2022 "Get to Know Us" Pastor's Survey Results

 “Please give your servant a discerning mind in order to govern your people and to distinguish good from evil, because no one is able to govern this important people of yours without your help.” (1 Kings 3:9, CEB)

Shortly after I arrived in July of this year, many of you will remember that I invited you as a congregation to complete a “Get to Know Us Pastor’s Survey” in which I asked four simple yet important questions to help me be better able to understand the values, priorities and potential Vision that you as our church family feel are important.

Thank you to the 59 of you who filled these out (35 digitally; 24 via paper)!  With all of my other priorities as a new pastor, I unfortunately wasn’t able to sort through all of them as quickly as I would have hoped.  However, I have now finally finished that process, and I am pleased to be able to share with you a summary of the top numerical results (NOTE: because of ties, the summary results below differ in number for each question)…

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Question #1: If there’s one thing you hope NEVER changes about Cornerstone UMC, what would it be? (top 4 results…)

1)  The close intimacy, friendliness and care of and among our church family/fellowship

2) Our focus on mission to/with our community and world

3, tie) Our focus on loving and welcoming ALL people (hospitality)

3, tie) Our great music ministry (including our choirs, praise band, children’s music, handbells, etc.)

4, tie) Our sharing of the gospel with our community and being a place where people find Christ

4, tie) That we offer traditional-style worship

4, tie)  Maintaining/offering two separate/unique services

 

Question #2:  If you could wave a magic wand and CHANGE any one thing about Cornerstone UMC, what would it be? (top 4 results…)

1, tie) Become a more diverse and inclusive church (better hospitality)

1, tie) Become a more compassionate, family-oriented church (more intentional fellowship opportunities, like fellowship meals)

2) Go back to having one combined & blended worship service

3) Facility additions and/or upgrades (including a new sanctuary, steeple, and renovation of existing spaces)

4) Growing our ministries with children, youth and families

(Of note: my favorite response from one of you for this question was… “Me!”)

 

Question #3:  As we share the gospel of Jesus in our community and world, what do you feel should be the PRIMARY VISION of Cornerstone UMC for the next 5 years? (top 5 results…)

1) Offer more outreach ministry and events that are open to/with/reaching our community (like ministry with community retirees; more marketing for GriefShare; offering ministry to/among the community vs. waiting for them to come to us; “meet people where they are”)

2) Focus on growing our ministry to/with children and youth

3) Focus on becoming more welcoming and diverse (“radical hospitality”)

4) Grow our compassion/care and mission ministries with our community and world

5) More intentional opportunities/ministries for fellowship and congregational care

 

Question #4:  What’s the best piece of ADVICE you could give Brian as our new Pastor? (top 3 results…)

1, tie) Listen (to all perspectives; “listen to understand, not to respond”)

1, tie) Prioritize pastoral care (including membership visitation)

2) Keep up the good work doing what you’re doing so far

3, tie) Be Jesus to the congregation /be visible to them

3, tie) Don’t show favoritism towards groups over one another (RE worship styles, opinions, ages, etc; Also, don’t allow one group to dominate over the others)

3, tie) Communicate/share information (including having transparency in decisions)

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While space didn’t permit me to share the detailed, raw inputs with you in this article (nor would most of you have wanted to sort through all 15 pages!), nevertheless you can access that raw data HERE if you want/desire.

Please know that in addition to your inputs guiding me in my leadership, our church leadership also be using those inputs in our Visioning process that we’ll begin in 2023.

Again, thankyou to all who completed one of these surveys – the information is invaluable to me and your church leadership as I/we pray about how to best lead and guide our church into its future through the power of the Holy Spirit. Always remember that God loves you and I do, too!