How Do Your Church’s Post-Pandemic Finances Compare with Other Churches?
Lovett H. Weems, Jr. shares information on how the pandemic affected congregations financially, drawing on data from a recent Hartford Institute report. Overall, the report…
Browsing: Metrics
Articles
A Plentiful Harvest
Tom Berlin explains why fruitfulness in terms of membership, discipleship, and growth are key measures of leadership effectiveness. This article was originally published on November…
3 Clues for Reaching New Believers
Lovett H. Weems Jr. shares metrics for gauging your church’s effectiveness in bringing new people to faith. He also outlines three clues that can help…
Trends in Latino Congregations: An In-depth Interview with Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi
How are the trends in majority Latino congregations different from those in non-Latino congregations? Jessica Anschutz speaks with Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi about her report Latino Congregations:…
“Trends in Latino Congregations” featuring Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi
Podcast Episode 143 How are the trends in majority Latino congregations different from those in non-Latino congregations? We speak with Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi about her report…
5 Practices for Fruitful Congregations in a Post-Attractional Era
Robert Schnase’s five key practices — radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk-taking mission and service, and extravagant generosity — have helped thousands of…
Pre-Pandemic Worship Attendance: Not a Helpful Measure
Many churches today lament worship attendance numbers that have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Lovett H. Weems Jr. says this is an unhelpful comparison. He…
Is Your Congregation Making an Impact?
What metrics are most helpful in assessing your church’s health and vitality? Susan Nienaber says that, in this new chapter of the church’s history, congregations…
The Pandemic’s Real Impact on Clergy and Congregations: An In-Depth Interview with Scott Thumma
How has the pandemic shaped the vitality and resiliency of congregations? Did it really prompt large numbers of pastors to leave ministry? Doug Powe, director…
“The Pandemic’s Real Impact on Clergy and Congregations” featuring Scott Thumma
How has the pandemic shaped the vitality and resiliency of congregations? Did it really prompt large numbers of pastors to leave ministry? Scott Thumma shares insights from ongoing research on the pandemic’s impact congregational life and health.
4 Principles for Engaging Donors Who Care About Making a Difference
Baby boomers and Gen Xers are currently the most critical donor base for most congregations. James Elrod says these generations want proof that their gifts…
3 Indicators of a Thriving Rural Congregation
Allen Stanton says rural churches need better indicators of what it means to thrive. He outlines three characteristics of vital rural congregations able to lead…
4 Ways to Measure if Your Ministry Is Working
In changing times standard measures of a congregation’s health may not tell the whole story. Naomi Annandale suggests a need to expand and adjust our…
4 Capacities Needed to Multiply Your Church’s Ministry
Paul Nixon and Christie Latona say congregations ready to launch successful new initiatives typically possess four strands of congregational DNA — spiritual intensity, missional alignment,…
The Challenging Climate for U.S. Congregations
The average congregation is getting smaller with a median size of around 60 attenders, reports Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religious Research.…
Why Attendance and Revenue Figures Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Worship attendance and revenue figures don’t tell the whole story in gauging your church’s effectiveness. Rich Birch suggests some novel indicators that can reveal growth…
Episode 20: “Ministry Beyond the Wall: Revisiting the Five Fruitful Practices” featuring Robert Schnase
How can congregations more effectively practice fruitful ministry? In this episode Bishop Robert Schnase discusses his revised book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, with Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe.
9 Questions to Assess Your Church’s Financial Health
Lovett H. Weems Jr. says paying attention to various indices of your congregation’s financial health is a key practice in remaining economically viable and sustaining…
States with Higher Potential for Growth in 2018
Population growth is only one factor in whether churches grow, but it is a key factor. At the end of December, the U.S. Census Bureau…
Learning from Failure
Christian Coon, co-founding pastor of Urban Village Church in Chicago and author of Failing Boldly, believes that a key to fruitful ministry is the ability…
Relationships Are Important to Vitality
Bonnie Marden explores the importance of relationships to congregational vitality, and she suggests key questions for assessing the strength of relationships that undergird a congregation’s…
So That: Two Powerful Words for Mission Results
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., says that churches often invest a great deal of energy in activities without ever asking how they relate to what God…
Does Your Church Have Barking Dogs?
Lee Kricher, pastor of Amplify Church in Pittsburgh, says every church has things that distract members and visitors from the church’s mission. He writes that…
Take an Annual Church Health Checkup
At the beginning of every year, many people take time to evaluate their lives and determine new priorities and directions. The same should be true…
Measuring What Matters: A Conversation about Metrics and Mission
If your life is anything like mine, you may find yourself at the beginning of the year focusing on numbers from the past year. In…
Metrics: A Tool for Learning, Not Judging
The current focus on setting numerical goals for ministry and reporting on the results is not new, though it is now greatly expanded. In the…
The Tussle over Metrics
Church leaders may think that leading in the business world is so much simpler than in the church since there is “one bottom line” and…
Fruitfulness for Others
The fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel contains rich imagery of the vine and the branches, an image that would have been obvious to those who…
Leading in Challenging Times
What if you knew that your congregation were on a collision course with its demise? What would you do? Whom would you tell? How would…
Fast Forwarding Your Church’s Community Engagement
Many churches today are pioneering a shift in which they are truly engaging their communities in mission. These churches are not only deploying their own…
