New Metrics For A New Season

It’s no surprise to any Pastor that this is a new season of ministry as we navigate a Global pandemic and its effects on individuals all around the world. But a new reality for Pastors is that this is a season where the old metrics we used to help gauge our effectiveness have gone out the window.

Soft Metrics and Hard Metrics

We used to be able to use soft metrics to help us understand where people were at. We’d see our congregation or newcomers Sunday to Sunday and that brief interaction would often give us an idea of where they were at spiritually and emotionally. Hard metrics, such as attendance, newcomers, salvations, and giving, helped inform our next steps and were useful tools for measuring our effectiveness. Thanks to reduced attendance, mandatory masking, and social distancing, those soft and hard metrics are out the window.

We’re Flying Blind

The phrase heard from Pastors is, “we’re flying blind”.  The idea that we can measure our effectiveness with a Sunday to Sunday metric is not possible. And, although we know we’re in the air and we know that we have some gas left (finances). We can’t gauge our direction or trajectory or altitude because those instruments no longer work.

It’s Time To Introduce New Metrics

Pastors are needing some new instruments to help them stay afloat and pointed in the right direction, fulfilling the Great Commission in their communities and beyond. New gauges are needed for measuring success and helping pastors approach their workweek with vigour and direction. I am recommending these metrics be set and measured quarterly for the coming year. 

Metric 1: How many people have we touched with the Love of Jesus?

This metric is about doing good deeds, sowing seeds of blessing, and gathering good will in the broader community. When you bless people, you lower their presuppositions to the Gospel and to the church. Small “guerilla-style” blessings would be my recommendation: teachers’ appreciation, front line workers’ donut party, local business blessings, food hampers, community clean up, school supplies, and more. Keep it doable by 3-6 volunteers and within a 0-100$ budget. Make sure that everything you do has your church name, logo, and website attached to it plus this simple message:

“God Loves You”

A message of a gift that comes from the love of God will plant seeds of faith in the lives of those who receive it. You should also take pictures and post these acts of kindness on social media and community forums. Spread the message of light and love to the community and start a revolution of kindness declaring, “God loves ________(name of my city)” 

Metric 2: How many new community relationships have I formed?

This isn’t about making new friends; this is about making connections in the community with people who have a desire and duty to contribute to the welfare of your city; school principals, nurses, city councillors, business owners, non-profit leaders, and your local chamber of commerce. Build bridges of connection by simply asking them, “how are things going?” This creates empathy and shared concern. After listening to them, ask, “What is your biggest challenge?” The heart of this question is to discern what problem they are trying to solve for the community and where your church may be able to play a part. You have the opportunity to be a broker in this community connection. You can broker:

Your People: A one-off volunteering opportunity that will allow your church to sow seeds of blessing

Your Building: An opportunity to use your building as a community space mid-week

Practical Resources: Sleeping bags, hampers, snack foods, slippers, toothbrushes, and more can all be used to help organizations in need without allocating budget towards them. 

So now it’s time to get out there and form new connections in your community. Set out to do 2 a month. Mobilize a few of your trusted leaders to do the same. 

Metric 3: How many new digital connections have we made?

Online technology has been a lifesaver for the church, however, it has also created some confusion. Churches have seen an increase in digital connection, but many don’t know what to focus on. This metric is all about looking at NEW and UNIQUE connections to digital platforms. Outfit your website with SEO and Google Analytics to help you dig into the data of “who is clicking on the site”. YouTube and Facebook also allow you to see new likes, new views, and new connections using their insights and Analytics tools.  Once you start looking, you will probably discover that your NEW and UNIQUE visitor numbers are down. Then it’s time to create content and generate ad campaigns to engage new visitors in the digital space. You can read about how to do that here.  

Metric 4: Where are our people?

In the past 12 months, churches have seen the diaspora of their congregation. There may be 40% of the congregation that they would consider engaged, but the rest have become increasingly disengaged. The way to begin to move people to fully engaged is to update and begin to use your database to do more than just track giving. Once you have your data base, highlight each name with the following colors:

Green:  These people are currently engaged in your church either on-site or online.  They attend, comment, volunteer, and are a part of a small group.

Yellow: These people are somewhat engaged. You know where they are but they don’t really attend or volunteer. 

Red: These people are not engaged on-site/online. They don’t respond or have a very limited response to any church communications.

Once you have all of your congregation highlighted, the goal becomes to move the reds to yellows and yellows to greens. Utilize your church leaders to reach out to these individuals and invite them to a deeper level of engagement. It’s important to note that we are not using guilt or shame to do this. Instead, we are indicating to these individuals their importance to the church. We are not asking them to attend, but to contribute. Everybody wants to be loved and needed. This process is about letting them know, “we need you”. Imagine in the next six months that you have increased engagement in your church by 50%. This would be a great thing. 

Shifting Priorities

Many pastors read these new metrics and say, “how am I going to do that? I’m busy enough.”.  And that’s a true statement. The reality is that we must shift our priorities in this season away from the Sunday to Sunday rhythm and to a Week Day engagement rhythm. Get creative in how you can reduce some of your preparation and execution time for Sunday morning; bring in guest speakers, have your own congregation speak, utilize YouTube worship. Reserve the energy that you currently spend on preaching to 40% of your congregation and utilize it to engage your community and increase engagement within your own congregation. 

Monday is Coming

So this week, when you sit down in your office. Here’s what you can do:

• Reduce your energy on prepping and presenting your Sunday service

• Prep and execute a pop-up and blessing to your community in the next 14 days

• Connect with a new community member and see how you can pray for them or potentially partner with them

• Create online content that will generate new visitors to your website and social sites. 

• Look at your database and connect with a red and a yellow to move them one step closer to fully engaged. 

Fast Forward to December 2021

Imagine if, at the end of the year, you have touched 2,000 people with the love of Jesus in your community, formed 50 new community connections, seen a 50% increase in new engagement online, and more of your congregation engaged and involved in the mission of the church. Would you feel like you’ve been effective? I believe you will. You don’t need to fly blind, you can get to your destination of being a soul-winning, disciple-making church. 

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