But developing church survey questions takes time, and most church staff members are short on time. That’s why we wrote questions for every type of survey your ministry might want to use.
Keep reading this free resource to get 147 sample church survey questions plus information on how you can analyze the results you get from your surveys and how to conduct a successful survey. Finally, use our 18 free church survey questionnaire templates to make creating surveys a snap.
Table of Contents
Although 47% of Americans belong to a church family, not all report feeling connected to their churches' missions. It's important to have a mission that members connect with because it helps keep your congregation passionate
| make church |
. If they do not understand or connect with the church’s mission, it may be time to rethink your ministry strategy.
Your church works hard to make your mission special, so how do we identify the disconnects? Start by conducting a church survey. To build a great survey, you need great questions. Keep reading to find them.
The following sections of this guide provide sample church survey questions for many common areas of church ministries that can help you pinpoint issues and solutions. To help you select survey questions that engage your church members, each question includes an explanation of the value of asking that question.
Before we cover what to do with your church survey data, you need to select the right church assessment questions to ask. Quality church survey questions will help you gain valuable data you can use to improve your church.
Let's start with 24 key church survey questions you should consider asking.
Why ask this survey question?
Asking your church how well they understand the church’s mission is one of the first questions you should ask. When members don't connect to your mission, they likely don't connect to your ministry strategy, either.
Why ask this survey question?
People go to church to grow spiritually. They're looking for ways to connect with God and to grow. To help them achieve that goal, you need to know if they're leaving your services feeling spiritually fed.
Why ask this survey question?
When members don't feel supported by their church, they're likely to seek a different church. Identifying whether or not your members feel cared for and supported is key to keeping your church together and building a healthy church family.
Why ask this survey question?
One of the biggest factors that shape a church is its music. Music is a vehicle for information, and it creates an environment where individuals can feel God's presence. If your congregation doesn't feel connected to your worship music, they could be missing a chance to hear and connect with the Word.
Why ask this survey question?
This may be one of the most important church survey questions you can ask. This is because spending is one of the biggest challenges churches face. You have to make sure that your budgets align with your givers' values, needs and interests while still maintaining your church's overall mission.
When your congregation doesn't feel that your spending is aligned with your overall mission, they're less likely to give. This can lead to fewer initiatives and fewer opportunities to minister to your community.
Why ask this survey question?
When Christians feel engaged with their churches, they feel inspired to advance their churches’ missions and passionate about helping to serve them.
Why ask this survey question?
An important activity that churches can engage in is to create an inclusive and welcoming environment. People want to feel like they belong to a congregation.
There are plenty of ways to create a more welcoming environment. By asking church survey questions about how your members feel, you can brainstorm ideas to improve their overall experience.
Why ask this survey question?
Small church groups are critical to helping your members grow. They could be mothers' groups, youth groups, men's groups, etc.
Regardless of which type of small groups you have, they're a great place for members to make friends and build connections. Learning what small group members would like to see can help them engage with the church and become more active members.
Why ask this survey question?
When you ask members their preferred method to contribute to a mission, you can get a commitment from them before you start your ministry initiatives.
Why ask this survey question?
There are many ways people discover churches. Sometimes a friend or family member invites them and other times they discover your church online.
Understanding how people found your church is important for learning how you can expand those growth efforts. That helps you know what outreach campaigns your church should focus on.
Why ask this survey question?
If church members feel they have important friendships or relationships with other members, that’s a natural way to improve existing connections and build new ones.
Why ask this survey question?
True or false (or yes or no) church survey questions help you get quick reactions of positive and negative sentiment around your church programs.
Why ask this survey question?
This reaction question tells you whether your church is perceived as open to new members and ideas.
Why ask this survey question?
This is a crucial question — is your church doing its most important job of growing members spiritually?
Why ask this survey question?
Use this church survey question to learn whether your church is helping members feel fulfilled and where there is untapped potential in your congregation.
Why ask this survey question?
How can you grow your church? Ask your members! If this question produces negative responses, you have work to do.
Why ask this survey question?
Get quick and direct feedback from members on the positive and potentially negative aspects of your church’s worship style. This could be a key differentiator or learning opportunity for you.
Why ask this survey question?
Your pastor is another potential differentiator for your church. What do church members like or dislike about your pastor’s style?
