St. Mark's United Methodist - Growing Young Follow-Up Assessment (2026) for St. Mark's United Methodist Church

Welcome to the follow-up (2026) edition of the Growing Young Assessment for St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Carmel, Indiana. 

(All responses are anonymous. The survey asks for an email address to help ensure that individuals complete the survey only once, but the church does not receive any individual responses - only a combined report of anonymous data. If you do not want to enter your own email address, feel free to make up something with an @ symbol and a .com. Thanks!)

Please take a few minutes to participate in our new 2026 Growing Young follow-up survey, which will allow us to gauge our progress since the first congregational assessment occurred in Aug-Sept 2025. Your input will also help us determine our next potential focus areas for our church's culture, intergenerational impact, and community outreach in the coming years. (St. Mark's began our Growing Young journey in summer 2024 with a book study, and our team began training in January 2025 as one of the 20 Indiana UMC congregations selected for the training cohort and grant).


Before you begin, please thoroughly read the instructions on the next page so that you are able to answer the questions accurately. These assessment questions are based on the Fuller Youth Institute’s research presented in Growing Young: 6 Essential Strategies to Help Young People Discover and Love Your Church. 


If you have any questions or follow-up thoughts, please contact Jennifer Cloud-Buckner at grow@stmarkscarmel.org. 

We anticipate this will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete, and we request you complete it at one time.

Growing Young Assessment Instructions

Start Here

You are about to complete an assessment of your congregation. Your responses will be kept completely confidential and will be combined with the responses of others from your church for a final report.

Please rate your church as honestly as possible based on your experience of your church as it is now (not your church’s past or what you think your church could be). Since no church is perfect, it’s normal to give a wide range of answers.

Definitions

For the purposes of this assessment, please keep the following definitions in mind:


  • Young people: Any people ages 15-29.
  • Adults: Any people age 30 or older.

We recognize that our language may not reflect all traditions. So in the following questions, where we use the term “church,” please mentally insert congregation, parish, gathered fellowship, community of faith, etc., as appropriate to your context.

Rating Scale

After each statement, please rate on a scale of 1-5 how true this statement is of your church overall.

Even if particular ministries or areas of your church would receive different ratings, please consider your church as a whole. One way to do this would be to mentally average their scores. (For example, if one area of your church would receive a 5, but another area would receive a 3, please mark 4 as your response.)


  • 1 = not at all true
  • 2 = slightly true
  • 3 = moderately true
  • 4 = very true
  • 5 = completely true

Please keep in mind “Young people” refers to any people ages 15-29.

How true are the following statements of your church?
Our church...

…teaches people to trust Jesus even when it might cost them something.

…makes visitors feel welcome.

…would be missed by the local community if we left.

…asks young people to participate in making important decisions.

…makes serving those in need a high priority.

…shares stories of people or events from the global community.

…actively responds to global crises.

…makes faith relevant to people’s daily lives.

…has enough volunteers or staff members who minister to young people.

…preaches about the everyday implications of the gospel.

…has people who stay because of the strong sense of community.

…trains people to engage regularly in spiritual practices (e.g., prayer, reading the Bible).

How true are the following statements of your church?
Our church...

…supports creative ideas and initiatives suggested by young people.

…integrates newcomers well.

…equips young people with the skills they need to lead ministries.

…encourages people to share their faith with others.

…is hospitable.

…makes young people a primary focus.

…helps people apply Scripture to their everyday lives.

…helps people see how their daily actions are part of God’s story.

…is open to making changes to strengthen our ministry with young people.

…helps people of all ages feel like they belong.

…has young people whose involvement makes our church better.

…makes efforts to put itself “in the shoes” of young people.

How true are the following statements of your church?
Our church...

…is made up of adults who go out of their way to better understand young people’s perspectives.

…recognizes the problems young people face in their day-to-day lives.

…must make significant changes to strengthen our ministry with young people.

…invites young people to serve in key ministry roles.

…supports families well.

…has many people who are willing to contribute to making changes.

…is a place where people feel safe sharing their story.

…has healthy conversations about generational differences.

…partners with the local community in significant ways.

…invests sufficient resources in programming for young people.

…has many people who want changes to happen now.

…has key leaders who are willing to make changes when necessary.

How true are the following statements of your church?
Our church...

…challenges people to grow in their faith.

…has a thoughtful approach in our ministry to people in their 20’s.

…makes people feel accepted.

…consists of adults who are investing in young people.

…actively cares for people in our neighborhood, including those who aren’t part of our church.

…includes young people in all appropriate areas of ministry.

…helps people understand their place in God’s story.

…is a community I trust.

…has key leaders who want changes to happen now.

…has a reputation as a caring neighbor in our community.

…is sensitive to the needs of different age groups in our church.

…has a thoughtful approach in our ministry to teenagers.

How true are the following statements of your church?
Our church...

…feels like a family.

…has experienced leaders who are training younger leaders.

…provides ongoing care to people living in other countries.

…allocates a significant proportion of our budget to young people.

…values young people’s presence in our main worship gatherings.

…actively seeks out young people to take on responsibilities.

…actively addresses injustices in our society.

…has preaching that is relevant to people’s daily lives.

…trusts young people with leadership responsibilities.

…spends a generous amount of our financial resources caring for those outside of our congregation.

…empowers young leaders to take on challenges.

…encourages people to live out their faith in their daily actions.

Demographic Questions

Before finishing the assessment, please tell us a few things about yourself. While your results will remain confidential, this information will allow for additional analyses to help your church.

1. Please specify your gender.

3. Please specify your ethnicity (check all that apply).

4. Which of the following best describes the area you live in?

5. Which of the following best describes your role in your church?

Your results have been recorded.

Assessment Complete

Thank you for taking the assessment for St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Carmel. Your results have been recorded and will help us gain a deeper understanding of our next steps for continuing to grow our vibrant, intergenerational community.