Missional Metrics IX
Number of community-based initiatives our people are supporting with their time or money.
Over the course of my short career thus far, I have had the opportunity to work with several churches who are seeking revitalization. One of the key questions that I ask each one is, "If your church disappeared off the face of the earth tomorrow, what would your community miss the most?" Or, as is all to often the case, "Would your community miss you at all?" In other words, what kind of impact is the church having on the community? Is that community a better place because of the presence of a church? (BTW, I often have to remind them at this point that when I say "church", I am not talking about the building...)
We tend to have such institutional myopia in the church. The ministries of God's people are often validated only if they are volunteering in "our" programs. For example, when we measure how "involved" the people of God are in the work of ministry, we tend to look only at the number of volunteers in our church's ministries. We rarely if ever ask people to tell us what mission or ministry they are already involved with in their own lives. What if the reason they are not "serving the Lord" at "our church" is because they are busy serving the Lord out in the world?! I know I was certainly guilty of this. There were several folks in my last church who did things like visit nursing homes to give fresh-cut flowers to the patients, care for the families of servicemen and women who were returning from or heading to Iraq, organizing shoebox drives for Samaritan's Purse at local schools, etc. Looking back, I wish with all my heart that I had asked people to let us know what they ALREADY were involved in before trying to recruit them for programs at the church. It would have probably changed how we viewed "church", reduced the number of programs we were trying to run, helped us understand the particular gifts and passions of God's people, and perhaps helped us further the revitalization process.
There is so much that is already going on out in the world. There are so many community-initiatives that are making a difference. Some of them are faith-based of course, others are not, but they are having a tremendous impact. What if, instead of trying to re-invent the wheel, we simply locked arms with the folks already at work in our communities? What if we came alongside them and offered our time, our talent, and our treasure in support? I am not saying we don't organize any programs at all, I am simply pointing out that there are lots of folks in our congregations who already hard at work serving God in many capacities. We have to start lifting their work up and honoring it as work for the Kingdom of God! And we have to include this in our metrics so we can get a true understanding of the kind of impact we are making as a community on our community.
We tend to have such institutional myopia in the church. The ministries of God's people are often validated only if they are volunteering in "our" programs. For example, when we measure how "involved" the people of God are in the work of ministry, we tend to look only at the number of volunteers in our church's ministries. We rarely if ever ask people to tell us what mission or ministry they are already involved with in their own lives. What if the reason they are not "serving the Lord" at "our church" is because they are busy serving the Lord out in the world?! I know I was certainly guilty of this. There were several folks in my last church who did things like visit nursing homes to give fresh-cut flowers to the patients, care for the families of servicemen and women who were returning from or heading to Iraq, organizing shoebox drives for Samaritan's Purse at local schools, etc. Looking back, I wish with all my heart that I had asked people to let us know what they ALREADY were involved in before trying to recruit them for programs at the church. It would have probably changed how we viewed "church", reduced the number of programs we were trying to run, helped us understand the particular gifts and passions of God's people, and perhaps helped us further the revitalization process.
There is so much that is already going on out in the world. There are so many community-initiatives that are making a difference. Some of them are faith-based of course, others are not, but they are having a tremendous impact. What if, instead of trying to re-invent the wheel, we simply locked arms with the folks already at work in our communities? What if we came alongside them and offered our time, our talent, and our treasure in support? I am not saying we don't organize any programs at all, I am simply pointing out that there are lots of folks in our congregations who already hard at work serving God in many capacities. We have to start lifting their work up and honoring it as work for the Kingdom of God! And we have to include this in our metrics so we can get a true understanding of the kind of impact we are making as a community on our community.
yesterday I continued to reshape our understanding of church. I love the Marauder's Map from the Harry Potter novels. Right...while at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, Harry can open it and see exactly where everyone is located. We need a Marauder's Map for our churches, when we open it, we see people where they already are, like you mention. I shared my dream with the congregation I serve that when we think of church, this map is the picture that first comes to mind. It is empowering. I counseled adolescents in residential for four years while part of a wonderful church. Yet, I never felt part of the accepted ministry. People get it and it has taken several passes before the "aha" or lights went on. I am down with this metric, because for me pastoring has to do with bringing the gospel of the Kingdom to bear upon and give shape to what they are already doing.
Posted by: Joel Adams | August 25, 2008 at 12:08 PM
yesterday I continued to reshape our understanding of church. I love the Marauder's Map from the Harry Potter novels. Right...while at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, Harry can open it and see exactly where everyone is located. We need a Marauder's Map for our churches, when we open it, we see people where they already are, like you mention. I shared my dream with the congregation I serve that when we think of church, this map is the picture that first comes to mind. It is empowering. I counseled adolescents in residential for four years while part of a wonderful church. Yet, I never felt part of the accepted ministry. People get it and it has taken several passes before the "aha" or lights went on. I am down with this metric, because for me pastoring has to do with bringing the gospel of the Kingdom to bear upon and give shape to what they are already doing.
Posted by: Joel Adams | August 25, 2008 at 12:09 PM