Summary of February 2006 Leader’s Survey Results

 

The demographic responses indicate that the leaders who answered this poll were from typical CFM groups and not skewed younger or older than average.  95 percent of members who answered were married.  42 percent had been married 15 years or less.  50 percent had three or four children.

 

Value of CFM

• 92 percent of members said that CFM was important to them.  80 percent said it helped them be a better spouse, 77 percent said it helped them be closer to their spouse, 89 percent said it helped them be a better parent, 94 percent said it helped them grow spiritually.
• 93 percent of leaders and 86 percent of members find the programs relevant.  Very few members (6 percent) said that they used other material than CFM’s provided program.
• 97 percent said they found CFM discussion interesting (3 percent were neutral).
• 38 percent said it was important or very important.  21 percent of members said that CFM’s history was not important.
• 23 percent said that the social aspect of CFM was more important than the meetings.  42 percent disagreed. 

 

“My husband and I joined the group to meet other families with the same Christian values. We also hoped that we would learn from each other.”

 

“Yes, but that's not the only reason (fun). We wanted something spiritual that we could do as a couple. The fun was an added bonus!”

 

 

Membership Issues

• 71 percent of members said they joined because they thought people in CFM were fun to be with.
• The vast majority of leaders say personal invitation is the best way to get new members (95 percent), however, only 69 percent of members say this is why they joined.
• 83 percent of leaders said lack of time is the biggest factor in getting people to join CFM. Interestingly enough, only 2 percent of members thought CFM took too much time.
• Only 3 percent of leaders said having more Catholic doctrine in books would bring new members.  A surprising 25 percent of leaders said they had members in their groups who were not practicing Christians.  50 percent of members said that there were people in their groups who were divorced or never married.
• 48 percent of members said they stayed in because it helped them meet new people.
• 72 percent of members said they expected to still be a member of CFM in three years.
• 56 percent said they stayed in CFM because of the people in their group.

 

“If national could provide a leader packet which included most common pitfalls and reasons groups do not survive and methods to deal with these issues, perhaps more groups would be sustained long term

 

“Our group also includes non-Catholics, and I've gotten feedback that sometimes they feel they're given the message that they are lesser than the rest of us Catholics. I think they should be welcomed (without trying to convert).  They're showing up, for goodness sakes, with open hearts and minds.  Also, I notice the unmarried and divorced people don't last that long or show up for many meetings and I don't blame them. Our CFM meetings have been very couple-focused - with icebreakers like ‘what was your first date?’” etc.

 

 

Program Issues

• Most leaders find the OJA method important and try to teach it.  Members seem to strike a balance between using the method and having good discussion.  The method is important to them, but not the only thing.
• Most used the prayers selected for the meeting in the book.
• There was no consensus among leaders regarding having more Scripture or more catechesis in the books. Leaders were divided on this.
• There was substantial difference between member response and leader response regarding proposed topics for books.  Leaders favored 1)medical ethics and life choices, 3) practical issues of family life, and 3)Scripture and teachings of the Catholic Church in even numbers.  Practical issues of family life were the clear first choice for members.  They were more substantially more interested in marriage and communication than in medical ethics. This result should be tempered by the fact that many commented that they would have liked to choose more than one, but the discrepancy is interesting.
• 81 percent of leaders and 76 percent of members find the Scripture portion of the meeting understandable
• A substantial number of leaders (36 percent) find our books repetitious

 

 “I need to vote for 2. The other one being the practical issues like the effect of culture and society on family.”

 

“All of those topics are good and they have all been done before! However, one book never covers all the possibilities. We should always keep in mind we do have a number of interfaith couples”

 

“I would have checked economics and consumerism and medical ethics as well.”

 

“Scripture and the teachings of the Catholic church should be the backbone of any book, whatever the topic.”

“If CFM is committed to OJA, we should be discussing the impact of the Christian family on culture, not merely the effect of culture on the family”

 

Several comments included the fact that some topics provide more heat than light and vitriol was a problem in some discussions.

 

OJA method

• Over 90 percent of both groups find the meetings help them act as Christians in the world.  47 percent of members say they wish their CFM group did more service together.
• 69 percent of leaders find the socializing at the meeting to be important, but not more important than the meeting itself.

 

“I follow the ‘rule of three’ which is easy to remember and act on. OJA is a constant reminder to me to not just talk, but to act.”

 

“The  book offers some discipline to bring us back to the topic when we start to wander.”

 

“Both are equally important. It is the information in the book that promotes the group sharing”

 

“Our group recently discussed that we would not still be together if CFM were only social. The program and faith sharing have bound us together.”

 

Child care

• A substantial minority of leaders (34 percent) have issues with childcare in their groups. 
• Most leaders do not find that members complain that meetings do not include children.  Most members (59 percent) said meetings should not include children.
• 24 percent offer babysitting during the meeting.  This matches the 25 percent of members who said they brought children to the meetings, but they had their own activities.

 

Several members commented in this vein:

 

“It's nice to include children in some meetings, but the adults need time to talk as adults about adult and family issues without the distraction of children being present. So I think mostly adult meetings with a few family meetings works best.”

 

Leadership issues

• 58 percent of leaders say sometimes hosts serve alcohol at meetings
• Leaders value the ease of leading meetings.
• Meeting leadership is rotated in our groups.
• 80 percent said they did not need training for leading meetings, but 39 percent wanted a leader’s guide for the program book.
• 53 percent of leaders said that providing leader materials is the most important thing CFM national could do. 23 percent said better programming in general was most important. 

 

“I believe the books are a wonderful resource... I also think that there could be other material available (eg. movie reviews and questions for discussion on line for couples to share on, more mid-life materials available, possibly to read a pertinent book together (Christian focus) and to have questions to share on)”

 

“We have used the program books for instruction during adult religious education, confirmation preparation, and a women's retreat. They are very useful”