Do Metrics Matter?

A pastor friend recently noted that he had stopped submitting his church’s annual report to the denomination. He said, “{They want] metrics that no longer matter and are irrelevant. [The report] doesn’t ask how many Muslims have become Christians, number of internationals reached, Facebook or YouTube views, website hits.” All of these are important metrics in his context and in a post-COVID (?) world but the denomination is not asking about those things.

We all know the measures requested in these reports: number of Baptisms, Sunday school attendance, worship attendance, resident members, etc. So, do you include those attending services online in worship attendance? What about the couple who now live in another state but are still members of the congregation and continue to send their tithes to the church? What are the measures of a successful ministry to the unhoused?

It is not that metrics—the things we measure—are unimportant. I believe the adage, “What gets measured gets done,” but do those things we measure reflect the mission and vision we are pursuing as a congregation?

What should we measure, then? My friend is on the right track. In an age when most median and young adults don’t want home visits, social media contacts are important. If your church is missional and committed to members being the body of Christ in the community, how many of your members are involved in the community? How do you measure the impact of individual congregants in the workplace?

The challenge is not only to reassess what we measure but to seek clarity in what we hope to achieve for the Kingdom of God in our context with the believers and gifts that God has given. That’s a good beginning point.

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