News

LOWER BLUE MOUNTAINS NEIGHBOURHOOD SURVEY

28 November 2008

Conducted by members of the Springwood & Winmalee Anglican Churches (SWAC)
in October & November 2008.

Summary of the findings so far

Our church is seeking to better understand and connect more with our community. Some churches stay secluded in their “holy huddles”. We don’t believe that’s healthy as much as we like meeting together as God’s people.

Below is a summary so far of the survey of religious & spiritual views. If you would like to take part in the survey then just download it from this site [Microsoft WORD document] and email it back to us. If you wish to speak confidentially to a pastor about any of the issues it raises please contact us through our church office.

Even though our area is considered "religious" only 12% of those polled indicated they "currently attend church" (at all). Of the 88% who said they don't attend church, 37% said they "used to". This clearly tells us that many people feel they have "tried" Christianity and church already and haven’t liked what they experienced.

When asked "why don't people attend church these days (why don't you)?" 30% said "too busy", 28% "don't believe it or not religious", and 12% "don't like the church system". 16% mentioned "past hurts or bad experience at church" and only 6% mentioned "boring". Despite these “turn offs” an 50% of people said they were “likely” or “possible” to attend church if a friend invited them to go with them. Friendship obviously bridges many barriers.

What would people be looking for in a church if they did want to attend? A huge 52% said, “a sense of community & friendship”. A least 1 in 6 people mentioned they’d look for a church that offered good youth & children’s activities, relevant issues tackled. And almost 1 in 5 said they’d be interested in a “traditional style church”.

People suggested a long list of community services that the church could offer in this area, including raising funds for local causes, church in the pub, footy grand final nights, foster community activities and transport for seniors.

The question that people overwhelmingly would like to ask was “why does God allow suffering?” (1 in 4 people), with 14% wanting to know “how one religion could be right when there are so many?”

The last question, “Who do you think Jesus was?”, elicited a surprising range of opinions. While 11% said he was “alive today” or “son of God” (11%), 15% said he was a “good man” or “good teacher”.

Many people told us they respected or even followed Jesus’ “teachings”, which suggested that our church should consider offering people more opportunities to investigate and discuss the “teachings of the good teacher”. Perhaps we could offer home conversation groups or coffee chats or books clubs where Jesus’ teaching could be read and openly discussed.

Rev Graham Crew (Senior Pastor – SWAC)

1. Do you attend any local church regularly?

Response	Percentage
Yes	12.5%
No	50%
Used to	37.5%

2. Why do you think most people don’t attend church these days (or why don’t you)? (Respondents could give more than one reason)

Reasons	Percentage
a) Church is too money grubbing	2%
b) Past hurts at church	5%
c) Church is too boring	7%
d) Church is too judgmental	7%
e) Church is irrelevant	11%
f) Don’t believe/not religious	28%
g) Don’t like the church system	12%
h) Too busy	30%
i) I don’t need it	2%
j) Bad experience at church	11%
k) Feel uncomfortable there	7%

Other:

Don’t fit in
Not necessary
Other things to do (i.e. Sport on Sundays)
Work commitments
Seems to cliquey
Too old
Don’t believe in God/Other spiritual beliefs
Don’t want change in lifestyle
Out of touch
Church grappling with technology
Intimidated to return
Would have no one to go with
Too modern
Not diverse/too strict

3. If you were looking for a church, what kind of things would you look for in a church?

Characteristics	Percentage
1. Children’s activities	18%
2. Relevant issues raised	14%
3. Youth activities	18%
4. Genuine care	14%
5. Traditional style church	18%
6. Lively & interesting	7%
7. Answers to life questions	14%
8. A sense of community & friendship	52%

Other:

Gospel being taught well
Help people physically and mentally
Intellectual interest
Open to all ages
‘How quick can I get out?’
Easy going/accepting/welcoming/friendly
Not preaching to much
Let less good musicians play
Rituals
Tolerance for other beliefs/Acceptance/Respect for each other
Real/down to earth
Community involvement
Family activities
Entertainment/Outings/singing

