Or… what happened to that questionnaire we filled in back in January?!
That questionnaire… On 6th January and the following Thursday communion, those attending services filled out a questionnaire about the vision of the church. The aim of it was to assess how far we have managed to embed and take on board the ideas of the Vision for Christ Church Downend in the 5 years since its launch: summarised by the phrase Learning to Live the Life and proclaiming that we are disciples (learners) who want to learn how to make disciples of others as Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28:19.
Making “facts our friends”
Since then, we have gathered, studied, analysed, prayed, reflected, sought advice and written a report on all that the 144 completed questionnaires taught us, trying to “make facts our friends.” Alongside this we conducted over 20 interviews to complement the stark numbers with some human stories. Hence the time that has elapsed before reporting back to you all. As a result we have shaped our priorities for the next 2 years which you can read about in the Annual Report which will be available after Easter, ready for the AGM on Sunday 29th April after a joint service at 10.30 am at Christ Church Junior School.
Click on the link at the end of this article to read the headlines only or longer version of the report. Paper copies of the headlines and the longer report will also be available at church services from 8th April. You can also read here the description of Christ Church in 2017 which Jo wrote in 2012, casting a vision about what the church would be like. (The reports explain further.)
If you would like to see the original analysis spreadsheet because that sort of thing brings joy to your day, please ask me to email it to you or show you in person as it’s too complex to print out in full.
Listening
Besides all the measurable stuff, all the comments that were made on the questionnaires and at interviews have been compiled, discussed, prayed over and taken into account, so nothing has been wasted or fallen on deaf ears. If you would like to discuss anything connected to the questionnaire or the vision, please speak to any of the Clergy or Ministry Heads.
We praise God for the opportunity we’ve had to listen to each other in this way.
Anita Dobson