A Metropolitan Community Church affiliated with The Center for Progressive Christianity

Sunshine Cathedral Survey Results

On March 1, 2009, Sunshine Cathedral participated in the US Congregational Life Survey. The results from the survey will be part of a national database and gave us good baseline information for how a typical day in the life of Sunshine Cathedral looks. This snapshot shows us our strengths as well as areas where we can improve. Here is a brief summary of the survey results:

Out of 524 people who worshiped with us on March 1^st, 319 took the survey (an excellent response).
92% of survey respondents indicated they attend Sunshine Cathedral worship services 2 or more times per month.
16% of the respondents had attended less than 1 year, while 40% had attended from 2 to 5 years. 43% attended for 6 or more years.
54% of the respondents were between the ages of 45 and 64.
12% of the respondents were women, 4% were Black / African American, and 7% were Hispanic. Because of the way the question was framed, however, we actually believe the number of Hispanics to be higher than reported.
89% of respondents said they usually or always experience inspiration and joy in worship.
91% of respondents said that church activities help them with daily living.
89% identified as progressive (either very liberal, liberal, or moderate… with liberal being the largest group).
75% agreed that “all the different religions are equally good ways of helping a person find ultimate truth.” 12% were neutral or unsure.
87% said their spiritual needs were being met at Sunshine Cathedral.
91% said “there is a good match between our congregation and our pastor.”
89% felt the congregation had a clear vision, goals, and direction for ministry (and 79% indicated they were personally committed to the vision and goals).
72% of respondents indicated they travel less than 20 minutes to get to church.
About a fourth of the respondents indicated they were involved in group activities in the church, and compared to two years ago, 25% of congregants are participating MORE in activities of the church while 48% are participating at the same level they did 2 years ago.
Almost a third of respondents claimed to have leadership roles in the congregation.
More than two-thirds of respondents said they have close friends in the congregation.

Complete survey results are in the following documents (in PDF format):