In this final post for our series featuring ministry leaders’ responses to key questions, we return once again to the subject of metrics. Previously, we highlighted TMC podcasts and blogs on the topic, explored methodologies and foci of evaluation techniques, and recognized the power of testimony: What’s Worth Measuring (Part 1). Today, more leaders in our network join the conversation and offer their own unique insights and interpretations.
What’s worth measuring? What are some conventional metrics that need to be critiqued, revised, or discarded? (Part 2)
In addition to the what? and how? of evaluating and measuring, there must be an understanding of why? we are engaged in an assessment of some sort. Identifying the hopes, visions, and values for our ministries informs what metrics are worth pursuing and praying attention to – and what metrics are not.
Jasiel Hernandez Garcia, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church Kerrville, TX – “As someone who relies heavily on numbers, I am learning to trust other metrics. Our giving continues to decrease, but the congregation seems to be very content, engaging with each other, building nurturing relationships, and attending worship regularly. I believe I need to start paying more attention to those metrics. Do people feel excited to come to church? Do they enjoy each other? Do they find a meaningful message in our various ministries that gives them hope and courage?”
Kris Rocke, Executive Director, Street Psalms, Tacoma WA – “I suppose, faith, hope and love are the big three, but if these do not come from a free conscience then even these are just tools of transaction. That is why the great spiritual mothers and fathers of the church lifted up freedom as the key virtue that unlocks all others. I am interested in what frees people in the deepest sense of that word. I would like to see more work being done to measure what truly frees people to love God and love neighbor, and how that freedom is sustained in community, over time and in context.”
Maturity is a term and a concept that is frequently being explored in our network right now. We have featured two posts on Mature Ministry Leadership Part 1 and Part 2, and several cohorts, including one focused on discipleship, have wrestled with the notion of a mature Christian.
Rebecca Stevenson, Mack Avenue Community Church, Detroit, MI considers the journey of maturity through discipleship, and extends the concept to the church, as she suggests what’s worth measuring. “Spiritual growth and discipleship are worth measuring. What draws someone to Christ? How do they mature? What methods of discipleship are most effective within different age groups and cultural backgrounds? What does maturity in Christ look like? I think a good metric of growth and maturity is seeing how the Church affects the surrounding community.”
There is inevitably a question of what constitutes success. Even when values and visions of ministry are clear, there is too often a temptation to blindly employ default metrics and methods of assessment. A (re)definition of success is vitally important as we discern and evaluate our ministry efforts.
Matt Adair, https://transformdiscipleship.org/ – “‘Buildings, baptisms, butts and budgets’ needs to be seen as tools that can contribute to success, but not indicators of success on their own. Success is better seen as the holistic impact of a church’s love of God expressed in love of neighbor, stranger and enemy.”
Susan Rogers, Church Planter, Pastor of The Well, Jacksonville, FL– “I think we measure best by noticing the “footprint” of our community – what is healing, growing, renewing or being brought back to life because of our presence? Who is experiencing love and belonging? Listen to the stories of transformation & healing – ‘I once was blind, but now I see __________.’ Notice how often resources have been shared, life-giving relationships have been nurtured, needs have been addressed. Do not measure Sunday attendance or number of views on social media as an indicator of ‘success’.”
In addition to redefining success, Ryan Bonfiglio, Pilgrimage Formation Curator TMC,
Associate Professor in the Practice of Old Testament, Emory’s Candler School of Theology, Atlanta, GA. challenges us to redefine failure and see its value in our ministries and initiatives. “Failed experiments. In the scientific world, any new discovery is born out of failure. We wouldn’t know how to make rubber, or how to store energy from the sun in photoelectric cells, without a lot of failed experiments. That’s the scientific method in a nutshell. What if we applied the same mentality to the church? What if we celebrated really thoughtful ministry experiments that completely flopped? What if we thought about why those experiments failed, made adjustments, and tried again? What if our congregations came to understand this trial-and-error approach not as an embarrassing failure that should be avoided at all cost, but as the natural pathway of ministry innovation? What if failed experiments were part of the ‘good news’ of what it meant to be a church that is always being reformed and reshaped to meet the changing needs of the world?”
What do you think is worth measuring? We’d love to hear from you!
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