1. 2007 Annual Survey of Members
Conducted for the
Columbia Union Conference
By the Center for Creative Ministry

2. Source of Data
A total of 487 random telephone interviews were conducted with households affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the eight conferences of the Columbia Union Conference. The sample was selected using a stratified random sampling technique widely used by leading polling firms and in academic survey research.

3. Reliability
At the 95th percentile of reliability the standard allowance for sampling error in this survey is four or five percentage points, plus or minus.
This statement is presented in compliance with the professional standards of the American Association for Public Opinion Research.

4. Research Team Project Director—Paul Richardson
Project Coordinator—Carmen Rusu
Research Assistants—Michel Biciu, Stacey Bondurant, Miriam Pottinger, Brandy Radoias, Norma Sahlin
Analyst—Monte Sahlin

5. Are you a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church?
Three percent of the individuals we interviewed are on the books as church members, but no longer consider themselves to be members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This is a relative low level of misunderstanding on this topic, but it does serve to illustrate that there is uncertainty by some individuals about the membership procedures of the denomination.
Respondents who identified themselves as African Americans were more likely to say that they are not church members. Those who identify with Asian ethnicity are less likely to do so. There was not significant variance on any of the other demographic measures included in this study.

6. Does a copy of the Visitor come to your home in the mail each month?
Five out of six Adventist households in the territory of the Columbia Union Conference (83 percent) indicate that the Visitor, the union paper, comes in the mail to their home on a monthly basis. Members over 62 years of age are more likely to say they get the Visitor at their home than are those under 44 years of age. White members are more likely to give this report than are Hispanics, African Americans and those who are immigrants. Those who attend church regularly are more likely to get the Visitor than are those who do not attend regularly. Two other segments are less likely to get the Visitor at home include those who do not send their children to an Adventist school and those who are employed in Blue Collar occupations.
The union paper is more likely to be a feature in the homes of active, older, White, middle class, native-born members than in the homes of new generations, less active members, immigrants, those from ethnic minority groups and those from the working class. There are some cultural barriers to distribution that need to be addressed for the Visitor to be a strong channel of communication to all kinds of Adventists in the Columbia Union territory.
*Includes two percent who get it at church.

7. Does a copy of the Visitor come to your home in the mail regularly?
The percentage of church members who get the Visitor in the mail at their home has declined some over the last two decades. A survey Kermit Netteburg conducted in 1987 had 94 percent of members indicating that they received the Visitor. The survey we conducted for the Columbia Union Conference in 1998 found that 87 percent of the members interviewed received the Visitor in their homes. By the time of the current survey in 2007, 83 percent of the members gave the same response.
Perhaps more disturbing is the steep increase in the percentage of members who report that they never see the Visitor. This segment has nearly tripled from six percent in both 1987 and 1998 to 16 percent in It appears that this is largely due to a decline in the number of copies distributed at local churches.

8. How often do you look at the Visitor?
Two thirds of the members who get the Visitor say that they look at “every issue,” while another 13 percent indicate they look at it “regularly.” Those over 62 years of age are more likely to look at every issue. Readership correlates with age. Younger members are less likely to do so. Members in their 30s are more likely to look at the magazine “regularly” and those in their 20s are more likely to look at it only “sometimes” or less often.
One in five church members report that they look at the Visitor only “sometimes” (16 percent), “rarely” (3 percent) or “never” (2 percent). Those who identify their ethnicity as Hispanic are also more likely to give these responses.
Over the past two decades since the survey conducted by Netteburg in 1987, the portion of the church members who read every issue has increased significantly. This is very likely due to the fact that in 1987 the magazine was published twice a month which is probably too much material for many members.

9. Do you look at the Visitor just once or more than once?
Two thirds of the church members who get the Visitor delivered to their home pick up each issue more than once. African Americans are more likely to give this response, as are members who do not attend church very often and those who do not have their children enrolled in an Adventist school.
A third of those who get the Visitor at their home (34 percent) say that they look at each issue only once. Those who are in their 30s are even more likely to give this response, as are immigrants and those in professional and managerial occupations.

