Church Member Survey – Listening is Key to Leadership

A church member survey is a great way to take the pulse of your congregation.
Since it’s nearly impossible to sit down with each person and have a candid
conversation about how they feel things are going at the church, a survey is a
more efficient “listening” alternative. Not only would the above one-on-one
scenario be extremely time consuming, you also would not get the same kind of
candid feedback in a face to face conversation as you will from a survey.

An anonymous church member survey gives each participant the freedom to be

honest in their responses – which is the ultimate goal. While it’s true that some
people’s honest feedback will be critical, you’re better off knowing how they feel
than pressing on in ignorant bliss. Wouldn’t you be better equipped to lead with
that information in hand rather than turning a deaf ear to it? Dynamic leaders
listen, learn, and take action. Passive leaders fear candid feedback and don’t
have the full picture to act on as a result. Paul reminds us that God has not
given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Tim.
1:7). Choose to be a dynamic leader!

Church Member Survey – Be Open to Positive and Negative Feedback

A church member survey can give you a baseline view of reality that few other
leadership tools can. You’ve got to have clarity on the church climate before you
can lead and manage change. Objectivity is one of your biggest assets in
leadership. Therefore, welcome all feedback both good and bad. Some will offer
praise and others will offer criticism. Welcome it all. At the most basic level, it is
information about your church environment that you need to be aware of.
Guaranteed it won’t all be spot on and you’ll have to sift through it with a
discerning ear. Most importantly, it “feels” true to the person who wrote it. From
a leadership perspective, their perception of reality is as important to understand
as the real thing.

In other cases, the feedback will be very accurate and may alert you to a blind
spot you never knew was there. Remember, a church member survey is not a
“report card” on your leadership – if anything you get an “A+” for being open to
feedback! A survey is a listening tool to help you keep a firm footing in reality and
stay focused on the areas that should be your highest priorities. The questions
is, are you an “open” or “closed” leader? Which one of these describes you?

Open to feedback = soft hearted, humble, courageous, pliable, teachable

Closed to feedback = hard hearted, stubborn, cowardly, inflexible, arrogant

There is a strong correlation between openness and leadership. A person in

authority who is open to honest feedback wins the admiration of followers by
humility and mutual respect. A person in authority who is closed to honest
feedback is more of a ruler than a leader, directing people through authority and
intimidation. Choose to be an “open to feedback” church leader. Conducting a
church member survey is a very tangible step in that direction.