Why ask this survey question?
This church survey question helps you begin to find some consensus on the positive parts of your church and what’s important to members.
Why ask this survey question?
Understanding if you’re meeting members’ needs will help you tailor your services accordingly. Give your members services that fit their lives.
Why ask this survey question?
One of the best ways to grow your congregation is by word of mouth. Use your valuable existing members to introduce new members to the community.
Why ask this survey question?
This question is a good way to understand how members feel about your church’s outreach programs and commitment to them. Be sure your priorities match your members’ priorities.
Why ask this survey question?
This church survey question helps you understand the demographics of your current congregation and where you can focus your efforts going forward.
Why ask this survey question?
Like knowing your congregants’ ages, knowing how long they’ve attended your church helps you discover where there are gaps and opportunities to reach out to new members.
Why ask this survey question?
Ask this question to discover what role your church plays in members’ lives and why it’s important to them.
Why ask this survey question?
This question explores why Bible study is important to members and why they seek it out.
Why ask this survey question?
Find out why your Bible study is a positive factor in members’ lives so you can expand it to others.
Why ask this survey question?
This church survey question is a great way to get members’ reactions to your Bible study program, both positive and negative. This will help you customize and improve these sessions.
Why ask this survey question?
Providing more personalized and compelling topics in Bible study can help you strengthen the existing group and potentially add new members.
Why ask this survey question?
Meet members where they are, with Bible study sessions that fit into their schedules.
Why ask this survey question?
Customizing your Bible study courses to members’ preferences can help you expand the power of these sessions.
Why ask this survey question?
Just like asking about the best length for Bible study sessions, understanding the best time to offer them might increase attendance.
Why ask this survey question?
This is another question that relates to personalizing Bible study sessions to fit members’ lives and preferences.
Why ask this survey question?
Your Bible study sessions should feel comfortable and welcoming. Understanding how much discussion members want is an important factor in their participation and engagement.
Why ask this survey question?
Here’s where you get your members’ input and great ideas. The best way to improve a program is to ask those who participate or want to participate.
Why ask this survey question?
This church survey question can give you information on scheduling, session size, transportation issues and many other features that are important to existing and potential new members.
Why ask this survey question?
Find out how popular your Bible study programs are with this direct question. It will give you a great idea of how appealing the program is.
Church leadership can set your church apart when you want to attract and retain members. Survey questions for your church leadership can help you gauge where the team stands related to members’ satisfaction and engagement.
Why ask this survey question?
This question can tell you how well church leaders are aligned with the church’s ministry. This is a key question that can uncover disconnects in leaders’ engagement.
Why ask this survey question?
Related to understanding your church’s mission, this question identifies how leaders feel about the education and communication around your mission that helps your congregation make important connections.
Why ask this survey question?
You need a strong, cohesive team to represent your church to your congregation. Find out how you can help church leaders feel empowered.
Why ask this survey question?
From simple to more complex situations, asking church leaders what they need to succeed is an important step.
Why ask this survey question?
Like your members, church leaders want to feel they are in a place where they can learn, grow and contribute to the extent of their abilities.
Why ask this survey question?
This is another important perspective on the success of your outreach programs. Church leaders often have insight from other organizations and experiences that can be valuable to your programs.
Why ask this survey question?
This is the vital church survey question for any church and its leaders — plans and support systems to grow the church’s ministry.
Why ask this survey question?
Church leaders can provide a different point of view on how to build a church community.
Why ask this survey question?
You don’t want church leaders to be bogged down in bureaucracy and inefficient systems, either technical or personal.
Why ask this survey question?
This church survey question can often spark new and interesting ideas and directions for programs and projects.
A church grows in many important ways by bringing in new people and ideas. A key focus area for church survey questions could be visitors — and prospective new members.
Why ask this survey question?
You want to ensure accessing your church is as easy as possible. Obstacles in this area can create a negative first impression with visitors and discourage them from returning.
Why ask this survey question?
Find out if visitors feel comfortable in your space, both physically and personally.
Why ask this survey question?
Navigating your church space — particularly guest services — is a key factor in making visitors feel welcome and excited to return.
Why ask this survey question?
This question focuses on visitors’ very first impressions of your services. Learn from their experiences to improve.
Why ask this survey question?
