UUFC Religious Exploration Survey

Michael Molk and Claudia Hall, Co-DREs
UU Fellowship of Corvallis
Corvallis, OR

The following is one congregation’s input process on how the religious education program should be structured according to the congregants.

This year the Religious Exploration (RE) Committee and Directors are looking at our UUFC RE program and goals. As part of this process, we want to know what you think is important for children, youth, and adults to experience in our religious community. Please give this survey your thoughtful consideration, as the results will help shape the design of our future programs and the allocation of our resources, such as money, staff, volunteers, and fundraising projects.

Following is a list of some possible elements of a religious exploration program based on our UU principles and sources. How important do you think these elements are for children, for youth, and for adults? Fill in the spaces next to each line, ranging from 1 (least important) to 5 (most important).

Preliminary Results from the UU Fellowship of Corvallis Religious Exploration Survey

The Lifespan Religious Exploration Survey was conducted in November 2003. One hundred forty-five people filled out and returned the survey. In addition, a Sunday morning worship service was dedicated to this process, with small group discussions during those services. Our youth (7th through 12th grades) also had the opportunity to complete the survey.

Both the quantity and quality of responses are indications of how important our religious exploration program is to members of the fellowship. The results give us a snapshot of what you think are the most important elements of our religious exploration program at this time.

The completed surveys resulted in a vast amount of information. The RE Committee and Directors are still compiling the results. So far the 5s (most important) and 1s (least important) have been totaled. This gives us the extremes. The 2s, 3s, and 4s, once tabulated, should give us a more nuanced picture of these results. However, we feel that it is important to share the results we do have now. We are excited to see what y’all are thinking!

So, what do the numbers tell us?

The category of Life Skills and Ethical Development is far and away ranked as most important for all ages by roughly two-thirds to three-fifths of all respondents. Ranked by their order of priority, they are:

1. Practice kindness, compassion, and love in our relationships
2. Respect self and respect each other
3. Appreciate diversity and promote equality
4. Develop a sense of community and have fun together
5. Provide a basis for moral and ethical decision making
6. Cultivate critical-thinking skills (especially for youth)
7. Develop emotional management skills (important for youth and adults)

These results echo the priorities we established last year in our Covenant of Right Relations.

The second most highly ranked category is Religious Identity and Spiritual Development. Ranked by their order of priority, they are:

1. Instill an ethic of environmental stewardship and appreciation of the natural world
2. Learn about the world’s religions
3. Gain awareness of the interdependent web
4. Introduce various spiritual practices and techniques for self-discovery, reflection, centeredness
5. Learn Unitarian Universalist principles and sources

The third highest ranked category is Social Action – Putting Our Principles Into Practice. Ranked by their order of priority, they are:

1. Protect and care for the environment
2. Support local human services, e.g., hunger, homelessness, health care, education
3. Engage in political action and peace work

The fourth ranked category is Social Activities. Ranked by their order of priority, they are:

1. Nature experiences, e.g., Opal Creek, Waldo Lake, hiking, camping, skiing, coast, mountains
2. Socials, dances, and concerts (especially for youth)
3. Discussion study groups (especially for adults)
4. Musical opportunities

The fifth category is Connecting with the Larger Unitarian Universalist Movement. The only subject in this category that received significantly high priority is for youth to travel to district conferences.

Preliminary Conclusions:
The fact that Life Skills and Ethical Development ranked so high leads us to conclude that how we are together in our religious exploration is at least as important, if not more so, as what we are learning. This is of crucial significance. We need to reflect on what this means for us. How best can we transmit our values to our children, youth, and fellow adults? By modeling? By being what we wish to see in others? By practicing these life skills with one another? The experience we share together, how we are with each other, is of vital importance to our religious community. If this is so, then we will be thinking long and hard about how best to focus our curriculum and programs to accomplish these things, and reflect these priorities.

Another interesting ranking to notice is the high level of importance placed on introducing various spiritual practices and techniques for self-discovery, reflection, and centeredness. This suggests that our first UU source, direct experience of transcending mystery and wonder, deserves a high place in our programs, and not just learning about others’ religious experience. How to teach that?

Also deserving particular attention is the fact that concern for and appreciation of the environment ranked highest across the board in three separate categories. That is, in terms of Religious Identity and Spiritual Development, highest priority is given to instilling an ethic of environmental stewardship and appreciation of the natural world. In terms of Social Action/Putting Our Principles Into Practice, highest priority is given to protecting and caring for the environment. And in terms of Social Activities, highest priority is given to nature experiences, e.g., Opal Creek, Waldo Lake, hiking, camping, skiing, coast, and mountains. Taken together, this provides a potent message of the degree of consensus that we have regarding the importance of the natural world around us. Furthermore, this might serve as a springboard for us to enjoy, study, speak out, and take action as a religious community, to protect and care for our earth, on which our lives depend.

