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WESTLAKE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 5 28 20 Congregational COVID 19 Survey This paper reports the results of a congregation wide survey executed May 15 19 regarding the impact concerns and plans for Westlake UMC to re open as the COVID 19 crisis continues 166 responses were received from 1 053 contacted for the survey
Westlake United Methodist Church CONGREGATIONAL COVID 19 SURVEY CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 Survey Response 3 SURVEY RESULTS 4 Demographic Questions 4 Current Participation 6 Perceived Risks 7 Re opening Attitudes and Prerequisites 8 Re opening Requirements 10 Online Participation and Satisfaction 13 General Feedback 17 CONCLUSION 18 METHODOLOGY 20 Survey Development and Publication 20 Question Formats 20 Tabulation and Report 20 Survey Questions 20 Demographic Questions 21 Current Participation 21 Perceived Risks 22 Re opening Attitudes and Prerequisites 23 Re opening Requirements 25 Online Participation and Satisfaction 25 General Feedback 27 BIBLIOGRAPHY 28 Page 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Westlake United Methodist Church WUMC closed its buildings for all activities e g pre school small group Sunday school worship services in mid March in compliance with state and local guidance to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus As the crisis has unfolded church leadership began to seek a path for re opening and restarting the normal activities of the church In a meeting of church council it was decided that a survey of the congregation would be a useful tool in gauging the hopes fears and concerns with re opening The purposes of the survey include Identify and quantify the concerns of the congregation regarding re opening WUMC Identify and quantify expectations for resuming worship on campus Identify and quantify expectations for how that might be executed Gauge congregational feedback on existing online services Provide the congregation with a mechanism to voice their concerns and Provide the congregation with a mechanism to share what they see feel WUMC is doing right A committee including Rev Tracey Beadle Senior Pastor Jim Burke current Church Council Chair Ellen Balthazar incoming Church Council Chair and John Walters Trustee Committee Co chair began work on a survey instrument to develop execute and tabulate the survey and its results The WUMC staff members reviewed and provided input on questions and survey design The team wishes to thank the WUMC congregation for participating in the survey and providing honest feedback regarding their expectations and concerns related to the COVID crisis and the path forward to reopening the church for activities We honor those who completed the survey as we have learned much from your candid responses A special thanks to the WUMC staff for their review comments and edits which made the survey instrument a better work product Page 2
Survey Response WUMC received 166 responses to the survey a 15 7 response rate for the population of 1 053 Statistically these results represent an overall confidence level of 95 with a confidence interval of 7 These terms are defined as The confidence level tells you how sure you can be It is expressed as a percentage and represents how often the true percentage of the population who would pick an answer lies within the confidence interval The 95 confidence level means you can be 95 certain the 99 confidence level means you can be 99 certain Most researchers use the 95 confidence level The confidence interval also called margin of error is the plus or minus figure usually reported in newspaper or television opinion poll results For example if you use a confidence interval of 4 and 47 percent of your sample picks an answer you can be sure that if you had asked the question of the entire relevant population between 43 47 4 and 51 47 4 would have picked that answer 1 In order to reach 5 and 4 confidence intervals 275 and 380 responses respectively would be required The team believes the effort required to achieve these results outweighs the benefits 1 Creative Research Systems 2012 Page 3
SURVEY RESULTS The charts and lists below detail the survey results by question grouped by the categories defined above rather than the order presented in the survey For questions that provided an option for Other the user defined responses were grouped into one Other response as none were statistically significant and in some cases were a restatement of an option defined as part of the base question Demographic Questions Question responses Page 4
The survey results show that WUMC is like many other Methodist churches in America Adults from all generations participated in the survey However almost half 47 5 of the respondents were 65 or above the most at risk age group as identified by the CDC This is in comparison to 32 in this age range for the American United Methodist average Adding the at near retirement age range 55 64 and the percentage increases to 63 4 versus 62 for the Methodist average 2 Length of attendance shows that long time attendees make up a large majority of the respondents with those attending longer than 10 years comprising two thirds of the respondents 2 Pew Research Center 2014 Page 5
Current Participation Question responses Survey respondents were about equally split between those who attended the 9 00 service pre COVID and those who regularly attended the 11 15 service Consistent with previous surveys over half of worshippers also regularly attended a Sunday fellowship group Sunday School Prior to Shelter at Home over a quarter of respondents indicated familiarity with on line worship with 16 4 participating in on line worship regularly and 10 9 tuning in 4 6 times per year Page 6
Perceived Risks Question response As the population of the WUMC congregation is older the level of perceived risk for COVID 19 is reflected in the overall percentage that feels at risk This is also reflected in the perceived risk by age group with older congregants feeling most at risk Reflecting the large number of 65 respondents 70 of respondents 65 felt they or someone in their home was in a high risk category for COVID Page 7
