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It's less about topics and more about community. Shared burdens, being seen by others, growing through shared struggles.
Community over content
Congregational Survey · 2026
Listening to the Village
A shared look at what our congregation told us this year — the patterns, the hopes, the honest friction, and where the Spirit seems to be stirring.
Representation estimate: 118 respondents + 99 partner adults where indicated + ~1.5 children per household with children (62 households).
Scroll to begin
Village Church
Part One
Who responded
A good cross-section of Village — families with children, long-tenured members, newer faces, and folks at every stage of life.
How long at Village
- 5+ years43 · 36%
- 1–2 years37 · 31%
- 3–4 years30 · 25%
- Less than 1 year8 · 7%
Age group
- 41–5540 · 34%
- 55+37 · 31%
- 31–4035 · 30%
- 19–306 · 5%
Who we come with
Nearly half of us are raising kids at Village — and our children span every age, from toddlers to teens.
- Married or partnered — with children at home55 · 47%
- Married or partnered — no children at home44 · 37%
- Living alone11 · 9%
- Other household8 · 7%
Ages of our children at home
Every season represented — we have toddlers, elementary schoolers, middle and high schoolers all here on Sundays.
230–3 yrs
154 – Kindergarten
26Grades 1–4
23Grades 5–6
27Grades 7–12
Households can have children in more than one age band, so these counts are overlapping — 62 unique households total are raising children at Village.
Primary service
- 9 am46 · 39%
- 11 am43 · 36%
- Varies19 · 16%
- 5 pm10 · 8%
Does our survey match actual attendance?
Comparing what respondents named as their primary service (excluding "Varies") with our recorded attendance across 12 regular Sundays this year (Jan 4 – Apr 19, 2026).
9 am
Survey
46.5%
Actual
43.7%
11 am
Survey
43.4%
Actual
43.8%
5 pm
Survey
10.1%
Actual
12.5%
Survey (primary service named)
Actual attendance (avg 524/wk across 12 Sundays)
What this tells us
Two-thirds of us have been at Village three years or more — this feedback reflects settled, committed voices. And the survey's service shares closely mirror our actual attendance — the people who answered are a fair reflection of who's in our pews.
Part Two
The Sunday rhythm
Sunday worship is the gravitational center — and for most of us, we're there nearly every week.
How often do you attend Sunday worship?
- Every Sunday73 · 62%
- 2–3 times per month43 · 36%
- Once a month or less2 · 2%
For context
98% of us attend Sunday worship at least two or three times a month, and 62% every Sunday. Pew Research's 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study reports that 25% of U.S. adults attend religious services in person at least once a week. Barna's 2024 tracking put U.S. weekly attendance at 28%. Our every-Sunday rate is roughly two-and-a-half times the national average.
Sources: Pew Research Center, 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study (Feb 2025); Barna Group, State of the Church (2024).Part Three
When we aren't in the pew
When we miss, it's almost always ordinary life — not anything happening at Village.
What keeps us from Sunday worship
Factors at Village that impact attendance
What we heard
Ninety-three percent of us said nothing about Village itself keeps us away on Sunday. A smaller number named real things — seating comfort, accessibility, parking — and those deserve our attention. The rest of our absences are ordinary life: travel, illness, a full family calendar.
Part Four
Life beyond Sunday
Village's weekday life is surprisingly full. Most of us stepped into something in the past year.
The questions in this section asked about our life together in addition to Sunday worship — small groups, fellowship events, ministry partners, and liturgical gatherings during the week. Sunday itself remains the primary draw, as Part Two showed.
Participation outside Sunday worship (past year)
- More than 5 times51 · 43%
- 2–4 times33 · 28%
- 1–2 times26 · 22%
- Not at all8 · 7%
What we showed up for
What keeps us from participating more
What we heard
Village's non-Sunday life is working — 94% of us engaged in something beyond worship last year, and our two liturgical touchpoints (Shrove Tuesday, All Hallows Eve) were the most attended of all. The friction isn't interest; it's calendar, evenings, and childcare — especially for families with young children.
Part Five
Hands and feet
A serving culture is already present — and ready to grow if we can make the on-ramps easier.
Times served in the last 3 months
What holds us back from serving
A tender note
Ten of us said we don't feel emotionally or spiritually able to serve right now. That's roughly one in twelve — a real number, quietly carrying something. A parish where people feel safe to say that out loud is a healthy parish, and an invitation for us to keep caring well.
Part Six
Where interest runs highest
We asked about seven kinds of parish life. Here's how much energy sits behind each, on a 1-to-5 scale.
These questions asked about ways we might engage beyond the weekly Sunday rhythm — serving, formation, community, and non-Sunday worship. They are not alternatives to Sunday; they are the ways our life together stretches into the rest of the week.
