Why the Pendulum on Church Metrics May Be Swinging Too Far

There is a pendulum swing in church leadership circles as it relates to the viewpoint of church metrics. Numbers and tracking numbers aren’t inherently bad, but they can be abused. Today, we discuss this swing and the negative sentiments often associated with it.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

• If numbers are all you care about at your church, you may end up compromising on principles to get the numbers up.
• What you measure in a church becomes important to the church.
• Tracking metrics will move you to action in certain ways because you have a more accurate picture of reality thanks to the trends shown by the metrics.
• Group participation and attendance is the most important discipleship-related metric to track.

The nine observations we discuss are:

1. Emphases on church metrics have been cyclical.
2. Understanding the phenomenon through the lens of mainline denominations.
3. Metrics engender accountability
4. Metrics move leaders to action
5. Key metric: worship attendance
6. Key metric: groups attendance
7. Key metric: total and general giving
8. Key metric: conversions
9. Trend today: responding to metrics too late

Resources mentioned in today’s podcast

• Church Answers
• Why Giving Goes Down When Attendance Goes Up – Rainer on Leadership #527

Rainer on Leadership is a member of the LifeWay Leadership Podcast Network

Episode Sponsors

The mission at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping students to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission. The school offers more than 40 different degree programs, including the new Master of Arts in Church Revitalization in partnership with Church Answers and the Revitalization Network. This 37-hour degree is designed to help students move established churches from flatlining to flourishing.

Learn about this program and more by visiting sebts.edu. Where are you going? Southeastern will help you get there.

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