Measuring Ministry

Whether we like it or not, someone is bound to ask the question: “How big is your church?”  One might avoid the question by responding with questions such as, “What do you mean by ‘big’?”  “Do you mean how many resident members or regular Sunday morning attendance?”  “Do you mean square footage?”

While well meaning, the initial question can be translated, “Is your church successful?”  The question is rooted in our ingrained desire to measure success or progress.  Numbers indicate whether a church is growing or declining.  For some, numbers indicate the vitality of the congregation.  Of course, numbers can also apply to dollars, member involvement in missions and ministry, and whether the church is able to support its staff, pay its bills, and keep the roof fixed.

Since numbers define what we do, perhaps the best thing to do is to come up with our own numbers or metrics to measure where we are on the journey.  In his book, Doing the Math of Mission: Fruits, Faithfulness, and Metrics, Gil Rendle writes: “’Metrics’ refers simply to measurement.  Metrics are tools by which we can ask whether and how well intentional efforts toward change are progressing.”

The assumption, of course, is that your congregation is moving in a particular direction.  We need to know where we intend to go before we can set milestones or measures of our progress.  As Lewis Carroll wrote, “If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

The first step in measuring your ministry is understanding who you are as congregation and what you value.  “Success” for your faith community make look very different from another.  Your values, what is important to you, defines your assessment of progress.

A second step is assessing your resources.  What do we do well?  What are the gifts of our people?  What are the opportunities in our context? 

The third step is developing a clear vision of what you hope to become.  What do we desire for our church to be in the future?  What will our ministry look like in three to five years? 

The fourth step is defining milestones along the way.  Rather than just looking at the end product, what will be indicators along the way that we are moving in the right direction?  This will provide the metrics or measures for progress.

 In subsequent blogs, we will address each of these steps further.