Presbyterian Panel Summary
Children's Issues
The February 2002 Survey
Leadership and Services
Worship Leadership
- Children or youth led worship in their congregations on one or more Sundays in the year before the survey, according to 81% of elders. In most congregations, children and youth led only one (38%) or two (26%) services.
· Children and youth provided other worship leadership in the previous year, primarily through:
- vocal or instrumental music (40% of elders report this activity very frequently or frequently)
- as ushers or helping collect the offering (39%)
- brief leadership such as reading a Bible lesson (13%)
Other Leadership
- Youth elders are found in 25% of the congregations represented by elders and 22% of those represented by pastors. Most congregations with youth elders have only one (75% of elders and 78% of pastors so report).
· Youth deacons are found in 35% of congregations with a board of deacons, according to pastors. Of these congregations, 70% have only one youth deacon.
· Other leadership roles that children and youth have regularly provided, according to pastors, include:
- nursery workers (79% so report)
- Vacation Church School teachers (75%)
- serving on church committees (51%)
- church (Sunday) school teachers (46%)
Service Opportunities
- The opportunity to participate in mission trips was provided to children and youth by 69% of congregations, according to pastors.
· Other volunteer work opportunities provided for children and youth by a large majority of congregations in the prior year include:
- Helping others within the congregation (80% of pastors report this opportunity)
- Working in local food pantry, soup kitchen, or homeless shelter (70%)
- Working for other local mission or service organization (69%)
Ministry and Care
Pastoral Care
- The pastoral needs of children were discussed very frequently or frequently by only around one-third of sessions (38%) in the last year, according to pastors. A majority report such discussions happening only occasionally (42%) or rarely (16%).
· Children's concerns were raised in pastoral prayers very frequently (17%) or frequently (37%) during the past year, according to pastors.
The Sacraments
- Almost all panelists (98% or more in each group) are aware that at the time of a baptism, the congregation assumes responsibility for nurturing the baptized person in Christian life.
· However, many fewer (elders, 43%; pastors, 74%) report any times in congregational life, other than baptisms, when members . . . are reminded of their responsibility for the nurture of baptized persons.
· Few sessions (only 15% of pastors so report) designate a representative . . . to provide . . . nurture to newly-baptized persons and their families.
· Most congregations permit children who have been baptized but not confirmed as members to receive the Lord's Supper, according to pastors (97% so report), but only a small majority report that all (27%) or most (33%) children receive instruction on the significance of the Lord's Supper prior to receiving it for the first time.
Specific Ministries
- Children's programs and ministries in congregations include:
- ministry to children in homeless families (reported by 49% of pastors)
- mentoring/tutoring program (42%)
- "safe place" designation (37%)
- child care during work week (30%)
- feeding program/meals (23%)
· Congregations provide most ministries to children themselves, but some, especially those for homeless children, are more often provided indirectly by other organizations that use congregations' facilities.
Gifts of Bibles
- Giving Bibles to children is almost universal in Presbyterian congregations: 86% of pastors report that all children who reach a certain age or grade level are presented a Bible, and another 6% report that some are.
· The median age at which children are presented Bibles is eight years.
Nursery and Child Care
- Nursery or other child care is always provided during worship in 90% of congregations, according to pastors. Only 2% report that it is never provided.
· Two-thirds of pastors report that nursery or other child care is either always (41%) or almost always (27%) provided for other major gatherings in their congregation. However, few pastors report that such care is provided always or almost always for committee meetings (12%) or for session meetings (8%).
Pastors' responses
Policies and Priorities
Rating Ministries: In General
- The most important congregational ministry for children, chosen from a list of seven possibilities, is Christian education, so rated by 80% of members, 77% of elders, 81% of pastors, and 73% of specialized clergy.
· Next in importance is spiritual formation. Few panelists rate it most important (members, 15%; pastors, 16%), but combined most important, second most important, and third most important responses total 66% (members), 72% (elders), 61% (pastors), and 63% (specialized clergy).
Rating Ministries: Your Congregation
- Elders' ratings of how well their congregation is doing in various areas of children's ministry, ranked from highest to lowest, are:
- Christian education (80% excellent or good)
- direct service (e.g., childcare) (68%)
- spiritual formation (67%)
- helping needy children in your community (34%)
- helping needy children elsewhere in U.S. (25%)
- public policy advocacy (16%)
- helping needy children internationally (16%)
Abuse Protection Policy
- Majorities of pastors (58%) report that their congregation has an official policy, approved by the session, to protect children from sexual exploitation or abuse by adult leaders, members, or volunteers.
