Aug 4, 2006

questions, questions, questions

Am I the only person on earth who hates to fill out a questionnaire?

The little COC group where I meet has handed all the members a questionnaire that is a real doozy... it has four categories with seven questions in each category. Each question is to be answered on a scale of 1 to 5; 1 being tops.

A sampling of the questions:

I am motivated to earn as much money as I can to be able to give to the Lord's work.

Meeting obvious needs has special appeal to me, because I respond quickly to needs that I see. Others think that I am being pushy.

I welcome opportunities to do physical jobs thus relieving others in the church to do their work among the members.

When I see problems with the system I am motivated to speak out boldly about it.

Nothing was mentioned about the why of the questionnaire, but I assume it's the brain child of the elders, but who knows! We are allotted two weeks to return them; after that the preacher promises to corral us individually to be sure we respond.

My dilemma is whether to lose the questionnaire, or face the preachers wrath!



9 comments:

Anonymous said...

They missed two

Do you feel that the printing costs out weigh the results we may get from this questionnaire?

Do you feel that the time and money spent on this thing could have been better used by working on the building or helping another ministry?

One of these days I’m gonna write it in. :-}

Larry said...

Milly...
Your questions are to the point, and much easier to answer.

The questionnaires we received could be used somewhere down the line to see just how goofy we really are.

Anonymous said...

The subject of questionnaires came up in last nights meeting. I almost laughed.

Anonymous said...

My advice--loose it--quickly. You can handle the preacher's wrath.

Anonymous said...

It sounds to me like there are a group of people who feel that they are having to do everything and they are hoping that some others will surface to help share the load. Which is, as far as I know, true in every congregation.

But this is an inane way of motivating / seeking information. Why don't the elders just visit each family and encourage them in some area of service?

It's easier to throw paper at it.

Larry said...

JD...
I agree that usually a core group does a good portion of the work; also agree that it is "an inane way of motivating."

Three elders with only 70-80 members should make personal questionnaires unnecessary.

Larry said...

JB...
Facing the wrath of the preacher was only tongue-in-cheek of course. Our preacher is a wonderful man, and has more than enough ability to preach anywhere he desires; I'm glad he's happy to stay in the Lake Isabella CA area.

When the questionnaire is due I will either turn it in, or explain why I rather not; losing the questionnaire would be a chickens way out.... :)

Anonymous said...

Right J.D. Even elders often dislike face to face encounters. It is easier to survey the congregation in an attemp to learn what should be known already.

If a congregation is 50 or 1500 strong, about 10% of the saints do most of the service and giving. At least that has been my experience.

Larry, just for fun, answer each question on the survey with a question.

Larry said...

Royce...
Might be interesting to mark up the questionnaire with a ton of notations. :)

I keep thinking it's only a means to see what the church is willing to do individually, but for a church of 70-80 members (60 most Sunday mornings) one-on-one seems more appropriate.