Visitors will decide fairly quickly if they are comfortable with your services and the logistics of entering the church.
Why ask this survey question?
You are used to your church space, so fresh viewpoints can help you identify aspects of your church entrance that are positive or negative.
Why ask this survey question?
Although it seems like a mundane detail, the location of church restrooms is important. This is a vital part of making visitors comfortable in your space.
Why ask this survey question?
The worship area is where visitors will spend the most time and look at most carefully. Use this church survey question to find out how they perceive it.
Why ask this survey question?
Visitors and potential new members are a great source of new ideas and energy in your church. Find out how people want to engage with the church to enhance your programs and the congregation.
Volunteers are the lifeblood of any church, so surveying them is a smart idea. Find out how to find and keep these key members of your church community.
Learn how volunteers found out about opportunities so you can continue or enhance communications intended for volunteers.
Why ask this survey question?
Volunteers will stay in their roles if they’re doing work they feel is important and connected to the church’s mission.
Why ask this survey question?
Volunteers want to feel valued by the church and church community. Ask how they feel about what they’re getting back.
Why ask this survey question?
Any volunteer has an important role to play. Be sure you have them in roles they enjoy and can thrive in.
Why ask this survey question?
To keep future volunteers joining church projects, programs and roles, this church survey question helps you learn how volunteers feel they are treated by the community.
Why ask this survey question?
This is the most important question you can ask volunteers. Their immediate reactions to key words can help you assess volunteer roles and how to improve them (if necessary).
Why ask this survey question?
Like anyone who works for an organization, volunteers want to feel properly prepared and supported in doing the work.
Why ask this survey question?
Like training and preparation, resources (or lack of resources) can make volunteer jobs engaging or challenging.
Why ask this survey question?
Use this church survey question to learn how to accentuate the positive aspects of volunteer roles.
Why ask this survey question?
Use this question to help you avoid issues and obstacles going forward and make volunteer roles fulfilling.
Why ask this survey question?
This is an opportunity for volunteers to describe their experiences, impressions and insights in their own words.
Why ask this survey question?
This church survey question represents the outcome of the previous questions. You’ll learn whether your church’s volunteer roles and programs appeal to members and how to keep them interesting and fulfilling.
Why ask this survey question?
Constructive feedback like this is invaluable. Read these responses carefully for great perspectives and ideas.
Why ask this survey question?
This question reflects the real reason any church member becomes a volunteer. Be sure you understand how these opportunities helped your volunteers grow spiritually.
Your church choir is an important part of your services and your church community. It also gives members a different way to express their creativity and spirituality. Use these questions to make the most of your church choir.
Why ask this survey question?
To dedicate time and energy to the choir, members should feel satisfied with the overall experience.
Why ask this survey question?
As a visible and vital part of your services, you want church choir members to feel they are well prepared to contribute and perform.
Why ask this survey question?
Like any group, logistics are an important part of their success. All members should be up-to-date on upcoming performances and feel free to speak up if they need information.
Why ask this survey question?
Your church choir should not be taken for granted as part of your services. Members want to hone their skills and see positive results.
Why ask this survey question?
New ideas should be welcome in any church group and your choir is no different. Trying new songs and arrangements can attract different members to the choir and enrich your services.
Why ask this survey question?
Choir members want to feel their time, energy and dedication are well spent. Be sure their performances are valuable and enjoyable to the congregation.
Why ask this survey question?
No single choir member should feel their voice is too dominant or underused. Find out how members feel about the choir’s balance of voices.
Why ask this survey question?
Scheduling is a key factor in determining whether people can participate in the choir. Be sure your schedule meets members’ needs.
Why ask this survey question?
Group events are a good way to build and strengthen relationships within the choir.
Why ask this survey question?
This church survey question can uncover valuable information on ways to help the church choir operate smoothly and sound their best.
For many church members, music is an integral part of their worship experience. Asking survey questions about church music can help you improve and grow your musical programs.
Why ask this survey question?
Church members should feel the music enhanced the services and their engagement with the message.
Why ask this survey question?
Providing relevant and thoughtful music during services can make new and existing church members feel welcome, engaged and uplifted.
Why ask this survey question?
This is the main reason for providing music during worship services. This church survey question can help you find out if your musical program connects with members.
Why ask this survey question?
