United Church of Christ “National Listening Campaign on Christian Faith Formation and Education”

Abstract

Like other ministry areas, Christian Faith Formation and Education in the United Church of Christ has changed over the course of the denomination’s 55-year history. In its present form, faith formation is carried out among different settings across the life of the church including local congregations, associations, conferences, and institutions of higher and theological education. To assess the nature and scope of some of these changes, a large-scale survey was conducted (entitled the ‘‘UCC National Listening Campaign on Christian Faith Formation and Education’’) and was distributed across various settings of the denomination. The survey collected both quantitative and qualitative information about the current status of Christian faith formation and education and was conducted for a period of ten weeks with a total of 1,130 individuals responding to the survey. The online survey contained several demographically self-identifying components, so that similarities and differences across groups were determined. In addition, congregational demographics were collected and included: (a) church size (scaled by average worship attendance), (b) specific church designations (Open and Affirming, Accessible to All, Just Peace, Whole Earth, Multiracial/Multicultural), (c) and geographical location. Results indicated that worship and sermons were the most formational churchrelated experiences for individuals (73.7 % and 62.3 %, respectively), far above service/mission opportunities (38.5 %), choir/hymn singing (38.1 %), and Bible and other studies (36.7 %). How to connect faith with everyday life and how to be an agent of transformation in the world were the two most important faith learning desires of respondents (57.9 % and 54.4 %, respectively). The majority of respondents (80.1 %) indicated that group-based activities (discussions, retreats, small groups), in which a sense of community and meaning is