In Ed Stetzer’s opener in this series in Christianity Today, he emphasized measuring outcomes, not activities. How do we know when we’ve finished with the job? He also emphasized the need for *quality* as much as quantity. “Although church growth writers repeatedly stress the importance of growing quality churches, they focus their measurements almost exclusively on the size and growth rate of the church.” He tries to figure out how to measure both factors.
Then in the follow-up, “Part Two,” Kenn Oke emphasizes sub-targets that matter, qualifying the indicators, and the criteria he thinks we should be measuring.
The instrument and graphing model that Avant Ministries uses is indeed very interesting. Does your church or org have anything similar? (Please click “comment” following the web version of this item. Thanks!)
If we really want to measure church growth and effectiveness we cannot stop at the door of the church. We need to measure how the church is bringing transformation to the CULTURE. Is there a reduction in child abuse/trafficking, less substance abuse, less human rights violations, etc. In Thessalonians, Paul mentions how the church had turned from idols – a sign of repentance and transformation. Are we measuring cultural transformation? Mission Aviation Fellowship has a short 20 question instrument we are currently using and distributing in Eastern Congo. It is not perfect, but it is a start toward developing an evaluation tool that measures transformation. It is something we can use annually to track progress (or regression).