable. Next week, I want outline some steps we are going to take in response to the survey. Here are the questions we asked and the response we received.
How would you rate CrossWay’s theological conviction to be an evangelistic church?
The results: 8.8 on a scale of 10. We were very encouraged by this result.
How would you rate CrossWay’s effectiveness in being an evangelistic church?
The results: 7.5 on a scale of 10. This is not surprising; we expected our effectiveness to be lower than our conviction.
How would you rate your personal conviction to live and speak evangelistically?
The results: 6.9 on a scale of 10. A little discouraging, but not so bad.
How would you rate your personal effectiveness in living and speaking evangelistically?
The results: 5.2 on a scale of 10. Again, not surprising, but a drastic difference from our theological conviction of 8.8 as a church. This clearly indicates we need to increase our personal effectiveness in evangelism.
What do you think is the greatest obstacle to your ongoing personal evangelism?
This question was short answer. By far the number one overall answer was the fear of man. If you were to read the feedback, you would be surprised by how often people wrote the fear of man.
Mark the top 3 obstacles to personal evangelism in your own life.
18.4% ranked the fear of man as number 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number one overall obstacle and tied for the number 2 obstacle.
17.7% ranked the inability to present the gospel as number 1, 2, or 3. This was also tied for the number 2 obstacle.
15.3% ranked the inability to answer objections as number 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number three overall obstacle.
Have you ever attended the Celebration Dinner for Exploring Christianity?
We were very encouraged by 52.3% who have attended the Celebration Dinner.
Have you ever invited guests to attend the Celebration Dinner?
Encouraged again by the 53.8% who have invited a guest to attend the Celebration Dinner.
Have you recently invited guests to attend the Celebration Dinner?
This was a surprising drop. Only 29.4% have recently invited someone to the Celebration Dinner.
If not, which one reason best explains why not?
The top two reasons why people have not recently invited someone to the Celebration Dinner were: 26.1% said they don’t have time to attend the Celebration Dinner and 23.9% said they don’t have any non-Christian friends who they could invite. 37% of those surveyed checked the box labeled “other reason.”
Have you ever attended Exploring Christianity as a participant in the course?
37.6% have attended Exploring Christianity as a participant. This is helpful information but doesn’t tell us a great deal about evangelism, except, possibly those who attend with their guests.
How often have you invited someone to attend one of our Guest Sundays?
This was extremely encouraging. 86.3% have invited a guest at least once, 66.5% have invited guests 2-3 times, and 19.8% have invited guests more than 4 times. Only 13.7% have never invited someone to a Guest Sunday.
What do you find effective about our Guest Sunday services?
The most prominent answer to this short answer question was the clear presentation of the gospel, the welcoming atmosphere, and how we bless our guests with flowers.
How could we make our Guest Sunday services more effective?
The most frequent suggestions were to offer some opportunity after the service for people to linger, encourage greater participation as a church (especially in Care Groups), use personal testimonies during the service, create an opportunity for people to greet one-another during the service, and schedule more Guest Sundays.
Do you pray as a Care Group for our evangelistic witness as a church?
Somewhat encouraged by the 56.3% who said their Care Group prays for CrossWay’s evangelistic witness as a church.
Does your Care Group spend time encouraging personal evangelism?
Extremely encouraged by the 62.4% who said their Care Group spends time encouraging personal evangelism. Surprisingly, there were some Care Groups that don’t ever encourage personal evangelism; at least according to the survey.
How could CrossWay serve you better in your personal evangelism?
Suggestions included offering a class, recommend books, continue to encourage us from the pulpit, make this a greater part of our Care Group life, and provide more opportunities for us as a church to reach out into the community.
Mark the top 3 initiatives that you believe would most strengthen our evangelistic witness as a church?
22.9% ranked offer an evangelism training course as 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number 1 and 3 overall suggestion.
19.6% ranked share more testimonies on evangelism as 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number 2 overall suggestion.
15.4% ranked provide more accountability as 1, 2, or 3. I found that very interesting and hope Care Group Leaders pick up on this need.
If we were to conduct an evangelism equipping class, what kind of focus would serve you best?
28.8% ranked cultivating boldness and faith as 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number 1 overall suggestion.
27.7% ranked training in answering objections as 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number 2 and 3 overall suggestion.
24.0% ranked training in how to share the gospel as 1, 2, or 3.
What other suggestions do you have for CrossWay to strengthen its evangelistic witness in our community?
Suggestions included creating opportunities for us to reach out as a church into our community, host more bridge building events, offer some evangelistic Bible study resources, and shorten the number of weeks of Exploring Christianity.