10. How much time do you spend looking each issue of the Visitor?
The largest number of church members who receive the Visitor in their home (42 percent) report that they spend more than 10 minutes, up to 30 minutes all together, looking at each issue. Members in their 30s are more likely to give this response as are those who indicate that their ethnicity is White and those with Blue Collar occupations.
Almost as many (41 percent) say they spend more than 30 minutes with each issue of the Visitor. Members over 62 years of age are more likely to say this as are Asians, African Americans and immigrants.
One in six members (16 percent) spend “about 10 minutes” with each issue of the Visitor. Those in their 20s are more likely to give this report as are Hispanics and other immigrants, those with minor children in their homes and especially those who do not have their children enrolled in an Adventist schools.
A handful of members who get the Visitor (two percent) spend only a minute or two looking at each issue. This segment is so small that no reliable demographics can be determined for it.
Over the past two decades the amount of time that the average member spends reading the Visitor has declined. When Netteburg conducted the survey in 1987, there were twice as many issues being published and that fact alone doubles the numbers shown in the graphic above. In addition, there has been a significant shift from the category of “more than 30 minutes” to the category of “up to 30 minutes.”

11. Who else in your home looks at the Visitor?
The majority of church members who get the Visitor in their home (57 percent) report that other family members also look at the magazine when it comes. Those in their 30s, 40s and 50s are more likely to say that their spouse looks at the magazine, as are those from an Asian ethnic background, those who are immigrants, those with minor children in their home, and those who have their children enrolled in an Adventist school. Those in their 20s are more likely to identify some other relative, as are Hispanics and other immigrants.
Two in five church members who get the Visitor (43 percent) say no one else in their home looks at the magazine. Those over 62 years of age are more likely to give this response, as are those from a White ethnic background, those who are retired, those with no minor children in the home, and those who are women. Netteburg found in the 1987 survey that 40 percent of the respondents said no one else in their household read the Visitor, which means that segment is basically unchanged when the allowance for sampling error is taken into consideration.

12. What do you read first?
The largest number of church members (19 percent) say that the first thing they read in each issue of the Visitor is the article featured on the cover. This pattern has not changed much over the last decade. The difference between the 18 percent who gave the same response in the 1998 survey and the 19 percent in the current survey is not statistically significant.
There also continues to be 15 percent of the readers who simply pick up the magazine when it comes and read everything in it. It is important to note that the vast majority (85 percent) are more selective in what they read.
One in eight church members (12 percent) say that they read the news section, current near the front of the magazine, first. No such section existed in 1998, so it is impossible to have a comparable response from a decade ago.
There clearly are other trends that indicate a loss of concentrated attention among readers of the Visitor. In the more recent survey a significant number of respondents (nine percent) volunteered that they just glance through the magazine. They did not mention any specific element as the item they read first. No responses of this kind were given ten years ago. Nearly the same number (eight percent) in 1998 said that they first turn to the feature articles.

13. Do you usually read … ?
Six out of seven of the church members who receive the Visitor in their home (86 percent) look at the conference newsletter for their local conference. Men are more likely to do so than women. Those with Blue Collar occupations are also more likely to do so, as are parents who do not have their children enrolled in Adventist schools.
Nearly three out of four members who receive the Visitor (73 percent) usually read the editorial. Those over 62 years of age are more likely to give this response, as are those in Blue Collar occupations, men and those who do not attend church very often.
More than two-thirds of the members who receive the Visitor (69 percent) look at the newsletters from Columbia Union College, the health systems and the academies. Those under 30 years of age are more likely to do so, as are African Americans, respondents with professional and managerial occupations, those with minor children in their family, and especially those with children enrolled in Adventist schools.
Regular readership of all three of these features has increased over the last two decades. Evidently the current design of the magazine does provide greater focus on these elements and guide more readers to them on a regular basis.

14. Most Helpful Kinds of Information Published in the Visitor
In an open-ended question, our interviewers asked church members, “What are the most helpful kinds of information published in the Visitor?” More than a third of the people we interviewed had no answer whatsoever to this question. Another one in four (25 percent) said something to indicate that they did not really know. These data are cause for concern because they indicate that the average church member evidently does not expect much from a free journal sent to his or her home by the denomination.
The most common substantive response from the church members interviewed was “news about the church” or “news about my conference” or some related theme. Most church members see the purpose of the Visitor as that of a new medium. They do not look to it for inspirational, theological or other material.
Nine percent of the respondents mentioned that they find articles reporting on various kinds of outreach ministries, churches with successful growth or effective impact on their communities, resources for ministry and stories about baptisms and evangelism projects very helpful. The Visitor is seen by a smaller number of church members as a support mechanism for their involvement in the mission of the church.
Three percent of the members interviewed mentioned an odd-lot collection of other things, each item mentioned only once. These items included recipes, letters to the editor, the sunset calendar, information about church schools, etc.

