How To Measure Church Growth

STEP ONE - CHOOSE SOME MEASURABLES  

This one is pretty easy and maybe obvious, but as I say often. I put these things out there because of how many churches we see not taking \ steps like this one. 

 Before you start your process, decide how it is that you'll know if it's working. If your goal is to grow your reach to new people with the message of Jesus, have more engagement in your small groups, or balance the budget – figure out beforehand how you're going to know if that's happening. Here are some examples:

 In the area of bringing new people to Jesus, you could measure: people who tell you they've given their lives to Jesus, new baptisms, Alpha Class attendance, responses to an online ad or Facebook community, people that dedicate their babies or people that join a new members class.

 In the area of small groups, you might measure: a percentage of people who go to your church who are in one, how many people responded asking questions about joining, how many people attended a or how many people you have in small groups. 

 In the area of finances, you might measure: income and expenses, how the money is helping fund other projects if advertising dollars are getting the desired outcome, whether new people tithes, whether people who have been around a while stopped giving.

 These are just a few examples, but the point is made. Choose some measurables, so you know how to to make sure you're on track!

STEP TWO - TRACK YOUR PROGRESS USING YOUR MEASURABLES 

Again, this might seem silly, but it's got to be said. 

 Once you've known what you're measuring, then start counting.  

 Use a notebook, an Excel Spreadsheet, Planning Center Online, a GHANT chart. It doesn't matter. Just figure out a way to track the things you want to track and then starting doing it.

 In the beginning, this process will show you where you're at – which is very important, by the way – but as you go along, this process will tell you where you need to go next. 

 For example, if you see that 30% of your church is involved in small groups but want that number to be 50%, you know what you still have some work to do. Figure out how many people you need to get you to 50%, and then start approaching people. Use your system to figure out where you are (because self-awareness is key) and know what you need to do next! 

STEP THREE - BE WILLING TO PIVOT, BUT DON'T PULL THE PLUG TOO EARLY. 

 When tracking towards a target, two things happen pretty regularly.  

 Either people give up on a strategy too early, or they wait WAY too long to make a change. And this happens because, when you're in the moment and emotionally invested and you start to get a little impatience, it's hard to know if you should make a switch. And the solution to this is easy – just decided beforehand. 

 For example: If you want to go from 30% small group engagement to 50%. Give yourself a timeline and a course of action. Say, "for the next four weeks, each elder will talk to 10 people about small groups, and at the end of four weeks, we'll see where we're at"

 If you got to 60%, then maybe elders are the right people to approach your congregants, but if you get to 32%, then it might be time to look at something different. Deciding beforehand and sticking to your plan helps you feel confident in your next decision and give things time to take their course. 

HERE'S WHY THIS IS SO IMPORTANT AND WHY MY HEART BREAKS FOR THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC. 

Through my time as a church helper, I've talked to churches who have told me, "we tried ___, but it didn't work." 

 When I ask why, usually the answer is "we don't know" or "well, it worked for a minute and then didn't anymore." Usually, these conversations end with people agreeing that they never knew what "working" looked like, so they honestly didn't know if they ever got there.  

 During some of these stories, I've heard ideas that I thought were excellent – and it wasn't that they weren't working; it's that they were given up on too early. 

 I've also heard stories of churches that don't want to do something new because they are discouraged from trying something that didn't work for so long. 

Both of these things are available by just deciding beforehand what's going to work and what isn't.

 So my encouragement to you is this. Make a conscious decision at the beginning of the process, decide how you will measure what's happening, who's going to track it, and when to make a change. If you do that, you won't need to focus too much time on the question "is this working," and you can spend more time getting it done.