· Among elders, responses were split almost evenly among those with a policy (36%), those without one (34%), and those responding don't know (30%).
Ages of Children in Worship
- Worship segments rated as more suitable for younger children to attend (and percentage of members and pastors so rating each) include:
- opening/gathering (97%, 99%)
- prayers (76%, 77%)
- scripture reading (70%, 81%)
- sacraments (45%, 78%)
· The median age viewed as suitable for children to attend part of the service ranges from three (both minister samples) to four (both lay samples) years.
· The median age viewed as suitable for children to attend the entire service ranges from seven (both minister samples) to eight (both lay samples) years.
International Concerns
- International children's issues that the church should be most concerned about addressing include:
- hunger/malnutrition (66% of elders and 65% of specialized clergy ranked this concern among their top three)
- lack of education/illiteracy (57%, 41%)
- poverty (41%, 45%)
Issues Children Face
- The most serious issues or concerns that children face, according to panelists, include:
- availability of alcohol/tobacco/illegal drugs (rated as most serious, second most serious, or third most serious by 67% of members and 61% of pastors)
- violence/sex on TV, movies, other media (62%, 54%)
- peer pressure (52%, 47%)
Percent choosing each age and all younger ages
Programs and Resources
National Programs
- Awareness that 2000-2001 had been designated "The Year of the Child" in the PC(USA) ranges from around one-half of members (45%) and elders (56%) to almost all pastors (94%) and specialized clergy (88%).
· Many fewer, however, are aware that the period 2001 to 2011 was subsequently designated by the General Assembly as "The Decade of the Child" (members, 12%; elders, 15%; pastors, 61%; and specialized clergy, 55%).
· A third of pastors indicate that their congregation held an event as part of "The Year of the Child" emphasis.
· Few members (7%) and elders (11%), and less than one-half of pastors (48%), are aware of the Children's Sabbaths program of the Children's Defense Fund.
· One in eight congregations (12%) participated in the National Observance of Children's Sabbaths in October 2001, according to pastors.
Children's Homes
- Fewer than half of members (38%) and elders (46%), but 74% of pastors, are familiar with one or more of the 33 Presbyterian Children's Homes and Related Ministries.
Resources
- PC(USA) booklets Guidelines for Child Care at Church-Sponsored Meetings and We Won't Let it Happen Here! Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in the Church are familiar to 11% and 16% of elders, respectively.
· Familiarity with "A Vision for Children and the Church," a 1993 General Assembly resolution, ranges from 8% of members and 10% of elders to 36% of pastors and 37% of specialized clergy.
· Congregations Covenanting for Children, a PC(USA) child advocacy program, is similarly unfamiliar to most.
· Of possible new resources, pastors express the most interest in ones covering these topics:
- spiritual formation for children (58% of pastors are very interested)
- Christian education for children (50%)
- prayer for children and their needs (49%)
- Bible study related to children's needs and issues (49%)
- pastoral care for children (48%)
- child care centers, after-school programs, and other direct service provision for children (26%)
- helping needy children in the U.S. (24%)
- helping needy children internationally (22%)
The Presbyterian Panel consists of three nationally-representative samples of groups affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): members, elders (lay leaders), and ordained ministers. For analysis, ministers are split into two groups based on current call: pastors, serving in a congregation, and specialized clergy, serving elsewhere. New samples are drawn every three years. These pages summarize major findings from the tenth survey completed by the 2000-2002 Panel, initially sampled in the fall of 1999.
This survey was initially mailed in February 2002, and returns were accepted through May 2002. Results are subject to sampling and other errors. Small differences should be interpreted cautiously. As a general rule, differences of less than 8% between samples are not statistically meaningful.
|
|
Members |
Elders |
Ordained |
|
Number of surveys mailed |
902 |
943 |
1,307 |
|
Number returned |
516 |
561 |
775* |
|
Response rate |
57% |
59% |
59% |
*Of the 775 returned surveys, 615 came from pastors and 160 from specialized clergy.
For more numbers and interpretation of the November 2001 Presbyterian Panel results, a longer report with additional charts and graphs is available for $6. Contact PDS at (800) 524-2612 and order PDS# 65100-02272. It includes a data appendix with the percentage responses to each survey question separately for members, elders, pastors, and specialized clergy.
The Panel is administered by the Office of Research Services of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Reach the Panel Administrator at: Jack Marcum
Research Services
A Ministry of the General Assembly Council
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202
(888) 728-7228 ext. 2040 (voice)
(502) 569-5163 (fax)