15. Have you ever placed an ad in the Visitor?
Just six percent of the Adventist Church members across the Columbia Union Conference territory have ever placed an ad in the Visitor. Those who identified themselves as being from an Asian ethnic background are more likely to have done so, as are those employed in White Collar occupations. Men are more likely to have done so than women.

16. Purchased something because of an ad in the Visitor
Only seven percent of the church members who receive the Visitor report that they have made a purchase in the last year because of an ad published in the magazine. Those who report their ethnic background as Asian are more likely to have done so, as are those in Blue Collar occupations and those with children enrolled in Adventist schools.
In the 1998 survey this question was asked differently. Instead of limiting it to “the last year,” respondents were asked, “Have you ever purchased something?” At that time, a third of the members interviewed said yes, they had made a purchase because of an ad they saw in the Visitor. Due to the different time frame the two responses are not comparable. These data do suggest that a relatively small number of readers respond to particular ads in each issue, although over a long period of time a much larger share of the members may find the ads useful.

17. Preferred Types of Articles
The traditional stance of the union papers in the Adventist denomination have been to report on events after they have occurred. Often this means that the news in these publication is 60 to 90 days in the past or longer. In the last few years, the Visitor has tried to change this stance with an emphasis on announcing events before they happen. To test this approach, respondents were asked, “Do you think the Visitor should have more articles that announce events before they happen, or stories reporting events after they happen?”
The largest number of respondents (41 percent) see a need for both types of articles. Those in their 30s are more likely to give this response, as are those who identify their ethnicity as Asian, those employed in Blue Collar occupations, those with children in their home, those who do not attend church regularly and those who have children in Adventist schools.
Nearly a third of the readers (30 percent) prefer the new stance with an emphasis on stories that announce events before they occur. Those in their 20s are more likely to give this response. So are those who identify themselves as African Americans and Hispanics, those in professional and managerial occupations, and those who attend church every Sabbath.
The smallest number, just eight percent, say they prefer the traditional stance with an emphasis on articles that report activities after they have happened. It such a small number that none of the demographic indicators are statistically reliable.
One in five readers of the Visitor (21 percent) have not made up their mind about this question. This includes more of the younger members, those who attend less often and those who do not have children enrolled in Adventist schools, suggesting a group that may simply not have as much interest in church affairs.

18. Opinion About the Visitor
Church members in the Columbia Union who receive the Visitor overwhelmingly find it easy to read and trust it as a source of information. A total of 99 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, “The Visitor is easy to read;” and 96 percent agreed with the statement, “I believe what I read in the Visitor.” The handful of negative responses is too small to provide reliable demographic analysis.
Five out of six readers (83 percent) also agree that “the Visitor provides ideas for ministry.” Those in their 20s are even more likely to agree with this opinion.
In order to provide a validity test for the survey, one of the questions in this series was stated as a negative. Only eight percent of respondents agreed that “the Visitor has too many pictures,” while 92 percent disagreed. Clearly readers appreciate the photography in the Visitor and this result provides additional evidence of the high reliability of the data in this report.
Although there has been improvement in these qualitative aspects of the Visitor over the past two decades, most of the increases are small. The largest increase has been in the percentage of respondents who say that the Visitor provides them with ideas for how to witness and get involved in ministry. This rose from 58 percent to 83 percent.

19. Adventist Use of the Internet

20. Do you have access to the Internet?
Three out of five Adventists have personal access to the Internet. This is considerably less than the 79 percent of Americans who have a connection to the Internet, according to a Harris Poll taken in the same time frame as our survey. Adventists are somewhat slower than the general public in the adoption of new technology.
Younger church members are more likely to have access to the Internet than are older church members. There is a strong negative correlations with age. Church members in their teens and 20s are more than twice as likely to have access to the Internet as are those over 60 years of age. Among those over 60, only 40 percent have access to the Internet, while among those under 30 some 87 percent have access to the Internet.
Church members who report their ethnicity as Asian, multiracial or other are more likely to have access to the Internet, while Hispanics are less likely to give this same response. Those with professional, managerial and White Collar occupations are more likely to have access to the Internet, while those with Blue Collar occupations and those who are retired are less likely to have access. Church members with minor children in the family are more likely to have access, while those who have no children are less likely.
Men are more likely than women among church members to have access to the Internet. Both church members who have a child enrolled in an Adventist school and those who do not attend church very often are more likely to have Internet access.

