CVA FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Single Congregation Users
The Congregational Vitality Assessment is designed to help a congregation
The CVA measures how effectively a congregation is carrying out ten vital areas of congregational functioning:
The CVA measures two important aspects of congregational functioning:
We do not recommend administering the CVA to the entire congregation, as it tends to skew the results in several ways: not just regression to the mean, but because a congregation-wide administration of the CVA generally results in a non-representative sample: more Boomers and older GenX-ers and fewer Millennials and GenZ-ers, more insiders and fewer newcomers, fewer financially challenged people, etc. For this reason and for reasons of manageability, maximum group size should be no more than 25. Best results are obtained by administering the CVA to a representative subset of the congregation. By representative group, we a group that captures the full diversity of your congregation, including but not limited to: To determine what your representative sample should look like: Before administering the CVA to the representative group, key leaders may want to take the Sample CVA first, in order to be able to better explain to the representative group what the experience of taking it is like and answer any questions they may have. 20-30 minutes max. If you take longer than that, you are thinking too long and hard about the answers. Do not overthink – respond quickly and move on. If you don't know or are not confident about a certain answer, elect your best impression. It is valuable to know what a respondent's perception is. In the end we are measuring many things, including the perceptions from several viewpoints. Prescriptive professional analysis tools for congregational life have been around in many forms for a while, and offer congregations concrete ways to view their mission, ministry, and corporate life together. However, no other vitality assessment tool to date is as thoroughly grounded in research and data, and most come with high price tags that are cost prohibitive for many communities of faith to use.
FaithX and ECF view congregational vitality to be the paramount issue for faith communities today. Yet those congregations that most need help addressing their vitality issues often can least afford it. Free access to the CVA is one way we are trying to address that need. There are no strings attached. Of course, since both FaithX and ECF offer consultative services, we hope you will keep us in mind if you them. FaithX will offer a 10% discount on services to any congregation that has taken the CVA.
Questions: The CVA asks the user to answer 5-10 question in each of 12 areas of congregational life: 10 focused on vitality and 2 on sustainability. Single Church Version: When the individual or team has completed the CVA, the answers are scored, and the individual or team leader then receives summary scores of each of the ten vitality areas and two sustainability areas, along with suggestions of ways to improve in each of the areas.
Judicatory Version: Detailed spreadsheet reports are available for download. These reports show vitality scores from all congregations and organizations within the Judicatory, answer distribution for each question by congregation, and a report of complete responses.
Click on the images below for a more detailed look.
CVA diagnostic ratings are based on a criterion-referenced (not on a curve) 1-4 scale:
All CVA questions are grounded in research, and research suggests that using an endowment to underwrite operating expenses (including ongoing outreach) negatively affects individual and congregational stewardship over the long term. Endowments aren’t forever. That means that congregations that grow dependent on them are much more likely drive off the proverbial cliff when the money runs out.
There are several things a congregation can do after taking the CVA. These include:
The above process is what we call a Missional Assessment. You can do it yourselves or you can engage FaithX to lead you through it (we meet with your congregational leader in four sessions over a 6-8 week period to guide you through the process).
Contact us at [email protected] for more information. The CVA is updated at the end of any year in which vitality-related research is newly released or user feedback results in changes. For example, user feedback as so far led to:
Step 1 – Research: The CVA was based on 20 years of research from a variety of sources (click here) and will be refined as new research emerges.
Step 2 – Iterative Prototyping: CVA 1.0 (excel-based version) was the result of 10 years of iterative prototyping, using data and feedback gathered from hundreds of congregations representing a cross-section of race, ethnicity, and denomination.
Step 3 – Beta-Testing: CVA 1.1 (first online version) gathered data and feedback from hundreds of congregations across a similar cross section.
Step 4 – Soft Launch: CVA 2.0 (second online version) included a number of enhancements based on feedback from users of CVA 1.1, including a redesigned user interface and ethnically-sensitive language and terminology.
Step 5 – Ongoing Updates and Enhancements: based on user feedback and emerging research.
Absolutely. People of color were involved throughout the design, prototyping, and beta testing of the CVA. In addition, the FaithX Board of Directors, of which nearly half are people of color, continue to provide feedback for ongoing improvements in the CVA.
A CVA Spanish version of the CVA will be included in version 2.1, to be released before the end of 2021, if not sooner. We had hoped to have it in 2.0 and were almost there but ran out of time to do the final QC checks.
What is the purpose and what are the benefits of the Congregational Vitality Assessment (or CVA)?
What is the difference between a congregation’s Vitality and its Sustainability?
What elements of Vitality does the CVA measure?
What elements of Sustainability does the CVA measure?
How is the CVA best administered (what are best practices)?
How long should it take for the average person to complete the CVA?
What if I don't know the answer to a question?
What makes the CVA unique?
Why are FaithX and ECF making the CVA available free? Are there any strings attached?
What kind of questions does the CVA ask?
What do CVA results look like?
How should we interpret the section scores for our congregation(s)?
Why does the CVA rate congregations lower that have an endowment and use it for operating expenses?
What should our congregation do after taking the CVA?
What are research sources on which the CVA is grounded?
How often is the CVA updated based on new research and user feedback?
What is the process by which the CVA was developed?
Were any people of color involved in the development of the CVA?
When will a Spanish version of the CVA be released?
Congregational Vitality Assessment Judicatory Dashboard
The CVA and the Judicatory Dashboard are two different but complementary tools:
The cost of a subscription to the customized Judicatory Dashboard is $2,495 per year (plus an initial setup charge).
The subscription cost includes:
The initial setup charge is typically $2,500 (with a $1,000 discount through September 1, 2021). The setup fee includes:
In exchange for the discount, we ask early-adopting judicatories to provide us with feedback on the Dashboard and the onboarding process.
We will use that feedback to make final tweaks to the Dashboard before the hard-launch in September.
How is the CVA Judicatory Dashboard different from the Congregational Vitality Assessment?
How does the Judicatory Dashboard work?
Why is there a cost for the CVA Judicatory Dashboard and what is included in the cost?
Why offer a $1,000 discount to early adopters? What’s the catch?