Speckhard D.Min project-- St. Paul's

D.Min dissertation project survey

WHO:                   All members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School community 15 years of age or older, including church members, employees, and non-member parents/guardians of students in the school. Note: this survey is one per person, not one per family, so multiple people in the same household should still take the survey.

WHAT:                 A brief survey about the purpose of congregations running schools.This survey is a key part of Pastor Speckhard's Doctor of Ministry program, which the congregation has been supporting for several years. The goal is to gather information about how people understand why a congregation would operate a k-8 school. The survey is NOT a vote or a means of seeking input for any decisions at St.Paul's.

WHEN: Please complete the survey no later than Monday, May, 29. It should only take about ten minutes.

WHERE: You can complete the survey here, take it home and bring it back, or do it online from anywhere. Please help spread the word to St. Paul's members who are out of town that they should still take the survey. High participation is critical.

HOW:                   You can fill out the paper copy and return it to the church or school office or do it online by clicking the button labelled “D.Min Survey” on the website. All responses are anonymous. Please be sure not to take the survey more than once, so if you submit a hard copy please do not also take the survey online. The online and paper versions are identical.There are not right and wrong answers, so please do not put down what you think Pastor Speckhard wants to hear but simply what you think.

WHY: This project seeks to contribute to our church body’s understanding of how people perceive the nature and purpose of our parochial schools, which could potentially help us understand why some parochial schools struggle and others thrive.

"LCMS" refers to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the national church body of which St. Paul's is a member congregation. "Church-worker roster" is the official list of people certified by the LCMS to work in our churches as pastors, teachers, or some other ministerial capacity.

Question Title

* 1. Check the ONE option that best describes your relationship to St. Paul's

Lifelong member of St. Paul's

Transfer to St. Paul's from another LCMS congregation

Joined St. Paul's via the new member class or adult confirmation

Joined as a student in St. Paul's school and was later confirmed

Non-member, but with children attending St. Paul's school

Non-member but employed by St. Paul's

Question Title

* 2. Check ALL that apply to you

I am/was currently or formerly employed in some capacity by St. Paul's

I am a member of St. Paul's congregation

I serve or have served in a leadership/board position in St. Paul's congregation

I am/was on the LCMS roster of church-workers

I have or once had an official divine call to serve in some capacity at St. Paul's

I was synodically trained as an undergraduate to be an LCMS church-worker

I colloquized onto the LCMS church-worker roster

My spouse is/was on the LCMS church-worker roster

One or more of my parents, siblings, or children is/was on the LCMS roster

One or more of my parents/grandparents are/were members of St. Paul's

My family has been in the LCMS for several generations

Question Title

* 3. Check the ONE option that best describes your own k-8 education. If you attended multiple kinds of the schools listed below, use the one you attended longest.

I attended public schools

I attended St. Paul's school

I attended a different LCMS school

I attended a private, non-religious school

I was home-schooled

I attended a non-Lutheran parochial school

I attended a Lutheran parochial school, but it was not LCMS

Question Title

* 4. Answer this question only if you currently have one or more children in grades k-8. Check the appropriate description of their current schooling.

My children attend St. Paul's

My children attend Munster public schools

My children attend public schools outside of Munster

My children are home-schooled

My children attend a different private school

Some of my children attend St. Paul's, others attend k-8 elsewhere

Question Title

* 5. Answer this question only if you have one or more children who are beyond 8th grade. Check all that apply to their k-8 education. If you check multiple boxes, please explain briefly in the comment box why you changed schools for them or did not send them all to the same schools.

One or more of my children went to St. Paul's

One or more of my children went to another LCMS school

One or more of my children went to public schools

One or more of my children went to a non-LCMS parochial school

One or more of my children were home-schooled

Explain briefly

Question Title

* 6. Answer this question only if you have at least one child not yet in kindergarten or if you do not yet have any children but might in the future. Check the option that best describes your thoughts about their education.

I hope/plan to send my children to St. Paul's for grades k-8

I hope/plan to send my children to public schools for grades k-8

I hope/plan to homeschool

I hope/plan to use a combination of the above or other arrangements for k-8 (explain briefly in the comment box)

I haven't given it enough thought yet

Explain briefly...

Question Title

* 7. Lutheran schools serve many purposes in different contexts. Select the ONE purpose you think is or should be the primary or most important reason for St. Paul's to operate a k-8 school. Note: all of the purposes listed are important, so by choosing the one you think is most important you are not saying the others are unimportant. To think about your choice, you might ask yourself, "If for some reason St. Paul's school could only do one of the things listed, which one would I want the school to be doing?"

