VALUE OF A SURVEY LIKE THIS ONE?

• People like for others to ask for their opinion. A lot of people feel that they are always being told what they like or what they should believe, etc. The ones I have talked to, who make a comment relative to the survey, express appreciation for being able to express their views on these very vital subjects. The vast majority of people want to have the statistical results of the survey. Many make a comment along these lines: "I want to see how others think about this or that"; "I wonder how many people believe what I believe about this or that."

• The vast majority of people seldom if ever think of these questions. If we do nothing else, we have placed a thought in their minds that will be there at least for a little while. Their conscious and subconscious mind will entertain that question for a while, in fact sometimes a long while. The “good and honest heart” will have to find an answer to these questions? That’s why it is so important that we do follow up in our VINEYARD.

• If you do set up a personal study or they choose to come to a Neighborhood Bible Study you will know where they are (i.e. in the knowledge and understanding of the Bible) so you will know where to start with them in a Bible Study. You will find the questions that interest them most as you go through the survey and will be prepared with answers to those questions. You will learn where they are “itching” so you will know where to “scratch”. It is my opinion that often times we do not know what interests people so we threat them as sheep and “whip out a filmstrip” (Although there is nothing wrong with film strips. I’m just saying, know them and their needs before you decide what to teach and how to teach that lesson that interests them most) or start where we want to start rather than find out their interest. People are not sheep and each one has an intense interest in something. We need to probe until we find that interest. When we address the questions or subjects that are on their minds, we will catch their attention. We need to start with “where they are”, and we can take them where they need to be. That’s exactly what Jesus did with the woman at the well in John 4: She was interested in water so He started talking about water.

• This survey is a lot of value to you as well in reaching out to others. Many people find it difficult to go “door to door”. People especially feel uncomfortable going door to door “cold turkey”. One of the values of a survey, such as this, is that you have a PURPOSE in being at their door. A purpose that will interest and engage a person in conversation. You also have a “sermon outline” before you of WHAT to say. You don't have to remember a “pre-programmed” speech. You already have before you what you want to say and questions that will let them do most of the talking which will be an entirely new “twist “ for them. They are used to most “religious people” doing all the talking and giving them their opinion. They are not used to having someone ask them their opinion about such deep matters.

• You will find out more about your community than you knew before. You will able to develop studies and sermons that will equip the family of God as we reach out to others. Our Bible classes and sermons and private discussion will be much more revenant for today and much more valuable in preparing for reaching out to the world.

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  INTRODUCTION OF SURVEY

  Remember five things in making your approach to people:
  Inform them:

  1. Who you are.
  2. The name of the person with you.
  3. Whom you are with.
  4. Your purpose for being there.
  5. What you will do with the information you receive from them and others.

  There are few that conduct “outreach” programs that would disagree with giving them so much information. However, I try to place myself in the house as a homeowner (prospect, etc.). If someone comes to my door there are several questions that are on my mind.

  1. Who is she/he?
  2. Why are they here?
  3. What are they wanting?
  4. What are they trying to sell?
  5. How am I going to get rid of them if I have no interest? etc.

  We need to answer these questions and allay these fears in the first few words. Until these questions are answered they will not hear what you are saying without having the interference of these questions. Just remember the golden rule and treat them like you would like to be treated if you were on the other end of the conversation.

  Sample lead in:
  “My name is Jerry Dyer; this is my friend Dick Cook. We are with the North End Church of Christ. We are conducting a religious survey in order to determine the beliefs and greatest needs in our community. After we have gathered information from a goodly number of people we plan to publish the statistical results in the paper so others can share in our findings.

  There are several questions and it will take about 10-15 minutes to complete the survey. Would you be willing to give us a few minutes of your time to answer these opinion questions about spiritual matters?” Assure them:

  1. These are not questions to test your Bible knowledge; we simply want their opinion.
  2. Their name will not be used in any way when we run the results in the paper.
  3. We are not selling anything nor will we be selling anything or asking for donations.
  4. Their opinion is important, no matter what they believe. In fact, we don’t want the opinion of just one group of religious people but as many as possible.

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  RATIONALE FOR THE INFORMATION AND QUESTIONS:

  General

  * Date: Should there be follow-up to the survey we want to be able to go to the oldest contacts first, so we need the date the survey was conducted.

  * Worker(s): Sometimes we can’t read the writing or don’t understand the time we are to call back. We need your name(s) so we can ask you to explain. Plus, if you want to go to do the follow-up we will know the information.

  Personal Information

  * Name-Phone-Address: I do not ask for these until the end of the survey and only if there is to be some sort of follow-up. For example: (1). They want the statistics mailed to them. (2). They need a Bible. (3). They are interested in further contact through a BCC (Bible Correspondence Course). CB (Call back: Could be to check with husband to find out the best time or date for them to have a study or whatever. BS ( a Bible Study whether that be a private study or a Neighborhood Bible Study.) If there is no further follow-up I do not ask for the name etc.