Regarding Social Action, it is clear that supporting local human services is far more important to many of us than any other service we might perform outside of Corvallis. This is reflected in our work supporting Tunison Food Bank, Community Services, Children’s Farm Home, Jackson Street Youth Shelter, and the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence, among others.

If we are to travel outside Corvallis, more of us think that the reason to do so should be to take some social action for justice, rather than simply to connect with other Unitarian Universalists. These do not have to be mutually exclusive activities, of course.

According to the survey, the following categories increase in importance as we get older:

1. Developing various spiritual practices and techniques for self-discovery, reflection, centeredness
2. Creating and participating in worship
3. Engaging in political activism and peace work

Coming of Age, marking rites of passage and milestones, and Our Whole Lives sexuality education continue to remain very high priorities for our youth.

This survey does not presume objectivity nor will we simply tailor our programs to fit the results. We need to continue to analyze and ponder the significance of your feedback. These results provide us with valuable information that will help guide us in the coming months and years to set priorities, design programs, and allocate resources. We are a diverse community of independent seekers, but we share much in common. This survey catches a glimpse of who we are, together, and hopefully, will give us insight into not only who we are now, but also who we are becoming, and what could be. Take the time to hear one another’s stories and dreams: What’s important to you?

~ Michael Molk and Claudia Hall, Co-directors of Religious Exploration, UUFC

Religious Exploration Survey Conclusions

This year, 2003-2004, the Co-directors and Committee of Religious Exploration of our fellowship undertook a survey of our congregation, to find out what you think are important elements in a Unitarian Universalist religious exploration for children, youth, and adults. Respondents were asked to assign a number, from 1 (least important) to 5 (most important), to 42 different subjects, for children, youth, and adults. One hundred forty-five surveys were turned in. The survey did not ask people to rank one subject in relation to another, so respondents could designate as many categories as they wish “least important” or “most important,” or leave a subject line blank altogether. While not comprehensive or scientific, the results do show some clear priorities. The actual statistics are posted in the fellowship for all to review. They will also be presented at our Annual Meeting on May 23rd.

In evaluating the surveys, we found it useful to look at the results from several different angles. We looked at just the number of 5s assigned to each subject; at the number of 4s and 5s combined; we graphed all the numbers for each response; and we compared the responses within and across each category of children, youth, and adults.

So what do the results show?

First of all, the category of Life Skills & Ethical Development overwhelmingly received the most 5s and 4s combined, for children, youth, and adults. Respect self and respect each other received a combined average of 96% of all responses, counting the 5s and 4s. Practice kindness, compassion, and love in our relationships received a combined average of 95% of all responses, counting the 5s and 4s. Next came Appreciate diversity and promote equality at 93%. Then came Develop a sense of community and have fun together at 91%. Also receiving high percentages in this category were ‘Provide a basis for moral and ethical decision-making’ with a combined average of 87% of 5s and 4s, and ‘Cultivate critical thinking skills’ (78%), and ‘Develop emotional management skills (76%).

One thing this illustrates is the large number of us who feel these are the most important qualities we can be teaching our children, youth, and adults. In the coming months and years, we will be evaluating and designing our curriculum and programs with these life skills in mind, paying particular attention to how we can effectively teach them. But perhaps just as importantly, we should ask ourselves how well we are living and practicing these skills in our day-to-day lives. For it is in how we are with one another that we model these skills and foster their importance and acceptance in our community and the world.

In the category of Religious Identity & Spiritual Development, subjects receiving large numbers of 5s and 4s include, in order of importance: Instill an ethic of environmental stewardship and appreciation of the natural world (89%), Gain awareness of the interdependent web (80%), Learn about the world’s religions (79%), Learn Unitarian Universalist principles and sources (76%), and Introduce various spiritual practices and techniques for self-discovery, reflection, and centeredness (66%).

In the category of Social Action ??Putting our Principles into Practice, subjects receiving large numbers of 5s and 4s include: Protect and care for the environment (88%), Support local human services, e.g., hunger, homelessness, health care, education (84%), and Engage in political activism and peace work (especially for adults and youth).

In the category of Social Activities, subjects receiving significant numbers of 5s and 4s were: Nature experiences, e.g., hiking, camping (67%), and Musical opportunities (66%).

It is worthwhile to note the large numbers of responses that assign importance to protecting and caring for the environment, as well as appreciating and enjoying it. We have the opportunity as a religious community to focus our attention and energy on the natural world around us, and to take collective action to care for the earth, on which our lives depend. The RE Committee and directors will be keeping these results in mind as we plan and develop future curricula and programs, with an eye towards providing activities that foster this concern, as well as ways to take action for the environment.

This survey provided a snapshot of our congregation’s views on the importance of various aspects of a UU religious exploration. We will be sharing these results with other groups within the fellowship, notably the Adult Education Committee, the Program Council, and the Social Concerns Committee. We hope that it provides food for thought, discussion, and action!