Returning in 2026
Christian Thought Survey 2026
Christian Thought Survey is being revived as a weekly research project for Christian ministers. Each Weekly Survey will pair one CTS-administered topic with 12 related items, 3 participant-vote-determined questions, a 7-item AI-polished participant-nominated item ballot, a suggestion text box, last week's results summary and link, and a preview of upcoming topics.
What changes in 2026?
Shorter surveys, faster reports, cleaner data.
The revived project keeps the original CTS concern for precise wording and fine-grained measurement, but changes the rhythm to one focused topic, participant-vote-determined questions, and a continuing participant-generated item pipeline.
- Focused weekly surveys: each survey begins with one CTS-administered topic and 12 related items.
- Participant-vote-determined questions: each survey adds 3 live survey items chosen based on the previous week's participant vote.
- Credence-based responses: all survey items use sliders so responses preserve more precision than ordinary agree/disagree choices.
- Minister-focused panel: the first invitations will go to prior CTS participants who were willing to be contacted by email.
- Open reporting: weekly summaries will be written for public reading, while data releases will be structured for responsible reanalysis.
- Ongoing item voting: every weekly survey includes a 7-item AI-polished participant-nominated item ballot and a text box for next-week suggestions.
- Looking ahead: every survey features the next three weeks' topics to allow for mental preparation.
Weekly structure
Every survey has a six-part rhythm.
The CTS administration supplies the main topic, active participants help choose participant-generated questions, each survey collects suggestions for the next round, and every survey previews upcoming topics for mental preparation.
- One CTS-administered topic: 12 related survey items from the CTS topic bank.
- Three participant-vote-determined questions: 3 additional live survey items chosen based on the previous week's participant vote.
- A participant-nominated item ballot: 7 AI-polished ballot items selected from the previous week's participant nominations, with AI-created seed items added only when fewer than 7 suitable participant nominations are available.
- A text box: to suggest survey items to be voted on next week and possibly featured in the following week's survey.
- Last week's results summary and link: a brief summary and a link to the primary CTS website page containing the previous week's results and reports.
- A preview of upcoming topics: The topics for the next three weeks will be featured to allow for mental preparation.
Participant-nominated ballot rule: Participant suggestions are reviewed by CTS with AI assistance, polished for clarity, neutrality, credence-slider suitability, breadth, novelty, and pastoral or theological relevance, and reduced to a 7-item ballot. Active participants rank those 7 items; the top 3 ranked items become live participant-vote-determined survey items in the following week's survey.
Response rule: The 15 live survey items use credence sliders. The participant-nominated item ballot and suggestion text box are administrative inputs rather than survey-item responses.
Current status
The 2026 weekly cycle is being prepared.
Reports are planned for Fridays so pastors and other ministry leaders can reflect on the results before Sunday. Public summaries will be posted here, and the project is being designed so appropriately prepared raw data can be shared for independent analysis.
The intended weekly cadence is a Monday heads-up email followed by the actual SurveyOL survey-link email on Thursday.
When the first weekly survey is fielded, this site will point to the current survey, the current report, the participant-vote-determined questions, the 7-item participant-nominated item ballot, the suggestion text box, last week's results summary and link, the preview of upcoming topics, and the raw-data download policy.
The original 2022-2024 CTS materials remain available in the archive. They are being kept as a reference library while the front of the site shifts toward weekly reports.
Site sections