As you plod along, Leadership on the Line gets better... slightly. Regardless, it's been read, replaced in the book box and the required reading list has registered one more check mark.
In the final chapters I was struck by what the authors call "the myth of measurement." In regards to effective corporate leadership they suggest that "trying to take satisfaction in life from the numbers you ring up is ultimately no more successful than making survival your goal." There has to be more to meaningful business (or life) than the numbers. And yet, isn't this the way we evaluate our success?
It seems to me that we measure that which we most value. In the church we complete each year by submitting a parochial report to the synodical offices accounting for the numbers of new members, transferred members, deaths, baptisms, type of curriculum that the Vacation Bible School folks employed and the number of students learning from that curriculum, etc.. I have declared in the past that one of the best indicators of congregational health is worship attendance and have (falsely) prided myself on the fact that in eighteen years of ministry the worship attendance in the congregations that I have served has always risen from one year to the succeeding year. It hasn't always risen significantly, but it has risen. But then, what is "significant"? Again, we measure what we most value.
As the story goes, there was once 100 sheep in the wilderness. The Great Shepherd of those sheep left 99 of them where they were and went in search of the 1 that was lost. If we were to ask that Shepherd which measurement was of greatest value to Him he would have replied, "One." We measure what we most value.
What if for this year's parochial report we sent to the synod not the average number of members we had worshipping at Atonement on the weekend but rather the number of persons who didn't make it...who were still somewhere "out there" waiting to be sought? What if the measurement that was most valuable to us was not the count of club members that decided to show up but the number of those who were yet to have relationship with God through Jesus Christ? What if we came to consider the church not as the destination but the instrument by which God reached out to that which He values the most... i.e. the world? After all, "God so loved the Church that He gave His only Son." NOT!
Rick, the staff and I are planning a worship and educational series for early this fall entitled, "Reformation Reloaded." It is this sort of rethinking that will lie at the heart of this study, will serve as the foundation for the emerging, missional church and will occupy me for the upcoming weeks.
In the final chapters I was struck by what the authors call "the myth of measurement." In regards to effective corporate leadership they suggest that "trying to take satisfaction in life from the numbers you ring up is ultimately no more successful than making survival your goal." There has to be more to meaningful business (or life) than the numbers. And yet, isn't this the way we evaluate our success?
It seems to me that we measure that which we most value. In the church we complete each year by submitting a parochial report to the synodical offices accounting for the numbers of new members, transferred members, deaths, baptisms, type of curriculum that the Vacation Bible School folks employed and the number of students learning from that curriculum, etc.. I have declared in the past that one of the best indicators of congregational health is worship attendance and have (falsely) prided myself on the fact that in eighteen years of ministry the worship attendance in the congregations that I have served has always risen from one year to the succeeding year. It hasn't always risen significantly, but it has risen. But then, what is "significant"? Again, we measure what we most value.
As the story goes, there was once 100 sheep in the wilderness. The Great Shepherd of those sheep left 99 of them where they were and went in search of the 1 that was lost. If we were to ask that Shepherd which measurement was of greatest value to Him he would have replied, "One." We measure what we most value.
What if for this year's parochial report we sent to the synod not the average number of members we had worshipping at Atonement on the weekend but rather the number of persons who didn't make it...who were still somewhere "out there" waiting to be sought? What if the measurement that was most valuable to us was not the count of club members that decided to show up but the number of those who were yet to have relationship with God through Jesus Christ? What if we came to consider the church not as the destination but the instrument by which God reached out to that which He values the most... i.e. the world? After all, "God so loved the Church that He gave His only Son." NOT!
Rick, the staff and I are planning a worship and educational series for early this fall entitled, "Reformation Reloaded." It is this sort of rethinking that will lie at the heart of this study, will serve as the foundation for the emerging, missional church and will occupy me for the upcoming weeks.
Each evening the sunset has elected to hide behind the clouds. So for now, I've borrowed someone else's image of an Ocean Isle Beach evening.
Peace!
2 comments:
In regards to your uncooprative sun set.... My all time favorite Ansel Adams quotes sums it up. (Pay close attention the the very first word.)
"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter." - Ansel Adams
Another one also fits...
"Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment." - Ansel Adams
Ah - the question of measurement brings this quote...If I only had 12 people in my congregation, and one of them ends up turning on me, one of them flat out denies he even knows me, and the rest bail out just when I need them most... would my ministry be a success or a failure?
And of course, one supplemental question would be, and if all of them subsequently went on to do what I'd taught them to do, what would your answer be then?
As you know, I attended church in Chicago where it cost $7 to park to attend church (instead of the regular $15). How many people would most congregations get on Sunday if that were the case?
I've seen this with youth groups that offer video-games as a draw to attendance. The kids show up, play the games (or whine through whatever activities are planned, until they get to pay the games), and leave - completely untouched by the events of the day. The group succeeds at hitting the attendance numbers - but their participation and commitment to the organization are effectively zero.
"Bodies in the pews" is a first approximation of health - but it is by no means a lasting measure of health. How do you quantify "changed lives"? Contributions? Participation in outreach or service? Number of prayer-ministry attendees?
One of my professors at St. Paul used to say that the best indicators of changed lives was the number of adult baptisms a congregation had, or the reaffirmations of faith after an extended absence - because these were lives that were not reached by infant baptism and tradition, but by an aware spiritual transformation. How would 90% of the Lutheran church (regardless of Synod) score on that measure?
I've always thought that it would be an interesting study to take the total population the Kansas City area, add up the Sunday attendance of all the Christian churches, then a separate total for the non-Christian services, and then see what our "market penetration" is.
For instance, at the church I'm visiting, their consultant's statistical study says 304 churches, synagogues, mosques and temples have a total weekly attendance of 33,028. Those same groups claim memberships totaling 221,252 - or only 48.6% of the population of Lucas and Wood counties. So only half of the population is represented as being "an adherent" of any faith at all - and only 15% of them actually participate on any given week.
I don't know how those numbers correlate nationally, but it sure ain't good...
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