Churches urged to use online survey to record their Olympic experiences

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Churches that ran events around the 2012 Games are being urged to complete an online survey. The aim is to help churches engage in future major sports events including Glasgow's Commonwealth Games and Brazil's World Cup, both in 2014.

The imitative to record how things went and what was learned comes from More Than Gold, which was set up by all the main denominations to help churches make the most of the Games.

"We've seen thousands of churches engaging with their communities in creative ways," said Jon Burns, UK Director of More Than Gold. 'Now we want to capture what they have learned so it can be applied when using future major sports events for mission - both in the UK and round the world.'

The on-line survey is at: www.morethangold.org.uk/survey/. It allows churches to evaluate the help they received, what went well and what didn't, and the impact that was made.

Jon Burns adds, 'The survey is also designed to give insights on the numbers attending church events during the Games and their effect on both the churches involved and the communities of which they are a part'.

Church leaders in Scotland and Brazil are already putting structures in place to help churches use the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup. Input to the survey will also help churches respond to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia, the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England and the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics in Rio.