If what you measure matters, as stated in last week’s post, then the follow-up question is, “What measures matter most?”
Southern Baptists love to count. I learned this the hard way when, during a church remodel, I asked about removing the board above the piano, the one where attendance and offering numbers were posted. In hindsight, I think I would have been less offensive had I asked them to abstain from southern gospel music.
Back then everyone turned in an envelope with numbers for Bible reading, contacts made, and offering. Sunday School secretaries compiled this data so that the old register board could be updated for any given Sunday. Then, at the end of the year, a final count called the Annual Church Letter was made (the ACP today), recording baptisms, giving, and attendance for worship, Sunday School, and a variety of other ministries. Finally , an SBC entity would collect the data from across North America, making it available for associations, state conventions and the churches to use for ministry assessment and planning. Did I mention Southern Baptists love to count?
Now as my favorite Sesame Street character taught us, counting itself is not bad. And particularly, it’s good for a church to be aware of their attendance and offering numbers. But healthy measures show more than how many attend or give. To honestly know how fruitful the church’s ministry is, it’s important to shift from merely measuring attendance and amounts to measuring trends and movement.
Trendlines tell you whether a given ministry component is expanding or decreasing. Carefully discerning the driving forces behind each trend helps leaders take corrective action. For example, is attendance trending up or down? Why? What does this reveal about the effectiveness of outreach and evangelism efforts? What adjustments might you make? What are your giving trends? What do they indicate?
Movement shows progress through the church’s disciple making pathway. Every church should have a clear pathway by which one progresses from unbeliever or new member to worshiper to growing disciple to mature / serving disciple and reproducing disciple. Fruitful churches count who moves from simple worship attendance to engagement in community through Sunday School or small groups. Then they note who and how many in the small groups engage with accountable, disciple making groups. Finally, they count and celebrate those who progress to active service, leadership, and those who express God’s call to ministry or missions.
When the church counts only attendance, they run the risk of entertaining the crowd rather than multiplying disciples. But when they prioritize movement, they focus energy on shepherding people through disciple making.
So understand, I’m not recommending that you cease counting nickels and noses. I’m suggesting that, when you turn the attention to trends and movement, you develop a more complete picture of your church’s health, a picture leading you to more fruitful ministry for the Lord.
Share your comments below. Blessings!
Bro. Jim