Survey of the Synod – Time for an Evaluation?

Many Districts encourage congregations to survey their members about the status of their congregation and the quality and character of their pastor’s work.  It is also common for congregations to conduct annual reviews of their pastors.  This too is encouraged by Districts.  Some of these surveys are meant to indicate if your congregation is “living” or “dying” or if your pastor is in “missional” or “maintenance” mode.

EvaluationSuch evaluations can often end up to be anecdotal and opinionated processes, developed with an agenda in mind.  A beneficial evaluation must be based upon the actual responsibilities and obligations of those to be evaluated. Congregations and pastors should be judged against the responsibilities given in the Scriptures and Confessions. They also should be evaluated based on the promises and obligations outlined in call documents, the rites of ordination or installation, and in our voluntary bond to one another as members of the Synod.  In that spirit,the following survey of the Synod and its elected servants is drawn from the Constitution of the Synod.  Since the District is the Synod in that locale, the survey questions are about the District and Circuit and their elected servants in which your congregation resides.

We invite you to take the survey, return here to comment on it, and suggest any additional questions for the survey.  Remember the guidelines for survey questions — they must be grounded in the objective responsibilities and obligations given to us in God’s Word and / or in our mutual promises spoken or written in our synod documents (handbook), hymnals and agendas.

To view the questions in our sample survey, click here.

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