Reaching out to the unchurched with the Gospel

Keeping the congregation strong with a steady influx of new members and young families

Handing down the faith thoroughly and intact to the next generation of Christians

Providing the community with another alternative for high quality education

Giving children a godly learning environment more sheltered from bad influences

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 8. While everyone listed below potentially benefits from the ministry of Lutheran schools in varying ways and degrees, rank them in order from 1 (benefits most) to 7 (benefits least). Use all seven numbers. No ties, please. Remember, you are not saying any of options do not benefit in important ways merely because you think another choice benefits even more.

The wider church body (LCMS)

Society generally

The Christian Church of the future

The sponsoring congregation

The parents of the students in the school

The local community

The students themselves

Question Title

* 9. Today, if you are or hypothetically were considering St. Paul's school for your child(ren), select the option that best finishes the sentence concerning how the quality of the education offered at St. Paul's (apart from religious/faith considerations) would factor into your decision. Quality of education would...

...not factor into my decision

...only factor slightly into my decision

...factor somewhat, but not rank among the most important factors in my decision

...be an equal factor among the many factors in my decision

...be one of the bigger factors in my decision

...be the biggest factor of the many factors in my decision

...be the only factor in my decision

Question Title

* 10. Today, if you are or hypothetically were considering St. Paul's school for your child(ren), select the option that best finishes the sentence concerning how the variety and quality of special programs and extracurricular activities offered at St. Paul's (band, clubs, sports, etc.) would factor into your decision. The variety and quality of special and extracurricular activities available would...

...not factor into my decision

...only factor slightly into my decision

...factor somewhat, but not rank among the most important factors in my decision

...be an equal factor among the many factors in my decision

...be one of the bigger factors in my decision

...be the biggest of the many factors in my decision

...be the only factor in my decision

Question Title

* 11. Today, if you are or hypothetically were considering St. Paul's school for your child(ren), select the option that best finishes the sentence regarding how financial considerations (tuition and fees) would enter into your decision. Financial considerations would...

...not factor into my decision because I could afford it fairly comfortably

...not factor into my decision because I know despite the sacrifices I would find a way to cover the expense

...not factor into my decision because I would not choose St. Paul's even if cost were no factor

...factor slightly into my decision

...factor somewhat, but not rank among the most important factors in my decision

...be an equal factor among the many factors in my decision

...be one of the bigger factors in my decision

...be the biggest of the many factors in my decision

...be the only factor in my decision; I would choose St. Paul's if it were free, but not otherwise

Question Title

* 12. Today, if you are or hypothetically were considering St. Paul's school for your children, select the option that best finishes the sentence regarding how the specifically Lutheran (as opposed to more generically Christian or non-denominational) character of St. Paul's curriculum and culture would factor into your decision. The specifically Lutheran character of St. Paul's school...

...is absolutely essential to me

...is fairly important to me

...is nice but not essential

...is a neutral factor in my thinking

...sometimes annoys me but is not a big deal

...is somewhat problematic to me

...detracts from the school's mission

Question Title

* 13. Given the purpose of the school and all those it benefits, it makes the most sense for the school to be primarily funded by... (select one)

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod or the Indiana District of the LCMS

It is essential to the purpose of the school that it be funded from multiple sources

The congregational budget

Tuition and fees

School choice vouchers from the state

An endowment fund

Question Title

* 1. Check the ONE option that best describes your relationship to St. Paul's

Question Title

* 2. Check ALL that apply to you

Question Title

* 3. Check the ONE option that best describes your own k-8 education. If you attended multiple kinds of the schools listed below, use the one you attended longest.

Question Title

* 4. Answer this question only if you currently have one or more children in grades k-8. Check the appropriate description of their current schooling.

Question Title

* 5. Answer this question only if you have one or more children who are beyond 8th grade. Check all that apply to their k-8 education. If you check multiple boxes, please explain briefly in the comment box why you changed schools for them or did not send them all to the same schools.

Question Title

* 6. Answer this question only if you have at least one child not yet in kindergarten or if you do not yet have any children but might in the future. Check the option that best describes your thoughts about their education.

Question Title

Question Title

Question Title

Question Title

Question Title

* 11. Today, if you are or hypothetically were considering St. Paul's school for your child(ren), select the option that best finishes the sentence regarding how financial considerations (tuition and fees) would enter into your decision. Financial considerations would...

Question Title

Question Title

* 13. Given the purpose of the school and all those it benefits, it makes the most sense for the school to be primarily funded by... (select one)

Question Title

* 14. In a few sentences explain why a Christian congregation ought to run a k-8 parochial school.