  Felt Needs Questions

  **** These first 4 questions are to try our best to find out the specific felt needs from each person and all the people so we will know what they feel are the most important needs. We do this in order to appeal to those needs in our advertisements, outreach and preparation of the family as we reach out. Take your time and encourage them to give you as much information as they possibly can. Be genuine in letting them know that we need to know so we can do the best job possible in being sensitive to people’s needs.

  ****Questions 5-6 are designed to find out if they have a Bible so we can take them one later if they show a desire to have a better knowledge whether we can set up a study or not. Also, we want to know if they know what a translation is and what they use so we can know what to use should we set up a study with them.

  Opinion Questions

  Question 1. One of the first things that I try to do is find out how they feel about the division among people who believe in Jesus. In the 2000+ times I have conducted the survey plus the thousands of times others have given me the statistics of the survey more than 90% answer this questions YES. That gives you an excellent entree to set up a study on the UNITY OF CHRIST.

  Question 2 - 4 are designed to discover how much they believe in the inspiration and relevance of the Word of God. Point: If they don’t believe in the inspiration of the Bible that’s where we need to start the study.

  Question 5 - 6 are to see what they believe about Jesus.

  Question 7 - 10 deals with their belief relative to judgment, heaven and hell. Is it real to them? Does it strike a “nerve of seriousness” in them? Try to make it as personal as possible when asking the question.

  Question 11 - 12(a & b) Obviously this question is designed to elicit much thought on their part. They have stated (most do) that they believe in a heaven and hell. They are now faced with the question of where they think they would be if they died right this moment. I pause for about 3-5 seconds after “today”. Let the thought of dying today become a real question to them. If they answer YES there is no need to ask “a & b “.

  Question 13 is to rivet on their minds that Bible study is important and put them in a frame of mind for a personal Bible study. The vast majority does feel that a better knowledge of the Bible will help them.

  Question 14 is designed to develop a mailing list of people who have taken the survey and have a reason to follow up by mailing them the results. They have participated and they deserve to have the results. I do not ask for their name and address until they have responded that they would like to have the statistical results of the survey. (You will need that information to send them those results).

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  SAMPLE CLOSE WITH THE SURVEY:

  Thank you for giving us your time and opinions relative to these very important questions. This will help us a great deal in getting a good cross section of opinion from many different people with different opinions. do you have any questions about the survey or any of its questions? I did notice that you answered question number 8 the same way that I would have answered that question. It seems a shame to me that there are more than 2000 different denominations (churches) divided over many issues among we who believe in Jesus Christ. It is especially tragic when we know that Jesus wanted us to be JUST ONE. Are you aware of what Jesus said on this subject of UNITY?

  Mr. / Mrs. we have designed a lesson that lists the scriptures where the Bible emphasis being JUST ONE. We are trying to get as many people as possible to look at this thought with us and give us their thoughts on the subject of UNITY. The lesson takes about 45 minutes to one hour. We find that most people want to have this discussion in the privacy of their own home. We bring only the Bible. After opening the Bible at your dining table we go to those scriptures, make a few comments, write them down, get your opinion and leave these comments with you. What you do with them is up to you. However, we feel that we need to start at the “grass roots” level in discussing the question of UNITY. The “clergy” has been discussing this subject for years and end up with more divisions each time they discuss it. We believe, as Jesus taught, that we could all understand this simple teaching. Would you and your husband/wife allow us a few minutes to come to your home to discuss just this issue of UNITY IN CHRIST?

  Pause, letting them answer. If they hesitate, try to allay their fears and answer their questions. Up to this point, more than 75% of the people who have let me come into their homes for a discussion on UNITY have continued with more study and have been baptized.

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  ANOTHER SUGGESTION FOR USE OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY.

  Take the answers from each of the questions and do a teaching article that can be mailed back to those that took the survey and requested the results. OR publish these in your local paper. Sample of titles that have been made into articles:

  A. (1) “92% of us want it, Jesus commanded it, why don’t we enter into dialogue to accomplish it?”

  B. (2-4) “The Bible says it is the only source of REVELATION from God, how can we be sure IT is true?”

  C. (7) “The vast majority of us believe that we will live eternally in HEAVEN or HELL; do you know where you will be eternally?”

  D. (11) “I John 5:13 says that we can KNOW that we have eternal life, these scriptures are very clear in telling what we know, believe, and do in order to lay claim to the ETERNAL LIFE promises.”

  These are but a few examples. You can see that an article can be written on any one of these questions. Remember these are questions that they have been asked and have answered. An article listing the percentage of YES and NO answers is very relevant to them. They gave you their answers from which we can now have the percentages. They thought about the questions and now they can see a biblical answer to each of these questions. FOLLOW UP......FOLLOW UP...FOLLOW UP. If you are doing a VINEYARD....FOLLOW UP!!!!

  Survey Form
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  Value | Introduction | Question Rationale | Closing | Other Uses

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