Please return next week for some steps we are taking as a result of the survey.
How would you rate CrossWay’s theological conviction to be an evangelistic church?
The results: 8.8 on a scale of 10. We were very encouraged by this result.
How would you rate CrossWay’s effectiveness in being an evangelistic church?
The results: 7.5 on a scale of 10. This is not surprising; we expected our effectiveness to be lower than our conviction.
How would you rate your personal conviction to live and speak evangelistically?
The results: 6.9 on a scale of 10. A little discouraging, but not so bad.
How would you rate your personal effectiveness in living and speaking evangelistically?
The results: 5.2 on a scale of 10. Again, not surprising, but a drastic difference from our theological conviction of 8.8 as a church. This clearly indicates we need to increase our personal effectiveness in evangelism.
What do you think is the greatest obstacle to your ongoing personal evangelism?
This question was short answer. By far the number one overall answer was the fear of man. If you were to read the feedback, you would be surprised by how often people wrote the fear of man.
Mark the top 3 obstacles to personal evangelism in your own life.
18.4% ranked the fear of man as number 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number one overall obstacle and tied for the number 2 obstacle.
17.7% ranked the inability to present the gospel as number 1, 2, or 3. This was also tied for the number 2 obstacle.
15.3% ranked the inability to answer objections as number 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number three overall obstacle.
Have you ever attended the Celebration Dinner for Exploring Christianity?
We were very encouraged by 52.3% who have attended the Celebration Dinner.
Have you ever invited guests to attend the Celebration Dinner?
Encouraged again by the 53.8% who have invited a guest to attend the Celebration Dinner.
Have you recently invited guests to attend the Celebration Dinner?
This was a surprising drop. Only 29.4% have recently invited someone to the Celebration Dinner.
If not, which one reason best explains why not?
The top two reasons why people have not recently invited someone to the Celebration Dinner were: 26.1% said they don’t have time to attend the Celebration Dinner and 23.9% said they don’t have any non-Christian friends who they could invite. 37% of those surveyed checked the box labeled “other reason.”
Have you ever attended Exploring Christianity as a participant in the course?
37.6% have attended Exploring Christianity as a participant. This is helpful information but doesn’t tell us a great deal about evangelism, except, possibly those who attend with their guests.
How often have you invited someone to attend one of our Guest Sundays?
This was extremely encouraging. 86.3% have invited a guest at least once, 66.5% have invited guests 2-3 times, and 19.8% have invited guests more than 4 times. Only 13.7% have never invited someone to a Guest Sunday.
What do you find effective about our Guest Sunday services?
The most prominent answer to this short answer question was the clear presentation of the gospel, the welcoming atmosphere, and how we bless our guests with flowers.
How could we make our Guest Sunday services more effective?
The most frequent suggestions were to offer some opportunity after the service for people to linger, encourage greater participation as a church (especially in Care Groups), use personal testimonies during the service, create an opportunity for people to greet one-another during the service, and schedule more Guest Sundays.
Do you pray as a Care Group for our evangelistic witness as a church?
Somewhat encouraged by the 56.3% who said their Care Group prays for CrossWay’s evangelistic witness as a church.
Does your Care Group spend time encouraging personal evangelism?
Extremely encouraged by the 62.4% who said their Care Group spends time encouraging personal evangelism. Surprisingly, there were some Care Groups that don’t ever encourage personal evangelism; at least according to the survey.
How could CrossWay serve you better in your personal evangelism?
Suggestions included offering a class, recommend books, continue to encourage us from the pulpit, make this a greater part of our Care Group life, and provide more opportunities for us as a church to reach out into the community.
Mark the top 3 initiatives that you believe would most strengthen our evangelistic witness as a church?
22.9% ranked offer an evangelism training course as 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number 1 and 3 overall suggestion.
19.6% ranked share more testimonies on evangelism as 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number 2 overall suggestion.
15.4% ranked provide more accountability as 1, 2, or 3. I found that very interesting and hope Care Group Leaders pick up on this need.
If we were to conduct an evangelism equipping class, what kind of focus would serve you best?
28.8% ranked cultivating boldness and faith as 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number 1 overall suggestion.
27.7% ranked training in answering objections as 1, 2, or 3. This was also the number 2 and 3 overall suggestion.
24.0% ranked training in how to share the gospel as 1, 2, or 3.
What other suggestions do you have for CrossWay to strengthen its evangelistic witness in our community?
Suggestions included creating opportunities for us to reach out as a church into our community, host more bridge building events, offer some evangelistic Bible study resources, and shorten the number of weeks of Exploring Christianity.
Please return next week for some steps we are taking as a result of the survey.
