The United Methodist REVIEW, Florida Conference Edition: In an age when residents are more fed up than ever with telemarketing and solicitation calls, churches are beating the odds through the use of such a communications medium.

Covenant United Methodist Church of Port Orange, Fla., has welcomed numerous visitors through use of a short, automated telephone survey that engages a person's spiritual interests without proselytizing or pressuring. Ten out of 17 individuals who completed the full survey attended the church at least once, with some coming back and bringing other visitors.

The surveys are supervised by church members Mike Ellis and Jon Domeij, whose Ormond Beach-based company, The Broadcast Team, provides computerized telemarketing services for a variety of industries, including churches spread across the country.

Covenant's senior pastor, the Rev. Paul Pollock, learned of The Broadcast Team's efforts and became curious about whether Covenant could utilize Ellis' and Domeijs' skills.

Pollock said they asked him to describe the demographic group the survey should reach. They decided to target 30- to 55-year-old married individuals and came up with a database of phone numbers in the vicinity of the church.

The Broadcast Team's computers then dialed each of these numbers over a four hour period.

"The nice thing is that people are given the option to respond only if they want to," Pollock said. "The first thing they're asked is if they'd like to participate in a survey regarding their attendance at church."

Call recipients are asked to respond by pressing one for "yes" or two for "no." If individuals respond affirmatively to the first question, the survey asks if the person currently attends church. The automated caller then asks if the person is interested in finding a church in his or her area. Finally, further information on a church in the area is offered.

Of the 4,000 calls that were placed, 213 people began the survey with 17 completing all 3 questions and requesting more information.

"It's very efficient," Pollock said. "It just sort of cuts to the chase. What that would take for us to knock on doors or do direct mailings would be time or cost prohibitive."

Ellis and Domeij did personal follow-up with the 10 individuals who attended Covenant after taking the survey, even meeting them at the church once they knew who would be visiting.

Two of those individuals surveyed were Paula and Doug Fike, who three years earlier had attended Covenant, but had not been to any church since then. Before the phone call, Paula Fike said she had been thinking about returning to Covenant.

"We were having dinner and the phone rang," she said. "It was a survey, and the survey did not say it was Covenant … My family could not believe I was doing a survey during dinner time. I'm the one always saying solicitors should not bother us during the dinner hour. This was no coincidence; it was amazing."

Fike said she has been impressed by the diligence Ellis and Domeij have shown in following up with those who were surveyed and helping them become a part of Covenant. Fike visited the church by herself the first Sunday she returned, and a woman immediately noticed that she was alone and introduced her to an elderly couple close by.

"When you walk in there, you can just feel the Holy Spirit in that church. When God really moves, I think it stirs people. It stirs people physically and mentally," she said. Fike then returned with her husband, and the couple has brought a friend several times and invited others.

"The growing popularity and consistent success that other churches are now experiencing with God's Calling is amazing," said Domeij. "But then when I think about how amazing our Lord is, and how we've constantly seen his hand in this and the Holy Spirit working through us, I'd have to say I'm not really surprised at all."