Survey Results - Go Fish!

Last Sunday I shared about our need to change and grow in the area of outreach. We took a survey about our current attitudes towards the church and sharing our faith. Here is the rough data...

Question #1 - How excited are you about our Sunday worship services?

73.91% gave a positive response by circling a 4 or a 5.

18.26% gave a neutral response by circling a 3.

7.83% gave a negative response by circling a 1 or 2.

This is huge for us as we have been intentionally working over the last year to develop our Sunday morning service so that they are exciting, inspirational, and practical. I believe a year ago, those percentages would have been reversed.

Question #2 - How likely are you to invite someone to New Song church in the next 90 days?

37.61% gave a positive response by circling a 4 or a 5.

35.90% gave a neutral response by circling a 3.

26.50% gave a negative response by circling a 1 or a 2.

This confirmed our suspicions about where we are at as a church. A lot of us are excited about what God is doing at New Song and in our lives, but not as excited about inviting someone to attend. Part of the reason for this can be found in question #3, which is about how inspired and equipped you are to share your faith.

Question #3 - How confident are you sharing your faith with someone?

45.22% gave a positive response by circling a 4 or a 5.

36.52% gave a neutral response by circling a 3.

18.26% gave a negative response by circling a 1 or a 2.

I believe that many of you don't feel confident about sharing your faith with someone because as a church we haven't done enough to equip or inspire you in this area. On the Sunday after Easter we are starting our "Go Fish!" series to remedy this problem. In addition, Steve Caler and David Sheppard will be having two separate three week classes on how to share your faith. Each week they'll explain how to reach out, send you out to try it, and then encourage you to come back and discuss how it went.

Here's a graphic to show you the pattern of the first three questions.

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Question #4 How many years have you been a Christian?

Less than 1 year - 9

1- 4 years - 9

5-9 years - 12

More than 10 years - 84

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Question #5 How many years have you attended New Song?

Less than 1 year - 19
1-4 years - 52
5-9 years - 44

These last two questions help us to see that as a church we are primarily reaching people who have been a Christian for 10 years or more.

Overall, I am excited about the results of the survey because they reveal that we are in a good place to make the changes necessary for us to become the church God wants us to be. Over the next few months we'll be implementing our Joshua Project so that we live up to our good intentions when it comes to sharing our faith. Remember, I am not asking you to give money, but I am asking you to give away your faith!

Keith Haro

On Tuesday, Doug Husen and I had lunch with Keith Haro. Keith took us over to Chili's to say goodbye since he is moving up to Auburn next month. Keith was one of the very first members of New Song and I'am sad to see him go. Keith's sister passed away about 5 years ago leaving two young children behind. So, Keith is moving to Auburn (where his dad and the kids' live) in order to start taking them to church. Keith wants to be a great uncle and help them grow up knowing the Lord.

As we had lunch with Keith I thought of all the great things that he has done for our church over the last few years. Keith was the first person to coordinate our trailer pullers on Sunday mornings to make sure all of the equipment got to the church. Keith built many of the carts that we use on Sunday mornings to transport our church. Keith has served faithfully on Sunday's for 6 years setting up or tearing down the church. Keith has served as our head usher for so many church services, I can't even count them all. In recent years, Keith has been a solid member of our men's groups and contributed to the great fellowship there.

Keith also provided me with one of the best memories I have of our church. When we were just getting started, Keith and I were talking at Adventure Church in Roseville and he stopped to invite a friend, Rhonda Stearns, to "our church." At the time, I wasn't sure there was ever going to be anyone else besides Susan and I at "our church." I will always remember that moment as the time when New Song became something bigger than a crazy God given idea in my head.

In doing all of these things keith has probably put in more hours behind the scenes working to help New Song than any other volunteer since we started. Yet, he has never asked to be honored or recognized. So I wanted to take a moment today to say THANK YOU KEITH!!! And I'd encourage you to do the same. Keith's last Sunday with us will be March 30th, so make sure and give him a hug and say thanks the next time you see him working so hard for our church.