For many members, music helps them understand and make sense of sermons and seasons.
Why ask this survey question?
Soliciting original music from members is a great way to increase participation in sermons and help members grow spiritually and artistically.
Why ask this survey question?
Sound quality and levels are critical components of church music. If the music is too soft or too loud, you could be turning off worshippers.
Why ask this survey question?
Churchgoers want to feel they are getting the very best music the church has to offer. A candid assessment of the quality of your church’s music is a must.
Why ask this survey question?
You should always be on the lookout for potential new volunteers in your music program and for ways to excite your congregation and encourage participation.
Why ask this survey question?
Many church members want to expand their horizons past traditional church music to new ways of expressing their spirituality and joy at services.
Why ask this survey question?
From old favorites to new songs, ask your congregation for their musical preferences to make your sermons personal and special.
Why ask this survey question?
Knowing the school age of your survey respondents will help you understand how different age groups respond to church programs.
Why ask this survey question?
Understanding the length of time youths have identified as Christian can help you develop programs that are designed to engage them spiritually at appropriate ages.
Why ask this survey question?
This question helps you understand the level of interest young church members have in the youth group.
Why ask this survey question?
This question identifies any barriers that might affect participation in the youth group.
Why ask this survey question?
Getting honest feedback on features of your youth group can highlight aspects you should emphasize to potential new members.
Why ask this survey question?
Like the church at large, it’s important to create a friendly and comfortable atmosphere for young church members.
Why ask this survey question?
Improving the environment of the youth ministry will help you encourage new members to join.
Why ask this survey question?
This sample church survey question means youth group members can help to drive the content and direction of group discussions.
Why ask this survey question?
Reactions to this question identify how you can make the youth group a success. Its number one goal is to develop young members’ spiritual lives.
Why ask this survey question?
Gauging the level of satisfaction with the youth group will give you a quick measure of the group’s popularity and potential.
Why ask this survey question?
After a retreat, it’s important to follow up with questions that gauge the success of the event.
Why ask this survey question?
Identifying the most popular aspects of the retreat means you can focus on enhancing future retreats.
Why ask this survey question?
Just as you need to understand the most popular parts of the retreat, it’s important to get information on the less successful parts so you can adjust or eliminate them.
Why ask this survey question?
Assigning a numerical value to participants’ reactions provides a quick visual of their satisfaction with the site of the church retreat.
Why ask this survey question?
This question helps you decide whether the retreat site is worth using again.
Why ask this survey question?
Expanding the list of potential retreat locations can give you more options for the next retreat.
Why ask this survey question?
A numerical rating of the retreat’s activities will quickly identify the most successful ones, which you can repeat and enhance going forward.
Why ask this survey question?
This church survey question can surface new ideas for church retreats going forward.
Why ask this survey question?
Ensuring the retreat works in members’ schedules can help you adjust the schedule to enhance participation in the future.
Why ask this survey question?
This question gives you a feel for attendees’ perceptions of and responses to the retreat and how it contributed to your primary goal — spiritual growth.
Why ask this survey question?
Open-ended questions can elicit many valuable, candid contributions from attendees and help you start to frame the next retreat.
Why ask this survey question?
Gauging church members’ familiarity with your outreach programs will tell you how well you communicate these programs.
Why ask this survey question?
Identifying specific programs and reactions to them can help you measure their popularity and level of engagement with them.
Why ask this survey question?
You want to focus your attention on the programs doing the most good in the community.
Why ask this survey question?
This is an opportunity for church members to suggest new and different challenges your outreach programs can address.
Why ask this survey question?
The best way to engage members and increase participation in outreach programs is to ask this church survey question. Which programs inspire interest and passion for members?
Why ask this survey question?
Measuring the success of your outreach communications is a vital piece of data. To engage participants, they need to be aware of opportunities.
Why ask this survey question?
What are church members’ impressions of your commitment to outreach programs? Volunteers want to feel these programs are priorities that have the church’s support.
Why ask this survey question?
Understanding what’s preventing church members from working on outreach programs will help you eliminate them and increase participation.
Why ask this survey question?
Your church’s identity is strongly tied to outreach programs, so be sure you ask church members how you can strengthen those ties.
Why ask this survey question?
Asking about members’ impressions of other churches’ outreach programs can help you improve your programs by incorporating the best qualities of successful programs.
