2023 Denominational Survey Opens

Members of the Christian Reformed Church in North America are invited to participate in the annual denominational survey, which is now open and accepting responses.

For the past seven years, this survey has been conducted annually as a way to provide staff and synod with a snapshot of how the church is faring.

As part of this process, all Christian Reformed congregations have been assigned to one of five cohorts, each of which includes a sampling of churches that reflect the diversity and make-up of the denomination.

Each year, one cohort — or 20 percent of the denomination — is specifically invited to participate in the survey. The churches in this group are asked to strongly encourage their members to participate in the survey to ensure a robust number of responses. To assist them in this promotion, the CRCNA has created several promotional tools.

Churches and members who are not part of this year’s cohort are still welcome to participate. That’s because while only one-fifth of congregations are asked to strongly promote the survey each year, the survey is open to all CRC churches and members every year.

The denominational survey is used to help the CRCNA listen to individual church members, gauge how ministry is affecting the churches and the denomination, and assist in planning for the future. Available in English, Spanish, and Korean, the survey can be found here.

The survey is anonymous and does not track any identifying information about you other than your congregation's name and some of its administrative attributes. Please answer openly and honestly.

The survey is administered by CRCNA staff in cooperation with Datawise Consulting.

“Together with you, we seek to conduct surveys not as the world might do, to exploit human weaknesses for worldly gain, but as heaven would, to learn together how to invite God to infuse his strength into our many shared weaknesses to minister to God’s people, especially to the weak and vulnerable among us,” CRCNA leaders wrote in a letter about the survey.

Results from last year's survey show that 205 churches were invited to recruit responses to the survey. And a total of 1,535 people from 151 churches responded.

The survey results provide a glimpse of what congregations are thinking on various topics and show where the denomination can assist them in such areas as discipleship or collaboration. They also serve as a means of measuring change in the four milestones of Our Journey 2025, the CRCNA Ministry Plan.