As we continue our evaluation of our churches this week, today’s questions focus on your church’s ministry and service. Use these questions to assess your congregation:
- Does your church have a person responsible for pastoral care in each small group? Small groups are likely where members will learn about each other’s life needs. If no one is responsible for pastoral care in the group, everybody will assume somebody else is doing it.
- Do members know how to connect with ministry caregivers? Churches that do ministry well make it easy for members to connect with caregivers. In a time of need, nobody has to “figure out” how to connect with the right person.
- Have you lost members because they fell through the cracks when facing a crisis? No church catches every need, but losses due to bad processes and unclear structures ought to cause leaders to evaluate the system in place.
- Does the church know the needs of the community? This point is really simple: a church cannot minister to the needs of its community if they do not know those needs. Can your church leaders describe the demographics of your community? the level of poverty? the needs in the schools? the social ills?
- What percentage of small groups did an outreach ministry event in the community last year? Tackling the needs of a community often involves targeted efforts, such as small groups of people taking on specific projects. The combined efforts of a congregation then impact the community.
- Is your congregation willing to cross barriers to reach people? Does your church know what ethnic groups live in your ministry area? If so, are they willing to cross cultures to share the gospel and plant churches? Is your church open to reaching out to people caught in bondages (e.g., sexual sin, addictions, etc.)?
- Does your church provide training in ministry (e.g., divorce recovery, grief care, hospital visitation, biblical counseling)? Even if your members are willing and ready to minister in the community, they will likely need some training. Ministering churches make sure to provide this training.
- Do church members see their homes as lighthouses for the gospel? Is their home simply a place to live, or is it a base for ministry? Churches that do ministry well lead members to see their home as a lighthouse and their street as a mission field.
- If your church disappeared from your community, would the community miss you? An honest answer to this question will tell you a lot about your church’s efforts to minister in your field.
Is your church a ministering church?
