VALUE-Able Ministry:
28 Value Related Questions
By Glenn A. Lucas
What does
your church value? How do you know? Values are those things that shape and give
direction to our lives and in the case of a church its ministries. They can be
actual or aspirational. For example many people aspire to a healthy diet and
exercise but their actual behavior of eating fast food and being a couch potato
demonstrate their actual values. Churches do the same thing. Many churches list
outreach as a value but little effective outreach is happening in the church.
Their budget, attitudes, and ministries do not support the value. Most of their
ministries and dollars are invested in taking care of people already part of
the church. Outreach is an aspirational value in many churches. So, the
questions again, what does your church value and how do you know?
One way
to discover your personal values and those of your church is to apply the TERM
test. The TERM test asks you to look at four areas of your life and ministry.
Time
One measure
of what a church actually values is to look at where it is investing its time.
Take a look at the church's calendar
and staff schedules. Here are some questions to consider:
- How many meetings does the
church have each month?
- What ministries are being
executed?
- How much time is focused on
the harvest and how much time is focused on tending the grain?
- How much time is spent in
preparation for worship, Bible studies, welcoming guests, youth and
children ministries, adult ministries, outreach, etc.?
- How much time is spent by
your pastor and staff building relationships with new people? How much is
spent with those already in the Kingdom?
- How much time is spent
evaluating the effectiveness of each ministry in helping the church
realize its mission?
- What are the biggest time
wasters in your church? What can your church do to eliminate the waste of
this precious resource?
Energy
A second
measure of what a church actually values is to consider where it is spending
its energy. When considering where your church exerts itself and expends energy
think about physical energy, mental energy, emotional energy, and spiritual
energy. Some questions to measure the expenditure of the church's energy:
- How much of your
conversations and planning is about providing ministry for members?
- How much of your
conversations and planning is about reaching new people with the gospel?
- When your church prays each
week how much of the prayer time focuses on the needs of the people of the
church and how much focuses on those outside the church including the
lost?
- When your church holds a
meeting what is the agenda?
- Where do conflicts arise in
your church? How are they resolved?
- What is the prayer life of
your congregation?
- About what are your pastor
and staff passionate? How do you know?
Resources
The third
measure of what a church values can be determined by how it uses its limited
resources. Resources include people and property. Every church has paid and
unpaid staff as well as volunteers who execute ministry. As you think about
people resources it is important to consider how your church utilizes their
gifts, talents, and time and make sure you're
not wasting any of the above. Here are some questions to consider:
- Does your church assess
people's spiritual gifts? How
are gifts matched to ministry in your church?
- How are leaders developed and
deployed in your church?
- How many people does it take
to execute each ministry in your church?
- Which ministries are the most
effective in reaching new people and which ministries are most effective in
developing disciples?
- Are all ministries and staff
evaluated based on clear goals and outcomes?
- Who assesses and maintains
your property?
- Can/does the community use
your property as a resource?
Money
While
money can be viewed as a resource it is such an important measure of what a
church values that it gets its own focus. The easiest way to assess what your
church actually values is to get out its check book and look at where the
limited dollars are being invested.
- In most churches the staff
line item is the largest expenditure the church makes. Is your staff
aligned with the mission of the church and your stated values?
- How much of your budget is
focused on the harvest and how much is geared toward maintaining the
grain?
- When you evaluate a ministry
does the evaluation include dollar performance against the effectiveness
of the ministry in achieving the mission of the church?
- Does your church teach
stewardship, including tithing? What process does your church use to grow
members into generous givers?
- What percentage of your
church's income is designated
for outside ministries?
- Which comes first? Ministry
planning or budget planning (i.e. Does the church figure out what ministry
it wants to execute to fulfill its mission and then budget toward that end
or does it figure out how much money it has and determine what ministry it
will do based on the dollars available?)?
- How are decisions made about
the expenditure of funds in your church?
It is
important that a church be clear about what it values because they help to
determine what ministries a church will and will not do. Very often, the choice
of where to invest time, energy, resources, and money is a choice between two
goods. Values joined with mission helps a church choose which ministry it will
do. Conversely when a church is unclear about what it values its ministries are
often unfocused and less effective because there is no defined measure for what
they should or should not do. To be effective church leaders, staff and members
need to be able to articulate what the church values and point out specific
ways those values are being realized in the mission of the church.
Finally,
it takes work to identify and guard the values of a church but when they are
identified and lived out the church stands a better chance of being effective
in mission and ministry.
