If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know I don’t often devote much attention to recommending resources—but I’m doing so today because I believe both of these resources are significant ones.
When I do church consultations, it usually doesn’t take long to learn where churches need to learn more in order to take the next healthy steps. Most churches don’t know their own congregations well (that is, they don’t know how the congregations assesses itself), and they don’t know their community well (that is, they often don’t know who lives in their ministry area).
In fact, I usually ask church leaders these two questions that they seldom answer accurately:
- On a scale from “very unhealthy” to “very healthy,” where do you think your congregation would describe itself?
- What’s the largest generation of people living within your ministry area?
Leaders often overestimate what the church thinks about itself, and they seldom know the largest generation around them; thus, they don’t know their flock or their field – and it’s hard to grow or revitalize a church without that knowledge.
That’s why I recommend these two resources available from Thom Rainer’s Church Answers group:
- Church Health Report: This extensive survey of church members and staff lets you know how healthy the church sees itself in the areas of worship, evangelism, discipleship, ministry, prayer, and fellowship – and it then offers an overall assessment of the church’s health according to the congregation. Thom Rainer and I created this instrument years ago, and we’ve seen many churches use it effectively to assess themselves. It’s available fully online, and I’m convinced it’s an important tool for any church leadership team.
- Know Your Community Report: This report provides both demographic information (who the people are) and psychographic information (what the people prefer). It provides up-to-date information, and it’s designed specifically for churches. In one readable report, you can learn extensive data about your ministry field.
The Church Health Report is $300, and the Know Your Community Report is $175. In my estimation, both resources are well worth the investment. Click on the links above if you’d like more information about either resource.