Re opening Attitudes and Prerequisites Question responses Page 8
Overall the congregation has a conservative attitude toward re opening which is subsequently reflected in the prerequisites for restarting in person worship classes and small groups As a majority of the participants consider themselves at risk they place more trust in local state and federal health agencies versus appointed elected officials for guidance Comfort in attending gatherings is primarily guided by the availability of testing treatments and vaccination for the virus and by the lifting of stay at home orders 87 85 89 and 87 respectively Likewise the congregation is in no rush to begin attending 45 1 of respondents said they would wait several weeks before returning or that it would be quite a while before they would return Adding the not sure group brings the total to 64 Page 9
Re opening Requirements Question responses What precautions if any do you expect our church to take for worship gatherings Select all that apply Page 10
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The survey asked the participants to rank a set of common COVID re opening requirements from Not Important to Very Important Essential Respondents expressed strong agreement that when in person worship resumes physical contact should be limited a new method must developed for Communion sanitizer should be made available and surfaces facilities will need to be aggressively cleaned Socially distanced seating wearing masks no passing of items and a phased exit were more important than not distributing bulletins paper eliminating coffee service not passing the peace or delineating one way traffic Opinions were diverse on cancelling nursery children s programming conducting temperature checks and congregational singing Note The Committee wonders if these results might be different had respondents had access to additional information that has become available that indicates congregational singing to be one of the riskiest behaviors as it relates to the spread of COVID 19 Page 12
Online Participation and Satisfaction Page 13
What has been the BEST thing about our online worship service Word Cloud of the words most commonly used Page 14
What if anything has been the MOST UNSATISFACTORY or CHALLENGING thing about our online worship services Word Cloud of the words most commonly used Page 15
After we resume in person worship how likely are you to participate in online worship as an alternative to in person worship Shifting to an online only format for worship required a re thinking of the format to deliver a more personal connected webcast versus the single camera view of the sanctuary from prior to the COVID crisis The increased production quality and revised content and format is reflected in the overall satisfaction with the online worship experience with 87 2 of survey participants saying that the online worship either met or exceeded their expectations This was reflected in the comments regarding the best things about the service from the participant s viewpoint The word cloud of the 50 most used words in the comments reflects the overall satisfaction with the effort The word cloud for challenges or difficulties with the online service reflect three themes technical difficulties accessing viewing the webcast webcast timing and the loss of in person connectedness Going forward the online service will play a key role for the congregation While 37 said they had never participated in the online services prior to the COVID crisis only 12 9 said they would not participate going forward A small majority want to have the community of an in person service and many will also use the online services when in person attendance is not reasonable Page 16
General Feedback Any comments or suggestions Word Cloud of the words most commonly used The last question provided the congregation with an avenue to express their thoughts comments suggestions and concerns The word cloud of the 50 most used words reflect the overall positive outlook of the congregation and their desire to meet again when the situation allows Page 17
CONCLUSION Summary conclusions based on the purposes of the survey include Identify and quantify the concerns of the congregation regarding re opening WUMC Many in the congregation feel at risk for COVID 19 which directly impacts the prerequisites and expectations for re opening Identify and quantify expectations for resuming worship on campus Respondents trust local state and federal health officials to determine when groups can safely meet again However most expressed caution with returning to church activities and were comfortable waiting for a safe plan to be developed Identify and quantify expectations for how that might be executed There was a positive consensus regarding the implementation of standard distancing protocols used in other public spaces with lesser strong consensus on some traditional worship practices Gauge congregational feedback on existing online services Overall feedback for the online services was very positive a strong majority feeling the online service met or exceeded expectations Furthermore online participation will continue at a rate higher than prior to the COVID crisis Provide the congregation with a mechanism to voice their concerns Concerns ranged from moving too quickly adequately providing for safety loss of community fellowship to technical difficulties and timing issues for the online services Provide the congregation with a mechanism to share what they see feel WUMC is doing right The WUMC staff received praise for rising to the challenge of producing a high quality online service weekly and finding new ways to keep the congregation engaged during the crisis The congregation is optimistic about the return of church activities at the proper time with the proper safety precautions This survey will be distributed to the staff church committees and congregation Staff and committee members will meet with classes and small groups to discuss the survey results and solicit feedback to be shared with the re opening committee Additional discussions with committees will be executed to share more detailed data analysis as needed Data from this survey will impact how we proceed in opening inperson gatherings at our Church facility and ideas for individual Church committees to consider This data will be presented to Church Council in the near future and some changes may occur before the Church Council meets Page 18