4. How would you suggest our church could better serve this community?

Contacting people who are new to the area. Invite them to non-threatening, non religious activities (children’s activities, parenting courses). Help the homeless. Help families in crisis.
Have a good reputation
More welcoming, not so much do this
Don’t be judgmental
More children’s activities, relevant issues, youth activities and genuine care.
More evangelism
Community based activity, local fundraising i.e. local causes(Christmas, RFS, local families)
More relevant issues raised, youth activities, traditional services and a sense of community and friendship
More open days
Need to help younger generation with sense of morals/be in touch
More involvement helping the needy in the community
Get in with the community more
Getting behind broader community issues
Help people more, more community focus, connection with people
Church in the pub, allow more people to get to church, community
Disasters/fundraising
Help older people with transport, engage the young more, social events (i.e. night where church screens grand final)
More family events, music, festivals, live music
Be traditional
Seniors events
Church doing ok at the moment
Make themselves known, promote good image, help others
Outreach to the isolated, one to one, building relationships
Raise more money for community/social needs
Be more active, social awareness
Foster community activities in the Springwood area

Key Issue: Local Community Involvement

A need for greater connectedness with the community and involvement in broader community issues was mentioned by many of these respondents. (27%) respondents mentioned our church should ‘help’ local people in need/local causes and/or be more ‘active’ in the community.

Issues raised include:

Help for the homeless
Help for families in crisis
Outreach to the isolated
Youth activities, engaging youth with relevant activities
Transport/activities for seniors
Fundraising for local/community needs
Making church more relevant/inclusive (i.e. church in the pub)

5. What questions would you like to ask the church or God if you could?

Question	Percentage
Why does God allow suffering?	27%
How can you have eternal life?	0%
Hasn’t religion caused too many wars?	9%
How can I have God in my life?	2%
How can you know God’s there?	9%
With so many religions, is any right?	14%
Hasn’t science/evolution disproved the bible?	7%
Does God answer prayer?	7%

Other questions:

Questions about the Hebrew background of Jesus
Why is stages people can live in?( Some live good lives some don’t) (??)
If God is omniscient why evil?
Why do young kids die?
Why is life so short?
Isn’t it just a story made up? How can I know it really exists?
Why is the church so rich when Jesus isn’t about it all?
Why are we here? Is it love?
Why are certain things the way they are? Why does the church not seem to question this?

6. How likely would you be to accept an invitation of a friend to visit their church?

Response	Percentage
a) very likely	14%
b) possibly	36%
c) unlikely	20%
d) very unlikely	21%
e) no response/depends on church	9%

7. What do you think of Jesus and who was he?

Son of God:	6	(11%)
God:	3	(5%)
Creator:	1	(2%)
Saviour:	2	(3%)
Unsure/no opinion:	6	(11%)
Mythical figure:	3	(5%)
Historical figure:	8	(14%)
Good man:	11	(20%)
Good teacher:	4	(7%)
Prophet:	2	(3%)
Alive today:	6	(11%)

All responses listed below:

Not sure of historical evidence
No idea/unsure
Don’t have an opinion/no thoughts
The bible is just another story, another book, don’t know whether he is true
A good story
Central to universe-don’t like ‘was’ because he ‘is’
Son of God
As relevant today as he was 2000 years ago
He is God incarnate; he came to save humanity and to show them how to live
God (3)
I believe in God
Believe in Jesus (2)
Real, can be part of everyday life
Lord and Saviour, historical figure, real person today
Creator, teacher about faith
I believe in the teachings of the bible
Teachings (have a) good basis
A great man, inspiring, what he did at the time was wonderful
Believe there was one
Important, strong figure for strength
He was/is a great man
Partly mortal, more historic figure, good teachings
Interesting historical character
He wasn’t a bad fellow
Disciple, not God
If he did exist, he was a very good person
Historical figure, teaching (Sermon on the Mount) good ethic
I believe he existed but I won’t accept he is the Son of God
Historical person, moral, righteous person
All I know (about Jesus) is what the bible says
Prophet
Good dude, prophet
A good man, not virgin birth or resurrection
A man who did a lot for people and changed everything
Good person, not resurrected, mythical
Good man, has been misconstrued, his real meaning has been lost
Misunderstood by people of his time
A good bloke, did good things for people
He existed but the bible stretched the truth about him, good person and tried to make (the world) better place