Measuring What Matters – 100 Meaningful Church Measurements

Finding the right measurements and defining the results to be measured is a significant challenge for the church. The things that matter most – transformed lives, spiritual growth, fruits of the spirit, congregational health – are the most difficult to measure.

And, numbers can be misleading, inaccurate and not tell the whole story. But is it worth the time and effort to measure what is truly meaningful? You bet!

Why? Because numbers do tell a story, measuring the mission of the church is important and every statistic does represent a life.

Jesus told parables about counting, the early church tracked numbers and Paul reported that “many thousands of Jews have believed” (Acts 21:20). The New Testament church cared that people believed and were baptized.

Likewise, the right metrics help church leaders assess effectiveness, identify opportunities for growth, provide accountability, gain insight into what works and to make good decisions about the allocation of precious resources.

Use the list below to stimulate your thinking and prompt your prayer for wisdom to count the ‘right things’ for your church.

Prayer Measurements

1. Number of prayer groups and prayer intercessors praying regularly
2. Percentage of members involved in individual and corporate prayer
3. Number of people unconnected to Christ being prayed for
4. Number of prayer training opportunities
5. Number of prayer resources developed and distributed
6. Number of prayer requests received
7. Number of prayer intercessors
8. Number of times people pray with someone outside the church
9. Number of community leaders prayed for by name
10. Number of national leaders prayed for by name
11. Number of fireman and policeman prayed for by name
12. Number of members who pray daily

Evangelism Measurements

1. Number of baptisms, by age
2. Number of professions of faith, by age as a result of mission trips and projects
3. Number who have prayed to receive Christ but not baptized
4. Number of anecdotal faith stories
5. Number of members who have faith conversations with the unconnected
6. Number of unconnected to Christ and/or unconnected to the church who are involved in Bible Studies
7. Number of people equipped to share the gospel
8. Number of unconnected first time guests in worship
9. Number of attenders who are not members
10. Number of outreach events
11. Number of conversions as a percentage of membership/worship attendance/Bible Study attendance

Worship Measurements

1. Number in Worship Attendance
2. Number of Worship Choir/Vocal Ensemble/Orchestra/Worship Service and Media Volunteers
3. Number of weekly Spiritual Decisions made in worship services
4. Number of Personal Worship Resources produced and distributed
5. Number of Life-Transforming Stories told in Worship Services
6. Multi-Generational and Multi-Ethnic representation in Worship Services
7. Percentage of attenders who by survey profess to connect with God in the worship services
8. Worship attendance as a percentage of the community population
9. Worship attendance as a percentage of Bible Study attendance
10. Worship attendance as a percentage of church membership

Discipleship Measurements

1. Average attendance and enrollment
2. Number of unique attenders each month
3. Percent/numerical increase in Bible Study enrollment and attendance
4. Number of new Bible Study groups started
5. Number of e-learning resources developed
6. Number of Bible Study visitors
7. Number completing New Believer/New Christian Classes
8. Number of Bible Study groups involved in Mission projects and trips
9. Number of new Discipleship leaders equipped/trained for ministry
10. Number of anecdotal stories of life-change from discipleship and mentoring
11. Number of members who read the Bible daily/weekly
12. Number who have read the Bible all the way through
13. Bible Study attendance as a percentage of church membership
14. Percentage determined by survey who consistently demonstrate the fruits of the spirit

Membership Measurements

1. Number of members
2. Percent growth in membership year over year
3. Number leaving the church
4. Number of members joining from other churches
5. Number attending new member class
6. Retention rate of new members

Family Measurements

1. Percentage of families involved in times of family prayer
2. Percent of parents who are using “God moments/teachable moments” to communicate spiritual truths to their children
3. Percent of parents who have a “faith talk/family devotion” at least once a week
4. Number of parents attending equipping events
5. Number of families/participants in family-friendly mission opportunities
6. Number of anecdotal stories that communicate the impact of parents who are providing spiritual development and influence in the home
7. Number of marriage enrichment opportunities provided

Leadership Measurements

1. Number of trained and deployed leaders
2. Number of new trained and deployed leaders
3. Percent/number of leaders who identify and train an apprentice
4. Number of interns and residents
5. Number of centralized and decentralized leadership training opportunities provided
6. Number of members attending seminary
7. Number of members serving on boards of faith based non-profits

Missions Measurements

1. Global partners impact (decisions for Christ, Mission trip participants and other member involvement, funding, etc.)
2. Community partners impact (decisions for Christ, member involvement, funding, etc.).
3. Number of members serving in full-time ministry
4. Number of church plants, multi-site campuses, people group ministries established
5. Number of leaders being developed and sent out to short term or full time missions
6. Number of revitalized dying churches
7. Number of church sponsored initiatives “outside the walls”
8. Number of members participating in mission trips
9. Number of members participating in mission projects
10. Number of Bibles distributed

Gifts/Service Measurements

1. Number of PLACE/SHAPE graduates
2. Percent of members actively engaged in using their gifts in a ministry
3. Number of members engaged in ministry sponsored by the church
4. Number of members serving in ministries outside the church
5. Number of pastoral care touches/hospital and nursing home visits
6. Number of pastoral counseling opportunities
7. Number of weddings and funerals
8. Total number of annual volunteer hours members provide inside the church and outside the church

Giving Measurements

1. Dollars given to all causes through the church
2. Per capita giving
3. Total number of giving units
4. Number of tithers; Number working towards the tithe; Number giving over and above the tithe
5. Designated giving
6. Comparison of giving to the average household income for the community
7. Number of first time givers
8. Dollars invested in the community
9. Dollars invested in mission related endeavors
10. Dollars given to benevolence; number of people helped

Resource Measurements

1. Number of different intellectual properties developed and shared with other churches
2. Web site metrics
3. TV and live streaming statistics
4. Times facility and equipment used by ministry partners and the community for outreach purposes
5. Number and effectiveness of messages communicated to the congregation and community as determined through survey systems

What other measurements would you add?

Posted on September 1, 2015
Tags: Church MetricsMeaningful MetricsMeasurementMeasurementsMeasuring What MattersMinistry Measurement