Analysis of Survey Results

Demographic Breakdowns/Descriptions of the Total Sample

As the graphs illustrate, the majority of respondents (94%) are lay persons,
with 6% ordained. Of all lay respondents, 64% are female;
among ordained respondents, 65% are male.
 

The total sample consists of
38% male and 62% female participants.

The percentage of respondents under 35 years of age is by far the smallest age cell (6%), and 35-44 is the next smallest category. Of the total diocesan sample, 66% is aged 55+.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents are married. The largest percentage of married persons (84%) occurs in the 55-64 age cell, followed by the 45-54 cell (80%).

Church attendance is significantly high among the Episcopalians surveyed, with 81% reporting weekly church attendance, and 13% attending every other week.
 

Given the maturity of the survey respondents, it is not surprising that two-thirds of the sample (67%) have been members of the Episcopal church for 25 years or more.

The Episcopal Church in New Hampshire cannot be described as ethnically diverse, with only 2% of the sample identifying themselves as belonging to a category other than Caucasian. These percentages are reflective of the state as a whole: the 2000 U.S. census reports the racial mix of New Hampshire as 96% white and 4% other races; 98.3% non-Hispanic and 1.7% Hispanic.

When asked to describe their local community, half the sample is located within a town (51%), with the next largest group (22%) living in a rural area. Approximately one quarter (27%) described themselves as urban or suburban.

When questioned about their level of involvement in the church, just over half the respondents (55%) had held an elected or appointed position in their congregation.

Involvement in diocesan affairs was much lower, with only 20% participation overall.
However, among ordained respondents, 58% have been elected or appointed to a position within the diocese.

Desired Role and Characteristics of the Next Bishop

Survey questions 11 through 32 examined the responsibilities, personality, and role of the next bishop as statements, with respondents ranking each on a 5-point scale:

1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Undecided, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly Agree

These statements were crafted to determine opinions in the following areas:

• Leader/Administrator
• Representative/Activist
• Pastor
• Personality

Question 33, open-ended, enabled respondents to give the single specific attribute/quality/characteristic that they deemed most necessary to the next bishop. (See Appendix 2 of the full summary report for verbatim responses).

Question 34 permitted them to play interviewer, and pose a single question for the candidate (See Appendix 3 of the full summary report).

Total-sample findings begin on the following pages, presented in graphic and tabular form.

Next Page: Importance of Bishop Attributes by Total Sample