Last the survey results will be shared with the District offices to help their efforts in providing guidance to other congregations The team again wishes to thank the WUMC congregation for participating in the survey and providing honest feedback regarding their expectations and concerns related to the COVID crisis and the path forward to re opening the church for activities We honor those who completed the survey as we have learned much from your candid responses A special thanks to the WUMC staff for their review comments and edits which made the survey instrument a better work product Page 19
METHODOLOGY Survey Development and Publication The survey instrument was crafted from a sample COVID 19 church survey from Lifeway Church with additional questions coming from other sample church surveys identified by committee members and WUMC staff A mass email from the church was sent to 1 053 addresses on file which included members and non members alike A follow up was posted to the WUMC Facebook page on 5 15 and the survey was featured during the online service on 5 17 A preliminary deadline for responses was set for 5 19 Question Formats Questions for the survey used a variety of formats including yes no multiple choice scaled response and short long text responses The formats used were selected to generate both quantitative and qualitative answers as well as provide a basis for cross tabulation e g tabulating the results of a question based on the results of another question For example tabulating the perceived risk in relation to the age range of the respondent Tabulation and Report After the closing date the team met to review the survey results and create cross tabulations as needed to identify relationships between the questions in an effort to better read between the lines and provide WUMC leadership with as much information as possible beyond the raw data in order to plan and make decisions regarding the re opening effort Survey Questions The survey questions selected offered the opportunity to capture the following information and provide a basis for cross tabulation The question main segments included Demographics Current Participation Perceived Risks Re opening Attitudes and Prerequisites Re opening Requirements Online Participation and Satisfaction General Feedback Questions related to children s Sunday school and youth programs were not included in this survey Additional targeted surveys will be used to engage and collect responses from those congregants later Page 20
Demographic Questions Demographic questions were included to capture information related to the congregants The questions were distributed throughout the survey Questions included Current Participation Current participation questions were included to gauge the relative level the respondents were actively engaged in activities at WUMC Questions included Page 21
Perceived Risks A single perceived risk question allowed the respondents to self identify their level of risk in relation to the COVID 19 crisis Page 22
Re opening Attitudes and Prerequisites Re opening attitudes and prerequisites were selected to gauge the respondent s willingness to return to activities on the WUMC campus and what official unofficial benchmarks would be required prior to initiating WUMC in person activities Questions included Page 23
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Re opening Requirements Re opening requirements included a single question to gauge both the inventory of desired WUMC actions as part of re opening and the relative importance of these actions in the view of the respondent What precautions if any do you expect our church to take for worship gatherings Select all that apply Question Not Important Somewhat Important Important Very Important Essential Socially distanced seating Greeters not shaking hands Masks required for attendees Bulletins not distributed by hand new method Communion not offered by traditional method Nursery and children s classes not offered No passing of items offering plate registration pad Phased exit leaving gradually w o crowding Hard surfaces wiped down between services Coffee service discontinued Temperature checks on entry Sanitizer available at entrance exits No passing the peace during service even without touching No paper distributed by any method Set up one way foot traffic for entering and exiting the worship center Sanitize restrooms between services No congregational singing No handshakes hugs Online Participation and Satisfaction Online participation and satisfaction questions were included to gauge the overall success of the revised online worship services offered by WUMC after closure in March Questions sought to measure overall satisfaction identify strengths and areas for improvement and quantify the respondent s attitude toward participating online in the future Questions included Page 25
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General Feedback Last a general feedback question was included to allow the respondent to provide feedback not covered in the survey questions This question will provide an additional avenue to identify risks concerns and expectations from the congregation Page 27
BIBLIOGRAPHY Creative Research Systems 2012 Sample Size Calculator Retrieved from https www surveysystem com sscalc htm Pew Research Center 2014 May 30 Members of the United Methodist Church Retrieved from Pew Research Center Religion and Public Life https www pewforum org religious landscapestudy religious denomination united methodist church Page 28