In 2018 the Bible Society became one of my clients. They were embarking on a big segmentation project and asked me to manage the research while their Head of Research was on maternity leave. If I’m honest, I had reservations about working with the Bible Society. I was worried they’d try to convert me and concerned that my curious, but generally secular, approach would not be valued. I had nothing to worry about. I genuinely loved the time I spent working with Bible Society. I was accepted as part of their team and listened to, respected, and valued in a way that hasn’t happened before or since. The work I did with them remains the most enjoyable project I’ve worked on as a freelancer.
The segmentation, which was run with YouGov, explored attitudes to Christianity and the Bible in England and Wales. It was the first large-scale social research project I’d worked on and the results were absolutely fascinating. The data revealed 8 different segments from Bible Loving to Bible Dismissive and everything in between including people like me who we named Bible Uncertain. The results are public, and if you want to have a look, you can find them here: https://lumino.bible/
This morning, two years after the segmentation was signed off, I was back with the Bible Society again. This time sharing the segmentation, via zoom, with a group of church leaders. Regardless of the work you do, knowing your audience matters and church leaders are no different from leaders in any other organisation. They loved the research and I think they left feeling optimistic and inspired.
I get a huge amount of pleasure working on this project. The segmentation was great, it’s robust and I’m know it will stand the test of time. I’m looking forward to the next webinar in May and always happy when the client follows up with feedback like this:
‘As well as bringing an in-depth knowledge of the research and the ability to explain the segmentation process in straightforward language, Susie’s bright, engaging character shines through as she guides the participants through applying the data to their working contexts.’
Gareth Davies, Church Engagement Manager
