United Church of God recently did a member survey on how effective members thought the church was doing in its ministry to them and the world.
One thing came back loud and clear. Poor speakers and unwelcoming meeting facilities were a major concern for members.
The ministry needs to improve in its speaking skills and in what they deliver. This has long been a complaint by COG members regardless of which splinter group they are in. COG ministers are NOT well trained in speaking and get their training from Spokesman Clubs where men were/are belittled and mocked about their speaking skills, appearance, and knowledge. It is the blind leading the blind. Instead of encouraging their men to join REAL organizations that teach public speaking, like Toastmaster International which Armstrongism regrettably tried to imitate.
The ministry in the COG is also NOT trained in real counseling techniques. Again, it is the blind leading the blind when it comes to counseling members. It is usually men who have been in the ministry a long time who think they know it all and bring along younger men to watch their amazing counseling skills and learn from them, thus bad techniques are passed on and on.
Besides the poor sermons, some members are embarrassed by their meeting locations and the overall experience their guests may have when visiting church.
Back to UCG's survey:
While members do have high confidence in their understanding around fundamental beliefs and
truths, they continue to be hesitant in directly promoting UCG.
Across all groups, the quality of speaking and amount of manpower remains a concern consistent with results from prior years. Many are unwilling to recommend contact with UCG because they do not believe it is their role, or they have concerns over what the guest will experience at services. Specifically, that components from the home office (website, literature, Beyond Today) are polished, but the local halls or the congregation itself are not as welcoming.
Most of all, respondents are consistently very positive about their local pastor (and wife) and the amount of work and service they provide to members. This is notably higher than in prior years.
Next Steps & Conclusion
While there were many positive comments, surveys by their nature highlight areas to explore and additional work to be done. This year, the biggest takeaways focus on five key aspects:
1. Invest in improving speaking at services. Whether sermonettes or sermons, develop programs around continuing to improve the content and delivery of messages.
“One of the greatest weaknesses of my congregation— and most congregations—is the quality and effectiveness of the weekly Sabbath messages. Training should be conducted or subsidized for all those given the responsibility to speak in order to help them develop the skills and tools to speak effectively and in line with basic princip[les] of learning and development, not just technically doctrinally correct messages. I believe this is key for the church to continue to grow and to properly feed not only those veterans in the church but the newly converted.”
2. Establish a consistent and minimum standard toward the quality of meeting halls. This is new this year, along with a desire to own meeting halls, but is perceived as being able to help local congregations thrive and grow.
3. Explore the balance of programs and resources devoted to Preaching the Gospel and Preparing a People. The respondents understand these are hard choices.
4. The engagement at services, whether that be rich, spiritual conversations or involving more of the membership in service. Especially beyond elements of speaking, there is a real desire for more members to reach out and check in on one another and make sure everyone feels included in fellowship and activities. Many desire an experience similar to this comment:
“We are a close-knit family. Eating a potluck meal together every week after services and prolonging the fellowshipping has truly contributed to our closeness. Some of us have formed special ‘study-buddy’ relationships which continually stirs up the spirit within us, just as it should. I am so grateful to have been called by God and to be a part of this congregation I am with!”
5. There is deep admiration for the service and work pastors and their wives do for the members. There is a need to perhaps adjust expectation on how much can be done with smaller overall membership and concern they are spread too thin.
• “Although my pastor has more on his plate than most people could handle, I think he does an excellent job. However, I do worry that he is asked to do too much.”
• “Our pastor is one of the most humble and serving people I have ever met! We are very, very blessed to have him and his wife with us!!”
The survey administration team would like to express its appreciation to all those who took the time to participate in the survey. Many of the insights and findings included actionable and helpful ideas and the data represents a statistically sound representation due to the efforts of those that contributed.
While one of the comments stated, “I feel overall that considering our budget and man-power situation, we are doing a superb job...it is an honor to be asked periodically as is the case here,” it is just as important to recognize everyone who shared their thoughts. Thank you.
