To begin...
When is the best time for your church?
We encourage you to choose the time that best suits your church to complete your Attender Surveys, in September or October.
How is your church gathering? Use online or paper surveys.
Depending on your church's circumstances, suggestions are offered in the Guide on how to best run the survey at your church. Survey options include paper and online surveys that can be adapted to various modes of gathering.
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Notify your church of WHEN and HOW you will hold the survey
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Share the purpose of the survey and invite people's involvement
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Consider goals for the survey at your church
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Checklist of key tasks to Prepare before your survey
Survey Kits will be dispatched to participating churches in August. The Survey Kit includes a range of surveys, along with a Guide for the person coordinating the survey at the church and Site Instructions for completing the survey forms on the chosen survey day(s) at each site.
Notify your church of WHEN and HOW you will hold the survey
Let your church attenders know WHEN you plan to ask your church attenders to complete the Attender Survey, either a survey day or a survey period, during September or October.
A poster template is available for use (see below). You might also choose to inform them of HOW you might hold the survey e.g. face to face during a worship service or Mass, together online during a streamed service, or individually at home.
More details on how to conduct the survey are available in the Administer phase, coming soon.
Share the purpose of the survey
Share the purpose of the 2026 NCLS with your congregation and invite their participation. Affirm the value of the everyone’s contribution to build a sense of group ownership.
Every survey form represents the voice of a church attender, leader or child. The survey listens to their thoughts, opinions and experiences of church life.
It is designed to be a positive, inclusive process to reflect on ministry and mission together and to help equip leaders to build for the future.
Distribute a brochure or share online
Consider goals for how you might best use the survey process at your church
With your leadership team, consider your church's readiness to engage the survey process and determine some goals.
The survey is designed to listen to your churchgoers and help you evaluate your church's health and vitality in a positive process. This assessment then helps to identify and build on your strengths for the future. Local Church Stories are available to see how other churches use the NCLS process, along with a 5 steps process to help you get the most out of the survey experience at your church (see below).
Read Local Church Stories
See how other churches use a Church Life Survey and discuss ways your church might best utilise this process to review, evaluate and reflect on your church's vitality.
Consider the 5 steps to a successful survey
Determine some goals on how your church will best use the survey experience to assess your health and vitality and discern your direction into the future.