21. Where do you have access to the Internet?
In a follow-up question, respondents were asked to specify the location of their personal access to the Internet. Almost all of them (93 percent) said that it was at home. Just seven percent said that it was at their place of work. No respondents said that they access the Internet primarily through a public library, cyber café or Internet and copying store.
Comparable data could not be found. This is an item unique to this study and not included in other research. This does provide some refinement for the data on the previous page. A conservative reading of these responses would indicate that about 56 percent of Adventist households have Internet access as compared to 64 percent of the general public. Adventists do lag somewhat behind the general social trends, although this may be due to much higher median age among Adventists. It is known that in the general public older people are less likely to have Internet access in their homes and it has been shown in several studies that among Adventist Church members there is a significantly higher percentage of older individuals and fewer members in the younger age groups. In this survey, church members under 30 years of age are more likely to have access at home, as are those who report their ethnicity as Hispanic, those who do not attend church very often and those who have their children enrolled in schools other than Adventist schools.

22. How do you have access to the Internet?
Half of the Adventist homes have broadband access to the Internet, while only 21 percent continue to use an older, slower dial-up connection. The proportion is the same as is true for the general public in the United States. Unlike the national data, our survey found that 16 percent of church members said they did not know or claimed to use other technologies. It most likely that Adventist homes simply follow the national norms on this item.
Church members under 40 years of age are more likely to have a broadband connection, as are those who report their ethnic background as Asian, those employed in White Collar occupations, and those parents who do not have their children enrolled in an Adventist school. Dial-up connections are more likely in the homes of church members employed in Blue Collar occupations and those who report their ethnicity as Black or African American.

23. Use of the Internet
About 58 percent of Adventists use the web to get news as compared to 72 percent of the general public in the U.S. Adventists under 40 years of age are more likely to do so. There is a strong negative correlation with age; the younger a person is, the more likely it is that they get news on line.
In each case 55 percent of Adventists say that they use the Internet to make purchases and do their banking or pay bills. Adventists fall below the general public on making purchases, but exceed the general public on banking. Among Adventists, those in the Baby Boom generation are more likely to give both responses, as are members with minor children in their homes.
Adventists are just as likely as the general public to regularly read Blogs (online journals) with 38 percent of Adventists who do so, compared to 39 percent of Americans overall. Adventists under 30 years of age are more likely to do so, as are those who do not attend church very often, and those who indicate that their ethnicity is Asian or Hispanic.
Adventists are much less likely to use the Internet to play games on line than are the general public. Only 19 percent of Adventists do so, while 35 percent of Americans do. Adventists under 30 years of age are more likely to do so.

24. Use of the Internet
Seventh-day Adventists are somewhat less likely than the general public to use the Internet to get health information (68 percent compared to 80 percent), nonetheless it is the most popular activity on the web for both groups. Adventists with children in Adventist schools are more likely to do so, as are those of Hispanic ethnicity, and those employed in occupations other than managerial or professional.
Adventist are nearly twice as likely as the general public to use the Internet to get information about religion or the Bible (58 percent compared to 35 percent). Those with children in school are more likely to do so, as are those under 30 years of age, those employed in White Collar occupations and those who are immigrants.
Some 45 percent of respondents told our interviewers that they use the Internet to get news about the Adventist Church. Those under 30 years of age are more likely to do so, as are those who indicate that their ethnicity is Asian or Hispanic. There is no comparable data for the general public.
A third of church members who have access to the Internet use it specifically to study the Sabbath School lesson. Those who have their children in a non-Adventist school are more likely to do so, as are those who are immigrants.

25. Get Newsletters
Two out of five Adventists who have access to the Internet (39 percent) get one or more newsletters via . Those in professional and managerial occupations are more likely to give this response, as are those in their 40s and 50s, those who attend church every Sabbath and those who indicate that their ethnicity is Asian or Black.
Only seven percent get the Visitor New Bulletins through , although another 11 percent say that they have heard of this service. Those who get the Visitor News Bulletins are spread equally across all demographic segments, while members over 60 years of age are more likely to have heard of it and not signed up as yet. The same is true for those with professional and managerial occupations, those who have children that are not attending Adventist schools, and those who report their ethnicity as Asian.

