Sunday services - here's what you said

Thank you so much to everyone who completed our survey about services in September / October. Here are some of the headline results and a sample of the comments that were made (the full results are available to download further down):

• 98 people responded. 2/3 were aged over 50. 1/3 were under 50.
• Some of the questions were poorly designed, making interpretation of the answers tricky
• There was a great mixture of opinions! And a great amount of understanding that our gatherings are about God and not us. No one style suits everyone; people generally accepted that variety was important to help others enter into worship as well.

Which services do people come to?

• About 60% had attended a first Sunday service (with junior church and communion) in person. Just over 40% had attended the fourth Sunday (communion but no junior church). 30% had attended one of the Explore Together services. 25% had attended Sunday @3. 14% had attended Elevate. Just 7% had attended a Wonder Walk (alternative fourth Sunday gathering).

How often do people come?

• 40% had come to two morning services during the preceding month. 30% came to three or more morning services. 20% came to one morning service. 6% only joined online. Over 40% came to at least one morning service and at least one afternoon/evening service.

What about online engagement?

• Nearly 70% of over 50s listen or watch our sermons online, and 56% engage with Bible teaching from other churches online.  For under 50s, the figures are quite different: only 35% listening to St James’ sermons but 50% listening to other Bible teaching. Nearly 2 in 3 listen to worship music from other churches regularly or occasionally.
• The main reasons for joining online (rather that in person) were: illness or shielding (self or others); being away from Southampton or working. 6% respondents had only joined services online in the preceding month.

“My son always watches online so I like to share services with him as well as attending”
What elements of services do we most appreciate?

• Almost half see ‘good contemporary worship songs’ as essential to their ideal service. Over 2 in 3 like an extended time of sung worship (eg 3 songs together); 1 in 10 don’t like that. 4 in 10 like some set liturgy (eg creed); 2 in 10 don’t. 7 in 10 would include communion in their ideal service. 
• About three-quarters of those under 50 appreciate some spontaneity and creative ways of praying and exploring the Bible’s teaching in the services. For over 50s, that figure drops to about 50%. 
• Three-quarters like including children in part of the service; half don’t like the idea of having children in for all of the service.
• About 2/3 thought variety in service styles was more important than consistency. About 1/3 thought consistency was more important.

“I think you try really hard to meet the needs of a huge range of people and that's excellent. I personally find the variety very beneficial and it helps keep things fresh and more real, and stops things becoming stale and "routine" and stay more meaningful. Thank you for all the effort and energy from the entire team that goes into this.”
 
What about changing the pattern of services?

• Over 9 out of 10 under 40s would come more often if there were more services that suited them. Those in their 40s were least likely to come more often! About 70% of over 50s would come more often.
• 80% of those aged 50+ would find an earlier service (eg 9am or 9.30am)  suitable, as opposed to 55% of under 50s. 85% of over 50s would find a later service (eg 10.30am or 11am) suitable, as opposed to 93% of under 50s.

“Consistent time, consistent style. That is not to say it all has to be identical every week. To me, most people (including my family and I) like consistency at 10.30 ish Sunday morning. They know what and when, there is no worry about turning up to something they won’t engage with. My family like / love the explore together services, I don’t attend as I dislike it.”
 
Click here to download the full results. And see the bottom of this article for more comments that people made. 
 
Conclusions? 
The Church Council has pored over these responses. We’re trying to get consistency with the start time of services – but even that isn’t completely straight-forward! We’re also very aware that our staff team is considerably smaller than it was a year ago, and that in general, people’s willingness to help is lower than it was pre-pandemic. So there are significant challenges with moving back to 2 services on a Sunday morning on a regular basis – especially given that we only have enough helpers to run Junior Church twice a month at the moment.
 
In the mean time, we’re grateful for what we have got: the freedom to worship in public (which many of our sisters and brothers around the world don’t have); a congregation with a great range of ages (which many congregations in the Church of England don’t have); a good variety in the range of service styles we offer; and wonderful teams who welcome, make refreshments, lead us in sung worship, do the sound and live-streaming, preach, and lead children’s groups. Most of all, let’s be grateful that the LORD of heaven and earth, the King of Kings, has called us into such a diverse family, invites us to worship him, longs to speak with us, promises to be with us as we gather in his name and guarantees to listen to us when we speak to him. Wow – what a privilege!
 
So “let us not give up meeting together” (Hebrews 10.25). And “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give [us] the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice [we] may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15.5-6).
 
Some more of the comments people made:
“I don’t expect the services to always suit me and my preferences. I would expect them to be shaped so that they connect with people outside the church where possible”
“Quiet moments in the service, not marred by music playing at the same time as we are trying to pray or contemplate”.
“I would like to see meaningful teaching, heartfelt worship, a spirit-led church”
“Persist with testimonies and response from the congregation. We aren't very good at it, but perhaps with more practice...”
“I do really understand the challenge of meeting the needs of everyone is tricky, and I am mindful that we have limited numbers of some of the younger age groups in our congregation, and they do need to be a key consideration going forwards.”
“Would like more on living life (As a Christian), as feels very focused on explaining the bible passage with less weight on application sometimes.
“We love the fact that there is openness to explore different types of services and the emphasis on family discipleship followed through with Explore Together. Wonder walk and Angel's packs for home - Fab!”
“Prefer not the Explore services, don't find them a satisfactory act of worship, but recognise that some do like this form. I do usually attend and usually spend time with someone in the congregation who is obviously confused by it, e.g. visitors or elderly.”
“It would be nice to have a greater variety in the choice of traditional hymns. There are definitely more than 3 out there!”
“I regard as important singing that is well-led (trad or modern songs) that fit with any theme in the service - and I think we have this at the moment
“I enjoy it when there are bible passages from other languages incorporated. There is such a diverse range of cultures and languages represented in the congregation, it would be enriching to have some elements of these incorporated into our services more, for example their different styles and formats of worshipping - learning about these may open us and our faith up in new ways.”
“Different start times are rubbish”
“I think you need 2 services each Sunday with different styles/ target groups like you had before.   I miss the 9.00.” 
“Wonderwalk are awesome!”