Survey Says ...

Hi everyone! I'm in Berkeley getting ready to celebrate the installation of our new president & dean at Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

Yesterday was one of those travel days of slow-trickle delays in which it turns out I could have gotten a newsletter post done, but it kept seeming like we were almost ready to get a plane to the gate (first one got de-certified for mechanical issues), actually depart (paramedics had to remove a distressed passenger first), or simply walk across the jet way in San Francisco (more mechanical errors!).

In any event, I'm here now and ready to share the results of the feedback y'all offered over the weekend.

First of all, I am blown away by the response rate. There are currently 54 free and paid subscribers to A (Christian) Formation Playbook, and I received 24 responses. Of course, some people read primarily via social media, and since I post from a personal account and not a page on Facebook, I don't have a good way of measuring the non-email active audience.

Still, 24 responses gives me a fair bit of data to go on as I try to learn from and respond to real feedback on a project still in its infancy.

The most significant thing I'm chewing on is what folks said about posting frequency. Here's the relevant data:

That's 87.5% of respondents saying they'd prefer to receive posts on a Monday / Wednesday / Friday or Tuesday / Thursday schedule. On the surface, it seems like a no-brainer to split the difference between the twice-weekly plurality and the daily minority votes and go with a Monday / Wednesday / Friday cadence, which itself received more than 40% of votes.

Of course, on balance I'd like to temper this perspective somewhat by weighting opinions in the direction of paid subscribers. After all, they are funding this little endeavor. However, looking at the crosstabs I don't get much help there; paid subscribers were evenly split between the three options.

Here's my proposal: I think I'm going to shift to Monday – Wednesday – Friday most of the time, diverting from that as needs must (like during this travel week). BUT ...

It does seem like I've mostly hit the sweet spot in terms of length and interest. I'm Not surprised by either of these others graphs:

I'm a wordy guy and will struggle to write shorter posts in an efficient way, so I'll probably hold course on length.

A strong showing for "I read 'em when I see 'em" and "I read 'em when I have time" feels really positive, and is more or less where I am on the many, many newsletters and other "thought leader" content I follow or subscribe to.

So my general takeaway from the survey is "post a little less, and otherwise keep doing what I'm doing." That sounds like a plan to me.

To round things out, a few excerpts from qualitative responses, to which you should continue to feel free to add via the original survey link or via comments/DMs. These are very helpful!

I'm in the early stages of ruminating on this opinion piece from the New York Times - and reflecting on how church in general and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in particular tries to encourage peaceful attention on the movement of the Spirit.

I listened too and loved this episode!

I appreciate being able to share ideas I find in my travels - I like the opportunity for dialogue that Facebook comments can offer - I don't know what it would look like, but I would like to see dialogue about your thoughts.

I hope people feel empowered to comment on Facebook or Ghost whenever they are moved. I ask questions as often as I can think of good ones. I especially hope the podcast I'm gearing up to start producing can help with the dialogue aspect.

Can the fb post be an elevator pitch that directs to the longer subscribed to post, with a call to action that directly engages how I can support the work you’re doing.

I'm worried that if I rely to much on external links (teaser text pointing to the main post), Facebook will punish the posts in the algorithm. There's good evidence to suspect they will. That's why I put the full thing on FB, even though it's sometimes working against expected formats there.

I love the content, and it has been having a real impact on conversations in my community. Your posts have been the most useful thing I have seen on Facebook in a LONG time…

OMG thank you, this means a lot. Real application in real communities is always my primary goal. Please speak up early and often if you feel us drifting away from this focus.

I’m part of a bunch of FB Episcopal groups, and some of them argue that the most effective formation for youth and children is having them in church with their families, and then teaching families how to do FF at home. As someone formed by youth ministry and as someone who’s guided several Godly Play churches, it’s difficult to get my mind around this idea, and I’m having a lot of trouble finding resources and (especially!) books that walk through the arguments and the data on this. Any insight into this movement, and any sources to look to for when this is the right approach?

We should definitely do a deep dive into this issue, one of the real "wedge issues" in our community but with a strong (and sometimes somewhat inflexible) majority voice in favor of having children in church. But I think there are good arguments in both directions. This one will take some doing, but it's worth doing for sure. On my list!

Ministry to special needs family

Yes, we need so much more of this, including in my MDiv course. Not my expertise, but we'll definitely bring some voices and resources in.

I love the intersection of Christian formation with pedagogy/educational theory--this is super important right now.

This is why I chose a doctoral program in education and how I think I can best serve the church. I'm glad it's feeling like a relevant topical space.

Dealing with the future and how “formation” (in all aspects, ages, etc) can adapt to lower engagement of individuals and families on Sunday mornings.

Big yes from me! Already have an idea for a post based on what I learned from the monks of SSJE.

I just wanted to say thank you for this project. Yours is a voice I have always trusted when it comes to churchy things, and I'm so grateful you're creating and sharing this meaningful content.

I'm sharing this one not as a humble brag, but because I want everyone to know I genuinely appreciate the encouragement, and I show up here each week because I'm hearing from folks that some combination of the perspective here and the execution is useful.

As I've said, I missed doing this "teaching at large" work when I took a job where it wasn't the focus. But it's the confidence that the work is mattering to people that keeps me doing it. So please don't let today be the end of the feedback. Let's keep shaping this space together. Thank you!