26. Will there ever come a time when the Visitor is published only on the Internet, not on paper?
Church administrators and communications staff have discussed in recent years the possibility of saving printing and mailing costs by shifting the “union paper” to electronic publication. In order to gauge opinion among the laity on this questions, church members were asked, “Do you think there will ever come a time when the Visitor and similar periodicals will be issued only over the Internet and not on paper?”
Church members are about evenly split on this question. The largest number (43 percent) said, “No,” they did not think this would ever happen. They believe the union paper will always be published on paper. Those who attend church less often are more likely to have this opinion, as are those over 60 years of age, those employed in White Collar occupations and those who identify their ethnicity as Asian.
Nearly two in five (39 percent) said, “Yes,” they believe the time will come when the union paper is published electronically and not on paper. Those who attend church every Sabbath are more likely to give this response, as are those who have school-age children in their home, those with professional and managerial occupations, those who report their ethnicity as Black or African American, and those who are immigrants.

27. Will there ever come a time when the Visitor is published only on the Internet, not on paper?
There is a strong correlation with church attendance patterns on this question. Those who attend church the most are more likely to think that the Columbia Union Conference might someday switch to publishing the Visitor entirely on the Internet, while those who attend church less than once a month and more certain that such a change would never be made.
Is this question a measure of the perceptions of church members about change in the Adventist Church? One way to interpret these data is to see those who attend most often as tuned in to the process of change in the denomination with a better grasp on the possibilities for future changes, while those who attend less often are not aware of the process of change and tend to see the denomination as monolithic and unbending. Additional research will be necessary in order to confirm any explanation.
One in five of the respondents (18 percent) told our interviewers they had no opinion on this question. Those under 30 years of age were more likely to give this response, as were those who identify themselves as Hispanic.

28. How soon do you think this will happen?
This follow-up question was asked only of those who answered the previous question affirmatively. What these data demonstrate is that among the 39 percent of church members who think that the time will come when the union paper is no longer published on paper, but only on the Internet, the majority do not see this happening for a number of years. Only four percent are ready for it to happen immediately.
Adventists 30 to 60 years of age—the Baby Boomers and Gen X—are more likely to see this change in the near future. The same is true for African Americans and Hispanics, and those with professional and managerial occupations.
Both those over 60 and those under 30 are more likely to think it is a “years from now.” This is also true for those who identify their ethnicity as White or Asian, those who do not have their children enrolled in an Adventist school, and those who are men.

29. Does your job involve working on the Internet or using Email?
Nearly half of the church members interviewed (47 percent) reported that their occupation involved working on the Internet or with , while a slight majority said they are not employed in a job that requires this. Those employed in professional, managerial and White Collar occupations were much more likely to respond “Yes,” while those in Blue Collar occupations and those who are retired were more likely to say “No.” Those with minor children in their home were more likely to respond affirmatively, while those with no children were more likely to respond negatively. This was even more true for those who do not have their children enrolled in an Adventist school.
An interesting age pattern emerges from these data. Church members in the Baby Boom generation and Generation X—approximately 30 to 60 years of age—are more likely to have jobs that involve the Internet, while those over 60 and those under 30 are more likely to say they do not have such jobs. Many of the older respondents are retired and many of the young adults and teenagers are employed in entry level jobs in retail businesses that do not include access to the Internet.

30. Someone distributes printed copies of news from the Internet.
To measure the extent of secondary distribution of on line news our interviewers asked church members two specific questions. “Does anyone else in your household have access to and give you printed copies from time to time?” And, “Does anyone at your church hand out printed copies of news about the Adventist Church they get from the Internet or post it on the bulletin board?”
Nearly two in five respondents (39 percent) said that this happens in their household. Those 30 to 60 years of age are more likely to give this response, as are those who are immigrants, and those with minor children in their home, especially if they have a child enrolled in an Adventist school. Those over 60 years of age are more likely to say “No,” this never happens in their home, as are those who are retired, those who have no minor children in their home and those who attend church less often.
The distribution of printed copies of news from the Internet is more common at church than at home. Nearly half of the church members interviewed (48 percent) report that from time to time someone at their church does post or distribute copies of news about the Adventist Church from the Internet. Respondents in the Baby Boom generation—43 to 61 years of age in 2007—are most likely to report this behavior, while those 62 years of age and older are least likely to do so. Those with school-age children in their families are more likely to give a positive response, as are those who attend church every Sabbath and those who identify their ethnicity as either Hispanic or Asian. People who are retired are more likely to give a negative response, as are those who attend church less often.

31. © 2008, Center for Creative Ministry and the Columbia Union Conference