Creating a vital snapshot of Presbyterians

Presbyterian Panel selecting new survey respondents

by Angie Andriot | Special to Presbyterian News Service

(iStock photo)

LOUISVILLE — Did you know that Presbyterians are more willing than Americans, in general, to pay higher prices for environmentally friendly products? Or that one-third of Presbyterians belong to a congregation that is trying to become more racially and ethnically diverse? These are just a few of the things learned from Presbyterian Panel surveys.

For over 40 years, the Presbyterian Panel has provided a way to listen to and collect information about the general practices, beliefs and opinions of Presbyterians. Results from the Panel also help guide PC(USA) policy formation, program development and evaluation.

A representative sample of nearly 2,000 Presbyterians (members and teaching elders) serve on the Presbyterian Panel for a three-year period and respond by mail and email to questionnaires four times a year.

“The Presbyterian Panel helps church leaders know who Presbyterians are and what they think and do,” said Deb Coe, coordinator of Research Services.

This winter, the PC(USA) Office of Research Services will use scientific methods to select a new group of panelists to answer questionnaires for the 2018-2020 Panel term. A representative sample of Presbyterian congregations will be asked to help Research Services by following a provided set of instructions to select potential panelists from their congregation. Ministers will be randomly selected from lists maintained by the Office of the General Assembly.

Coe said participating in the panel is an opportunity to help the Presbyterian church. “The panel is an opportunity few people have; even though we are sampling several thousand people, that is a small proportion of the entire church,” she said. “We hope that every Presbyterian who is invited to be part of the panel will prayerfully consider this unique opportunity to serve the church.”

Coe also encouraged congregations that are contacted to participate. “It requires some work, we realize, but cooperation by congregations is essential. We can’t do our job of ‘Listening to Presbyterians’ without their help.”

The names, addresses and responses of panelists is confidential, assured Coe. The information is only used by Presbyterian Panel for data collection and statistical reporting.

Click here to learn more about the Presbyterian Panel, see examples of survey topics, or find results from previous panel reports. For questions, call 800-728-7228, ext. 2040.