Metrics & Church

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How will we measure success in our churches moving forward?

The whole world is up in arms trying to figure out the stock market, why gas prices are so high when normal supply and demand would actually put the price of oil at about half of its current price, how can the Bachelorette really be a successful show? Deep issues are nagging our world today and two more churches are closing their doors forever in Texas. So what does it look when the church is “being the church” in our world?

Is bigger better? Afterall, numbers are souls.

Is money the measure? We can’t provide our kids with the newest toys to gain their interest in order to share the gospel without money.

Is a dynamic preacher the answer? I have always heard it is a sin to bore people with the gospel – so we need some very entertaining preaching.

Is a better logo the answer? How else will people get to know us unless we have a stellar marketing campaign?

My sarcasm often gets the best of me and I readily admit that these questions are not as easy to answer as I might try to make them sound. But perhaps a better way to answer the question of what success looks like for the church moving forward is to begin to paint a picture of what it looks like when the gospel begins to take hold in a persons life.

The following list of measurements for the church who is doing its job came from W. David Phillips and was posted on Backyardmissionary. What do you think?

1. The number of cigarette butts in the church parking lot.
2. The number of adoptions people in the church have made from local foster care.
3. The number of pictures on the church wall of unwed mothers holding their newborn babies in their arms for the first time.
4. The number of classes for special needs children and adults
5. The number of former convicted felons serving in the church
6. The number of phone calls from community leaders asking the church’s advice
7. The number of meetings that take place somewhere besides the church building
8. The number of organizations using the church building
9. The number of days the pastor doesn’t spend time in the church office but in the community
10. The number of emergency finance meetings that take place to reroute money to community ministry
11. The amount of dollars saved by the local schools because the church has painted the walls
12. The number of people serving in the community during the church’s normal worship hours
13. The number of non-religious-school professors worshiping with you
14. The number of people wearing good, free clothes that used to belong to members of the church
15. The number of times the church band has played family-friendly music in the local coffee shop
16. The number of people who have gotten better because of free health clinic you operate
17. The number of people in new jobs thanks to the free job training center you opened
18. The number of micro-loans given by members in your church
19. The number of churches your church planted in a 10 mile radius of your own church

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