Current Demographics of Northern Hills Fellowship

In June of 1996, we conducted a survey to provide a picture of our congregational make-up, our hopes and priorities for the fellowship, and our beliefs and attitudes about religion.

The survey was distributed widely among church members, active friends, and occasional visitors. About 85% of the surveys returned were from members and about 77% of our members responded to the survey. The survey results reflect the core, active participants in NHF life.

Make-Up of the Congregation
Most members have been with us a relatively short time, reflecting recent rapid growth (42% less than four years, 65% less than eight years). The median age of respondents is approximately 45 years. There is a two-peaked distribution with the main bulge between 36 and 45, and a smaller bulge between 66 and 76. Three-quarters of those who returned the survey are married, two-thirds are women, and over half have young children.

Though our members come from a wide variety of religious backgrounds, the most common are mainstream Protestant (55%) and Roman Catholic (17%). Approximately 10% of our members have a Unitarian Universalist background.

Attitudes and Beliefs of the Congregation
Many of the questions in this section of the survey were designed to reflect ideas expressed at our well-attended focus groups. The focus groups gave each person an opportunity to express their ideas, while the survey results allow us to gauge the extent to which the ideas are held or how highly the ideas are regarded.

Growth
Our members are overwhelmingly supportive of continued growth. More than 90% describe themselves as being either enthusiastic or positive about this issue.

Why Belong to NHF, and Why Attend Services and Meetings
Again, the congregation had a wide range of views on these issues, but some responses were favored.

The most important reasons members belong to NHF include:

• freedom of thought and belief,
• the community and people that it offers,
• to explore religious ideas, and
• to find one's own spirituality.

The most important reasons members come to services include:

• intellectual stimulation,
• personal reflection,
• fellowship,
• celebrating common values, and
• group experience of participation and worship.

Concepts of God and Worship
Our most widely-shared concepts of worship include:

• Coming together with others in an atmosphere that permits personal reflection, inspiration, and a shared strength.
• Coming together with others to explore and be challenged by those ideas that point toward universal truths.

Our most common definitions of words like God, Goddess and Divine are:

• A way of naming the unknowable in order to invoke, describe, or understand what is common to all yet profoundly powerful, like birth or death.
• The ground of all being, real, but not adequately describable.
• May be appropriately used as a name for some natural process within the universe such as love or creative evolution.

Our theological and philosophical orientations are characteristically diverse, but the most common include Humanist (30%), Mystic (15%), and Agnostic (13%). A large majority (90%) feel there is a role for religious language, but there appears to be a range of views, mostly positive, on what that role is. The strongest consensus is that a sermon should reflect a balance of emotional and intellectual stimulation.

Sharing Benefits Everyone
In sharing this summary, we endeavored to make generalized statements about our congregation's make-up and about the issues that most of us find important. We encourage you to visit our fellowship and experience in person the wide range of views held by our members. And we are also interested in having you share your own views and experiences with us as well.