Global Adventist Pastor’s Survey 2
Deadline: March 10, 2026
The General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists (GC) sponsors human-subject research through its Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research (ASTR) to understand the current reality of the Church for the purpose of future research-based strategic planning. For this reason, the GC has mandated ASTR to conduct the Second Global Adventist Pastors’ Survey (GAPS2).
This grant will be solely made available to support the development of the instrument, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, and production of the final research report. Adventist scholars around the world are invited to work as teams and to submit their proposals for a grant to fund participation in this global research project. This document provides important information, guidelines, and the timeline that will be helpful in preparing your proposal and in carrying out this important project.
ELIGIBILITY
The application is open to all Seventh-day Adventist scholars worldwide. For an application to be considered, the following criteria will be considered:
All the applicants must be active members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
They must preferably be working for the Adventist Church.
The applying team must include one person with survey research expertise, one theologian, and any other member(s) they deem important.
At least one of the team must be a member of the Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association (AHSRA) or a regional AHSRA chapter.
The principal investigator of the team must have a completed doctoral degree and at least three published peer-reviewed research journal articles.
The application must be prepared in English.
Primary communication must be done in English.
This study is to include samples from all the 13 divisions of the World Church and
The requested funding must not exceed $85,000. The requested amount must be reasonable for the proposed study.
Note: Only one application will be approved for this study. The previous GAPS report and other reports can be accessed here.
Objectives
The objectives include instrument revision, pilot study, data collection, analysis and interpretation, and final report writing. The instrument should be based on the previous GAPS and the 2025-2030 I Will Go goals. The survey should measure the progress of Adventist pastors in the four aspects reflected in the 2025-2030 I Will Go strategic plan as seen at https://iwillgo.org. The instrument will be revised in collaboration with ASTR and the GC’s Future Plans Working Group (FPWG).
After revision and approval, it will be sent out for translation and implementation. In the previous GAPS, dozens of languages were used to translate the survey for easier understanding. Therefore, questions should avoid complex idiomatic expressions and should be phrased simply enough to be easily translated into languages other than the Indo-European language family.
Once the instrument is translated, it will be pilot-tested and final revisions will be made to it before actual data collection is undertaken in all the territories. Then the team will conduct an overall analysis and interpretation of the data received from the various territories. The research team will prepare a PowerPoint Presentation (PPT) and a full report of the GAPS2 results as well as PPTs for each division and attached field. The reports should focus on the trends among Adventist pastors, thus, laying a foundation for future strategic planning for the global Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Scope and Target Audiences
The research team should revise and prepare the instrument for the GAPS2 and write the final report primarily for the Adventist Church’s leadership. The FPWG will be the chief recipient of the report and will use it for its work. However, since the GAPS2’s target demographic will include thousands of pastors from all world divisions, many of them as well as other Adventist church leaders and church members may be interested in findings of the study. Thus, the extended target audience may include pastors, researchers, educators, and lay members who will join the church leaders’ audience along the lines of the gradual public release of the report. ASTR expects that the final report will be added to its existing repository of GAPS2 reports.
Data Supplied/Facilitated by ASTR
ASTR will provide or facilitate receiving the following information that may assist the research team if needed:
- Research instruments of the previous GAPS
- GAPS1 report
- List of contact reach team leaders who may be helpful with data collection
- Other data/information that the team needs to meet its goals
- List of main languages/language versions used in the previous GAPS
Limitations and Requirements
- Personal information of respondents and participants in the study, and their locations, should not be revealed to any outside parties.
- Data should be reported in aggregate and division‐by‐division breakdown.
- Breakdown by age groups may be requested in reporting.
- The research results should be kept confidential and should be submitted directly to ASTR.
- The researchers are not permitted to use the research findings or reveal them to any organization or company without ASTR’s prior written permission.
