We Are Trying to Assess the Quality of Our Church in Relation to the 8 Quality Characteristics

[Date]

Dear

We are trying to assess the quality of our church in relation to the 8 quality characteristics of healthy growing churches – these have been shown to be essential to create the right environment for growth to happen in a church. This assessment is very important for us to be able to plan for the future, to see our church grow and to become all that God wants us to be. I am writing to invite you to take part in this process which is a way you can influence the future direction of our church.

We are using an annual process recommended by the Diocese of Coventry and they have offered us a mentor to help us through it. For the survey we are using an internationally recognised survey from the Natural Church Development Institute which is specifically designed to help us assess our strengths and weaknesses in these 8 areas. It is biblically based and has been used by many denominations and thousands of churches throughout the world.

The survey is completed bya representative sample of 30 regular church members and we would like you to be one of those 30. The participants will all come together to answer the survey but will do so individually. The results are not shared or discussed and are entirely confidential.

The survey takes less than one hour and will take place on [date] at [time] in [venue]. We should be finished by [time]. [Include here any particulars e.g. wine and cheese, lunch etc]

The mentor takes the forms away for processing after the survey and will bring the results back to us in due course. These will present a comprehensive picture of the parish as we collectively see it now. These results can be shared more widely and form a basis for future planning by the PCC. The exercise will be repeated annually as long as we feel that it is useful to do so. Other participants will have a chance for input in future years.

Churches who have undertaken this process report that they grow as they create the right environment for growth to take place – we hope and pray this will be our experience too.

Would you please let us know as soon as possible whether you can take part in this important initiative. You may let us know by phone [number] [name] or e-mail [email address].

We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

[name]

[Planning Team]