Why ask this survey question?
Knowing members’ marital status helps you identify members who might need extra support for certain activities and/or emotional issues.
Why ask this survey question?
Senior citizens who are working often have different needs and can offer valuable ways to contribute to the church community.
Why ask this survey question?
You can increase seniors’ engagement in the church if you have a good understanding of how often they attend church services.
Why ask this survey question?
Understanding the church programs seniors value most can help you focus your efforts where they will have the most impact.
Why ask this survey question?
This is a great church survey question that literally creates a list of church members’ needs and volunteers’ skills and abilities that you can use to meet them.
Why ask this survey question?
Senior citizens’ needs for spiritual growth might differ from those of younger church members. Be sure you understand those needs.
Why ask this survey question?
What kinds of spiritual support can your church provide to senior citizens? It’s important to ask specifically for this input.
Why ask this survey question?
Knowing how seniors would improve church resources and activities for their cohort can help you customize programs specifically for this segment of your congregation.
Why ask this survey question?
Ask this question to understand what types of programs seniors want from the church. Meet them where they are.
Why ask this survey question?
Senior citizens need different types of support from your church, which might be different than younger members’ needs. You want to welcome all seniors to your church and eliminate obstacles.
Why ask this survey question?
Seniors can make valuable contributions to your church if you ask and listen to their responses.
Why does your church need to create and distribute a questionnaire for church growth?
Ministries must understand the needs and wants of their members to improve retention. They must also understand new visitors to grow their flock.
Understanding the thoughts of these groups is doubly important because church membership across the country is changing. Church membership has dropped drastically in the last two decades. In fact, less than half of Americans belonged to a church in 2020.
This stat may make the prospect of growing a church seem daunting. Luckily, there are practical steps you can take to assess church growth.
Below are a few church growth survey questions designed to ensure your church is moving in the right direction. Use this free questionnaire for church growth as either a starting point for your own unique survey, or copy and paste its questions into in a Word document to distribute to members and visitors as is.
Why this question?
Did you know women give to church more than men? Or that men are less likely to pray (PEW Research)?
Simple church growth survey questions, such as this one, can give insights as to what your church should offer.
For example, are there significantly more women in your membership than men? Perhaps you should create a men’s ministry to better engage new men joining the congregation.
Having this data at your fingertips will help you understand how to adapt for church growth.
Why this church growth survey question?
This is one of the most important questions on this questionnaire for church growth. Every church needs a healthy mix of members of all ages. Unfortunately, many ministries have aging congregations. Understanding how to appeal to younger members is key to the success of church ministries.
It’s also important to manage church change carefully when appealing to younger members. Otherwise, many long-time churchgoers may feel upset about the changes and leave.
Why this question?
Demographics across the country are shifting fast. If your church is in a diverse area, but only made up of mostly one demographic, there might be something about your services or outreach that isn’t connecting with the greater community.
This church growth survey question will help you quantify the makeup of your church to better understand what adjustments in community outreach you need to make.
Why this question?
You might already know if your church is made up of long-term members. However, it is important to quantify the makeup of your membership. This church growth survey question helps ministries understand when the largest spikes in membership occurred and when membership growth and retention fell off.
Why this question?
This portion of the questionnaire for church growth helps you better understand what the most appealing aspect of your ministry is. Once you understand that, you can look to augment those services. You can even look to bring some of the energy that made your services successful to other areas.
Why this question?
Although this church growth survey question doesn’t give you the specifics, it’s important to get an overall assessment of the efficacy of your church. This general thumbs up or thumbs down will help you know whether you need to dig deeper on reasons for dissatisfaction among members and church visitors.
Why this question?
Not every question on your questionnaire for church growth needs to have a preselected subset of answers. In fact, open questions like these are critical for gauging the sentiment of members. They require the survey taker to give the question more thought, which can lead to thoughtful answers on key questions, such as your pastor’s efficacy.
Why this question?
Attention spans are shrinking, which is why it’s important to evaluate the length of your sermons. Just because your sermons have always been a certain length doesn’t mean they should continue to be. This church growth survey question will help you better understand if it’s time to shake things up.
Why this question?
Worship styles seem to be a hotly contended issue in church circles. Depending on your answers, assess which generations find the worship style agreeable.