PROPOSAL TEMPLATE
Title Page
Proposal for GAPS2
Total Requested Funding (in US dollars)
Investigators
Principal Investigator
(Name, highest academic title, current position, institutional/organizational affiliation, city, country, email address)
Co-Investigators
(Name, highest academic title, position, institutional/organizational affiliation, city, country, email address of each co-investigator)
Primary Contact Person
Institutional/Organizational Supervisor/Administrator
(Name, highest academic title, position, institutional/organizational affiliation, city, country, email address of the authority who oversees the permission of grant applications for research at the principal investigator’s institution/organization)
Starting with the Second Page
A. Background of the Study
In one to three paragraphs (300-500 words), present the background of the study for which you will collect the data. Cite some scholarly books and journal articles to back up your claims.
B. Research Setting
In 200-300 words, explain in more details the territory where your study will be carried out. This must include the Division(s) and Attached Union(s) that will be involved.
C. Significance of the Proposed Study
In 200-300 words, explain how useful this proposed study will be to the target research setting.
D. Sampling Procedure
In 200-500 words, explain how you will go about selecting your sample.
E. Data Collection
In 500-1500 words, describe a well-established research process that you will use to collect data. Indicate the languages that you will use for the translation of the survey and how you will go about the translation. Describe how you will interact, guide, and/or support the data collection partners to ensure quality data is collected ethically and coded effectively and efficiently in SPSS.
F. Potential Challenges
In 200-300 words, discuss challenges that you envisage encountering in this study and strategies for dealing with them.
G. Research Partners
Create a table for all your potential research partners. List the names, institutional/organizational affiliations, positions, and locations of people that you have identified as potential research partners to carry out this study. The last column must present the role that each potential research partner will play in this proposed study. You obviously cannot travel to all the countries included in this study; so, you will need to work with partners who will help with data collection.
H. Proposed Budget
Please prepare a detailed budget for this project. It must be a table with at least four columns: one for the budgetary items, another for a very brief explanation/description of each item, one for the budget of each item, and the other listing Key Performance Indicators that need to be delivered for payment of each budgeted item.
I. Other COntributions
If you have secured or are expecting to receive additional financial or non-monetary support from other institutions/organizations/departments to support this project, please declare it here.
J. References
List all cited sources here either in APA or Turabian format.
Appendix A: Investigators’ Biographical Information
Present a brief resumé of each of the investigators that highlights the highest academic training, necessary scholarly publications, and/or content experience/expertise pertaining to the proposed study. Each investigator must be allotted one page to provide this biographical information.
Appendix B: Data/Documents that You Need to Receive from ASTR
If you believe you will need access to some ASTR data or documents (e.g., letters of support) to carry on this research project, please list them here with a brief explanation about why and when you may need them.
Appendix C: Timeline
Create a timeline for all the major milestones of your project. Include the budgetary disbursement in your timeline. Use the timeline provided below as a starting point but elaborate on it to include other key milestones that you deem necessary to carry out your study. Some of the milestones include, but should not be limited to, translation of the survey instrument, data collection, data coding in SPSS.
GAPS2 Timeline
- January 1, 2026: Opening of the request for proposals
- January 22, 2026 at 8am US Eastern Time: Special Zoom session about request for proposals with potential applicants (please register here!)
- February 26, 2026 at 8am US Eastern Time: Optional Zoom session about request for proposals (if needed) (please register here!)
- March 10, 2026: End of application process
- April 30, 2026: Outcome of the applications
- June 1 to September 30, 2026: Instrument revision in collaboration with ASTR & FPWG
- October 1 to December 31, 2026: Pilot study & survey translation
- January 1 to September 30, 2027: Data collection
- October 1 to December 31, 2027: Data analysis & report writing
- January 1-31, 2028: Evaluation of the report by ASTR
- February 1-29, 2028: Revisions
- March 1-31, 2028: Report review by FPWG
- April 1 to 30, 2028: Copy-editing of the report
- January 1, 2029: Report publication on the ASTR website
- January 1, 2029: Final version of data files of research teams to be submitted to ASTR (including SPSS file, MS Word file, PPTs for Division Results, and other relevant files as requested by ASTR). files as requested by ASTR)
Please prepare the proposal carefully, save it as a PDF file, and then submit it to [email protected]. Please use the same address for all inquiries pertaining to this Call for Proposals.