2011 National Church Life Survey feedback Each church’s Survey results will be presented in their unique Church Life Profile and are organised so as to highlight the church’s vitality Churches’ vitality is measured through the 9 Core Qualities of church life developed by NCLS Research over 20 years of survey and analysis of Australian churches

The NCLS model of church vitality is built on nine Core Qualities of church life… and three Attendance Measures that are shaped by them National Church Life Survey feedback

The Nine Core Qualities of Church Life Internal Core Qualities About the inner life of the community of faith Inspirational Core Qualities About leadership and direction in the church Outward Core Qualities About how the church focuses beyond itself

An Alive and Growing Faith Vital and Nurturing Worship Strong and Growing Belonging Clear and Owned Vision Inspiring and Empowering Leadership Imaginative and Flexible Innovation Practical and Diverse Service Willing and Effective Faith-sharing Intentional and Welcoming Inclusion Church vitality Church vitality 9 Core Qualities all contribute to church vitality

An Alive and Growing Faith Provides measures of attenders’ growth in faith, faith commitment, their relationship with God, private devotional practices, etc. Vital and Nurturing Worship Measures attenders experience of the Worship Services. Do they find them inspiring – joyful – challenging – spiritually strengthening and so on? Strong and Growing Belonging Measures attenders’ sense of belonging in this church; the levels of friendliness and support they experience; their own level of participation, etc. The Internal Core Qualities The Internal Core Qualities focus on the inner life of the community of faith, providing shape and energy to other Core Qualities:

Clear and Owned Vision Measures attenders’ awareness and commitment to the church’s vision and directions and their perception of how achievable the goals are. Inspiring and Empowering Leadership Measures attenders’ perception of the extent to which a culture of empowering leadership is in the church and their levels of participation in it Imaginative and Flexible Innovation Measures attenders’ openness to new ways and their perception of this church’s openness to new things. The Inspirational Core Qualities These qualities relate to leadership and direction. They are the major catalysts for churches to move forward.

Practical and Diverse Service Measures the help attenders give to others, and their level of involvement in the church’s welfare programs and community service organisations Willing and Effective Faith-sharing Measures the willingness of attenders to share their faith, be involved in evangelistic programs and to invite people to come to this church Intentional and Welcoming Inclusion Measure the willingness of attenders to seek out and welcome new arrivals and to follow up those they see drifting away from church life. The Outward Core Qualities These qualities are about how churches focus beyond themselves by reaching out to others.

Young adult retention – measures the extent to which this church retains its young adults. Newcomers – measures the proportion of attenders who are newcomers to this church or even newcomers to church life. Attendance change – reports attendance change at this church and records Inflow and Outflow. Attendance Measures – an outcome of church vitality Core Qualities are linked to outcomes…

The key measures of a church’s Core Qualities are placed in the context of those for all participating churches throughout Australia and is scored from 1 to 10 where 5 is the score for most churches. Summary Scores – an overview of results The inside back cover of your Church Life Profile shows how NCLS converts a church’s survey results into a Summary Score. This score is then used to show the church’s relative strength in each of the nine Core Qualities and how the church has grown or declined in these qualities over time …

Summary Scores – an overview of results … These Summary Scores are then presented graphically to show each church their ‘Circle of Strengths’ and their Change over Time chart so the church can immediately begin to contemplate some ‘broad brush’ planning.