Last Updated 07-05-2008
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Community Survey Results Over the summer we at Dundonald
Baptist church have conducted a survey to find out what people in the community
think about church in general. There were 153 respondents and the full results
are listed on the church website at www.dundonaldbaptistchurch.org.
Here are some of the significant points. Dundonald appears to be a reasonably settled
community with more than 60% of those questioned living in the area for 10 or
more years.
When asked ‘what do you
think of when someone mentions church to you’ an astonishing 30% of people
did not think of anything. It had no meaning to them or was of little
consequence in their lives. A further 7% had a negative reaction. It is ironic
that the church of Jesus Christ is considered irrelevant and meaningless to a
significant number of people when in fact, it is concerned with the most
important issues of life – where we’re from, why we’re here, where we’re
going. Is the apathy and indifference a result of filling our lives with less
important matters and/or because the Christian church has failed to show how
relevant, meaningful and all-important the Christian message is. Nevertheless a massive 65% of
people questioned attend church, which is quite high compared to the national
average, but just over half of these attend every week. The survey found that the commonest reason for not attending church was that life is too busy. No doubt life can be hectic – earning a living, raising a family. But this mirrors a story that Jesus told of a rich man who lived only to expand his business and to enjoy life’s luxuries. God called him a fool for getting his priorities wrong. He was all body and no soul, all time and no eternity, all self and no God. Only when we get God at the centre of our lives can we get other things in proper perspective. If we’re too busy for God then we are indeed too busy. The next highest reasons for not attending church
were that people thought of church as out of date and boring. Sadly the
Christian church often projects that image by using ancient language, enforcing
dress codes and tradition giving the impression that worshipping God is a dull
experience. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus came with a new
way to approach God, making us new people, giving us a new song in our hearts
and offering not just life but life to the full. Sometimes people who have never
attended a church recently or only have experience of only one form of church
service can form these stereotypical attitudes. Take the challenge and visit a
local church service this week. In response to the question of ‘what
are the main needs of our community in Dundonald’ the overwhelming
response (41%) was that we need more activities and facilities for our children
and youth, yet we are well served for church based youth clubs and
organisations. If you so wished, your children could be out every night of the
week at some event with camps and summer schemes laid on every year. Perhaps our
youth reflect even more the feeling that church is not relevant to them and by
not attending do not know what activities are available for them. We have just completed a series in our church at Dundonald Baptist looking at the purpose of our lives. Why are we here? Is there more to life than just existing? Is pleasure all we can strive for? Man is a spiritual being and will seek to meet his spiritual need with a variety of things: work, pleasure, relationships, money, sport etc. We have found that the true purpose of life can only be found by first accepting that God has made us. He knows best how we should live and how we can find true happiness in a sad and difficult world. If you took time to answer our questions we thank you. If you wish more information the full results are listed on the church website at www.dundonaldbaptistchurch.org. If you would like to comment on these findings or be contacted please email webadmin at dundonaldbaptistchurch.org.
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