Serving at Village
Sundays or other Village ministries
Sundays or other Village ministries
3.99
Smaller groups for community
Variety of interests & life stages
Variety of interests & life stages
3.86
Non-Sunday liturgical worship
Shrove Tuesday, Worship Nights, All Hallows Eve
Shrove Tuesday, Worship Nights, All Hallows Eve
3.75
Hospitality to one another
Meals, home/car repair, practical help
Meals, home/car repair, practical help
3.47
Community service with partners
Ministry partners and outside-the-walls work
Ministry partners and outside-the-walls work
3.33
Catechesis / Bible study
Class-format, led by someone with expertise
Class-format, led by someone with expertise
3.21
Topical study & discussion
Parenting, finances, theology, specific books
Parenting, finances, theology, specific books
3.08
The signal
The top three draws are serving, small-group community, and non-Sunday liturgical worship — the distinctives the Anglican tradition already does well. Classroom formats rank lowest; we seem hungrier for prayed-together and lived-together than for taught-at.
Part Seven
In our own words
Ten voices from the open-ended responses — the themes that kept rising across many answers. Click through at your own pace.
“
Having childcare and dinner provided are more important than topics.
Logistics over content“
Having it centered around a meal, drinks — it's so much more conducive to actually forming friendships. We've enjoyed the groups we've done in that way.
The table matters“
We have really benefited from hosting Evening Prayer in our home. It has been a huge blessing to see who the Lord has brought, and we've shared a meal together.
Liturgy in homes“
My wife and I really love the liturgical services and participating in the church calendar — a more historic style of worship. We love it a lot.
The Anglican draw“
I would love more frequent worship nights. Those are incredible and not offered enough — since you asked!
More worship nights“
Book-of-the-Bible studies are always my favorite — and aren't offered very often.
Scripture, deeply“
This season of life feels very full and I don't feel like our family has the capacity for a small group right now. We have participated in the past and really enjoyed them.
Season, not disinterest“
Babies are in bed by 7 pm most nights, so we'd have to leave most things by 6:30. Our kids' nap and bedtime — it's just a season.
The young-family clock“
Loved Lectio Divina and other contemplative practices. Spiritual formation, disciplines, prayer.
A hunger for contemplation1 / 10
Part Eight
The signal through the noise
Pull the threads together and a picture emerges: we are a devoted, settled congregation, hungry for deeper communion, with constraints we were willing to name.
98%
Rooted in the Table
Attend Sunday worship at least two or three times a month. The weekly rhythm around Word and Sacrament is holding.
93%
Village isn't the barrier
Say no factor at Village is keeping us away. When we miss, it's life — travel, illness, a busy season — not us.
94%
Engaged beyond Sunday
Participated in at least one non-Sunday gathering last year. Our common life stretches meaningfully past the liturgy.
3.99
Serving leads interest
Out of 5. Of seven offerings, desire to serve at Village ranks highest — a generous, outward-leaning congregation.
55
Already in small groups
Nearly half have participated in a small group this year, and another cohort wants to join — mostly held back by season, not interest.
1 in 12
Quietly carrying weight
Said they aren't emotionally or spiritually able to serve right now. A real number, worth pastoral care more than recruitment.
The arc of the data
We love what Village already is. The Anglican distinctives — liturgical rhythm, small groups, a culture of serving — are also where our interest runs strongest. The pain points aren't spiritual; they're logistical: evenings collide with bedtimes, childcare gaps, and a full American calendar. The clearest invitation is to lean into what we're already doing well and to keep lowering the practical barriers for families and the tired.
Part Nine
Where we as staff and Vestry heard you
Not a prescription — a starting point for conversation. Five invitations the data seems to offer.
1. More worship nights, more evening prayer
Non-Sunday liturgical gatherings ranked third-highest in interest, and the open-ended responses kept asking for them by name. Hosting Evening Prayer in homes came up repeatedly as a beloved shape.
2. Make meals the catalyst, not the garnish
"Having a meal together" appeared across Shrove Tuesday, small groups, and hospitality responses. People build friendships around tables — the table is the programming.
3. Name the childcare & bedtime problem out loud
Young families are saying, gently and often, that evening events simply don't work. Childcare during groups — and a handful of earlier or simultaneous-with-dinner formats — would unlock real participation.
4. Feed the Anglican hunger
Anglican history, liturgy, contemplative practices, and Book-of-the-Bible studies came up again and again. People are asking us to teach them what's distinctive about our tradition.
5. Make serving on-ramps visible
Only five said they were unaware of opportunities — but a larger group said life is just full. Lightweight, one-time, or flexible serving moments may be the on-ramp for the over-extended yet willing.
A closing word
Thank you for answering
One hundred and eighteen of you took the time to tell us where you are, what you love, and what's hard. Thirteen asked for a staff member to follow up — and we will. The rest of this data is ours as a parish: a shared mirror of who we are, this Eastertide, in 2026.
Heart and Soul. Mind and Strength. God & Neighbor.