10 Ways to Evaluate Your Church Members’ Spiritual Growth

It’s no secret that many churches have not done a good job with discipleship. My generation talked about it, but seldom thought about it strategically. If you want to find out about the discipleship level of your congregation, consider some of these ways:

  • Ask individuals. Ask members when you’re with them: “Which of the following best describes you: unsure of your salvation; a newer believer never discipled; an older believer never really discipled; an older believer who’s been discipled?” Simply asking the question will tell you much.
  • Do a congregational survey. You might use the above questions, or you might create others. My experience is that believers appreciate the opportunity to be honest about their spirituality without feeling judged. Church Answers’ “Know Your Church” report is actually a congregational survey about the church’s health, but it will give you some information about where your people are, too. 
  • Listen to people. Pay attention to how they talk about life, trouble, and faith. Listen for evidence that they know/don’t know the Word. Simply hearing them talk about prayer (or even listening to their prayers) can tell you something. 
  • Strongly encourage members to join a small group. It’s in the more personal relationships of small groups that we learn about individual lives. Train your small group leaders to take do steps #1 and #3 above so they can help you evaluate your congregation.  
  • Create some small group case studies. Put your members in hard situations where they have to discuss what they think (e.g., what do you think happens to the person in the African bush who dies without ever hearing about Jesus?), and you’ll learn where your folks are.
  • Return to the basics in preaching and teaching. Tell your folks what you’re doing, and explain you want to make sure they have a strong foundation of the basics. Go back and teach what the words “Bible” and “testament” mean. Challenge your members to memorize the books of the Bible. Teach them how to pray as you would a child. Listen to their feedback, and I won’t be surprised if you find you’re speaking to where much of your congregation is.   
  • Do an anonymous doctrinal/theological survey of your congregation. Years ago, I asked D.Min. students to do this kind of survey, and many were often surprised (almost painfully) by their findings. These students–who were solid, Bible-believing leaders–learned they still had work to do in discipling their congregations. 
  • Invest in a few members through mentoring. When you’re walking with a few people in a personal and intense way, you’ll learn much about where they are. Think about this plan: invest in a newer believer and an older believer, and share life with them along the way. You’ll learn much about their walk. 
  • Find out how many members are intentionally investing in other believers. The greater the discipleship level of your congregation is, the more likely it is that mature believers will be mentoring others. They will give to others what others have given to them. 
  • Honestly evaluate your own spiritual growth. Seldom do our churches grow much when we’ve stopped growing ourselves. 

    • What other ways would you add to this list? 

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