Church uses survey to discern congregation’s spiritual health Aaron Epp Manitoba Correspondent


WINNIPEG, MB—Open any newspaper and you will find arti- cles about the findings of recent studies and surveys, be it about education or physical health. But can surveys be used to gauge the spiritual life of a church? The Willow Creek Association


thinks so. Since 2006, the non- profit organization has offered the Reveal Spiritual Life Survey, a questionnaire church congre- gations can fill out to let church leaders know how they’re doing, and how effective their church’s ministries are. Just over 100 churches across


Canada have used the survey since then, including some in Manitoba. Willow Creek says that because the survey is anony- mous, “you get the absolute, unvarnished truth.” That’s exactly what Todd


Petkau, lead pastor at Winnipeg’s Riverwood Church Community, found after his church filled out the survey for the first time in April 2010. “It was brutal,” Petkau says


of the honesty reflected in the 140 pages of data Willow Creek sent him after 314 members, or 37 per cent of Riverwood’s con-


gregation, completed the survey. “It’s not the sort of survey that the faint of heart want to take. You’ve got to be prepared emo- tionally for the results.” During the 30-minute survey, congregation members answer a variety of questions, includ- ing how they describe where they are in their spiritual life, how they describe their current pace of spiritual growth, and what role prayer and Bible study play in their life. A list of benefits a church could


provide is given, and people indi- cate how important it is to them that their church provides each benefit, on a six-point scale that ranges from “Unimportant” to “Critically important.” People who take the survey


can also address areas they feel their church excels in. “A leader needs to know


what’s really going on in his or her church if they’re going to lead it effectively,” says Scott Cochrane, executive director of the Leadership Centre Willow Creek Canada. Cochrane likens this to a map


in a shopping mall that indicates where you are in relation to the stores you want to go to. “Without the ‘You are here’ sticker, it doesn’t matter where


Ten Thousand Villages celebrates six and a half decades


Emily Wierenga Special to ChristianWeek


sumers in 1946, she catalyzed what would become North America’s largest Fair Trade organization—Ten Thousand Villages. On October 1, Canada’s 48 Ten Thousand Village locations celebrate 65 years of implementing fair wages and just working conditions. Now selling product from more than 36 countries, the global retailer continues to live up to Byler’s dream—that recognition and opportunity be brought to workers in impover- ished settings. On the heels of the non-profit’s World Fair Trade Day—which, according to education and media coordinator Ingrid Heinrichs Pauls, was a varied success—it is hoped that sales will be garnered by this year’s anniversary efforts. “There are some challenges right now,” says Pauls, based out


W


of the Villages’ New Hamburg, Ontario office. “Because of the recession we are not experiencing growth at this time. That has repercussions, certainly on our planning, but mostly on how it affects producers.” Today, more than ever, Ten Thousand Villages desires to increase consumers’ awareness of Fair Trade. “We need to continue to educate people, to let them know that Fair Trade makes a difference.” This message will be conveyed the first Saturday in October


through store-wide draws, displays, specials, cake and balloons, and special footage of Canadian celebrities who shop at Ten Thousand Villages. In addition, renowned storyteller Doug Dirks—a 20-year Ten Thousand Villages veteran—will be putting on two evenings of stories and celebration in the Greater Toronto Area. “Our hope is to draw attention to our history and to the impor-


tance of what we do,” says Heinrichs Pauls, “as well as make people aware that while their consumer decisions and volunteer efforts can seem trivial, ultimately they can have a huge impact.” The latter is evidenced by Bylers’ seemingly trivial decision, 65


years ago, to purchase five dollars’ worth of needlework from Puerto Rican producers. Women across the continent began to partner with the humble churchgoer’s vision, which ultimately resulted in the global enterprise it is today. In spite of its corporate presence, Ten Thousand Villages continues to live by a simple philosophy: to tell the story and sell the product. “I’ve been overseas to meet the producers,” says Pauls. “I know that Fair Trade is what it professes to be. It truly makes a difference.”


• August 2011 • 7


hen Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) volunteer Edna Ruth Byler first began selling Puerto Rican lace to American con-


vey results affirmed the church’s desire to be missional, and serve and care for the community sur- rounding the church. The survey also revealed


that the church struggles with evangelism as well as spiritual disciplines the Reveal survey outlines, such as Bible reading, reflection on Scripture, solitude and prayer. Some of the numbers were “a


Todd Petkau is lead pastor of the Riverwood Church Community.


you’re trying to go—you need to know where you’re start- ing from,” he says. “Tools like Reveal … help a church under- stand their ‘You are here’ sticker


on their journey as a church. They need to know what’s going on right now so they can plan and lead accordingly.” Petkau says Riverwood’s sur-


punch to the gut,” he adds, but they were also helpful. Many of the topics Riverwood has cov- ered on Sunday mornings since last September were planned as a result of areas of weakness the survey revealed. The church did a series on evangelism, a series on prayer and a series on the


Apostles’ Creed. This past June, Riverwood


filled out the survey again, this time with 425 participants. Petkau is eager to see what progress the church has made in the last year. He knows the results aren’t “a


revelation from heaven, direct from God,” but he also knows they shouldn’t be ignored. “On the one hand, I think you


need to take it a little bit with a grain of salt and keep it in per- spective—not get too fixated on numbers,” Petkau says. “But on the other hand, you better pay attention to what’s really going on in the hearts of your people and what their real spiritual experience is.”


COURTESY JON COURTNEY


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