Welcome! Click here to take the survey now!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the survey all about?
A: The 150th Anniversary Survey is the fifth in a series of surveys administered every five years since 1987. The survey aims to help leaders at all levels of the Christian Reformed Church to better understand the composition of the church and the beliefs and practices of the people. The 2007 edition is the first Internet-based survey, saving costs while greatly expanding the potential reach of the survey. It is also the first attempt to refocus the survey more on the health of local congregations and less on the concerns of denominational agencies. The survey is addressed to a random sample of CRC congregations, but all members and attenders of Christian Reformed Churches are welcome to participate.

Q: When will the survey take place?
A: The survey will be available online from November 4 to December 21, 2007. Future extensions in additional languages are under consideration.

Q: Why isn't there a paper version?
A: Printing and mailing surveys and entering data is expensive and becoming more so; this survey is an experiment to see whether we can gather useful information without resorting to paper. Studies suggest that Internet users are increasingly representative of the population as a whole. We are also taking steps to compare the demographics of respondents to the known composition of participating congregations, so we can "overweight" the responses of those who represent groups with low rates of Internet use. If we detect significant bias, the survey team may decide to implement a paper version in the future.

Q: Are survey responses private?
A: The survey is completely anonymous, for individuals and for congregations. So long as you do not identify yourself by name in your typed comments, there will be no possibility that your response can be tracked back to you personally. Public information will only report summaries of large groups. Participating congregations also will not be publicly identified.

Q: What will be done with the survey responses?
A: The data will be stored securely at Calvin College and released for analysis to Dr. Rodger Rice, who will write a report to be made public for all to read in advance of the 2008 meeting of the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church. Councils may request a summary report of responses for their congregation. Comments will be collated and reported. In no case will individual profiles be created.

Comments and questions are welcome; contact Neil Carlson at CSR, 616 526-6420 or csr@calvin.edu.

Are you ready? Take the survey now! (It is located at http://www.calvin.edu/go/crcsurvey)

Survey Coordinators

Please visit the information page for congregational survey coordinators for more information on the survey project.