This might give you a clue about who (and why) you are attracting certain demographics more than others.
Why this question?
If your aim is to learn how to grow your church, you need to look at it from an outsider's perspective. Church marketing efforts will only go so far if your congregation isn't inviting people.
Why this question?
This church growth survey question is a great follow up. If somebody is unlikely to bring a friend or an unbeliever to your church, the best marketing tool at your disposal, word of mouth, is going to be limited. Discover how you can improve the number of new church member referrals. Get to the root of what’s stopping members from recommending their church.
Why this question?
You might think you’re doing well with community outreach, but your congregation may think differently. That’s why you distribute a questionnaire for church growth. The survey will help you understand where your perception as a church leader varies from your members. The answers to these questions may be difficult to hear, but that’s why they’re so important.
True or False: Church Growth Survey Questions
Even though your questionnaire for church growth will answer many pressing questions about how well your current efforts are performing, new questions will spring up. For example, if members are saying they don’t feel “spiritually revitalized by attending the church,” then you’ll need to know why. Including these true or false questions can help you better understand what your next survey should focus on.
Why this question?
This questionnaire for church growth template asks many important questions, but your ministry is unique. That’s why we included this open-ended question. Chances are there’s something singular going on within your church that you need to get to the bottom of.
We also included this question last. The reason for it is that all the previous questions will get the survey taker thinking about their feelings on your church.
If certain feelings are widely held by your membership, you’ll want to investigate them further to see how you can either fix an issue or improve a strength.
Even in this age of big data, information does little good unless it’s categorized into the most insightful format possible. Therefore, your choice of engagement software/platform has a significant effect on your ability to accurately interpret and analyze the results of your church survey questions.
An effective analytics platform can quickly identify your organization’s strengths and weaknesses. Rather than digging through the data manually, the right solution will help you focus on the key problem areas quickly and efficiently and let you drill down to get to the root of any issues.
Segmenting data according to specific groups of church members helps reveal successes and challenges for individuals and groups.
Every church has a leadership team. Some churches have a vestry; others have councils. No matter the type of leadership team, it's important to share the church survey results with leaders.
Doing so helps them understand what the data says about the areas of the church they manage. They'll be better prepared to improve their focus on their ministries.
For instance, after completing a church survey, communicate the data to team leaders, such as children, youth, small group and music team leaders.
Those leaders can use the data to improve their areas of the church. They can help brainstorm ways to make positive changes based on the survey results.
Once you've analyzed your church survey data and shared it with leaders, move on to the action planning phase. Use an organized approach to create action plans that really benefit your congregation.
Especially if this is your first church survey, you might discover many ways to improve your church. However, start by choosing two or three areas to focus on.
Next, use pulse surveys or short polls to drill further into selected focus areas. This will help you get more nuanced information on the changes to implement in your church. These polls can be much shorter than your more extensive church survey and should focus on details.
For each plan that you make, designate which leaders will lead it. Having leaders in place helps ensure that your congregation will enact change. Select leaders who are well-suited to enact specific changes.
The easiest way to ensure that your plans get enacted is to document them in writing. Document your plan and how you'll make sure it gets done. Make notes about who is leading the project and ensure milestones are met.
After you conduct a church survey and get responses to your church survey questions, it's important to communicate the resulting actions. No one likes to be kept in the dark or feel as if the effort they put into taking the survey was useless.
Announce the new goals for the church to create a sense of transparency and show that your leaders are taking the survey data seriously. Doing so can help bring your congregation together and help them feel they are taking an active part in forming a church family.
Be sure to communicate with the congregation as initiatives progress. Give updates on any new actions your leaders took to improve because of the feedback from the church survey.
There's no endpoint to improving engagement. As your church grows, so does its complexity. After you share, plan around, and discuss your survey results, you can use the information as a guide for any future church surveys.
Make sure you follow up on action plans. Ensure that you create positive change that becomes a permanent fixture in your church. Doing so helps show your commitment to implementing strong and powerful change within your congregation.
On top of that, continue to update your church on your progress. As you make changes to your church's ministry plan or style thanks to the survey results, update your members so they remain engaged and involved in the process.
Click the image to access free templates today!
Use these 18 free church survey questionnaire templates to begin the process of collecting key insights to help your church grow.