Introducing Our NEW Ministry Review

Why a New Ministry Review?

We have big news for our churches and pastors regarding the annual Ministry Review. Over the last few years, the General Conference office and regional leadership have heard consistent feedback concerning the length of the Ministry Review, and we’ve heard questions about its usefulness. At the most recent Ad Council Meeting a new version of the Ministry Review that solely focused on new metrics and our CGGC values was approved.

Below you’ll find a rationale for the changes that have been made. The three core objectives we’ve established for these changes are: increasing accessibility, contextualizing questions, and fostering relationships.

Increasing Accessibility
First, we hope to make the new Ministry Review more accessible and easier to use by reducing length, by cutting redundant or unfit questions. By trimming off sections like this, we hope to save the local church time and energy, while also encouraging you to fill out the whole Ministry Review.

Contextualizing the Questions
Our second goal was to create questions which allowed churches to be specific about their context. This is why the new Ministry Review starts by asking about the local church’s vision and the different ways they are pursuing or meeting that vision. We recognize that in our big vision of maximizing our collective potential for Kingdom impact, there is a lot of room for different local visions that all add up to Kingdom impact.

Focusing on Relationship
Finally, one of our goals is to use this new Ministry Review as a tool to help foster conversation and relationship between churches and their regional leadership. Regional leaders ought to understand the culture of their region and should have positive relationships with pastors in their region, and we hope this fosters a greater sense of unity and co-operation for God’s Kingdom.

Also, we’d like to see the pastors, elders, deacons, and other people from the local church have an active input into these Ministry Review questions. We imagine that a group of church leaders could take an hour or two to answer these questions over a meal while building a sense of unity and ownership over the church’s direction and vision. 

Preview of the New Ministry Review Questions

FOR LOCAL CHURCH

Vital Connections:

• What is your church’s vision or mission statement? Does it have metrics toward that vision/mission that are actively measured?
• What percentage of your congregation is taking a leadership role in the congregation or church community?
• What areas of Christlikeness are you most focused on developing in your congregation in the next year? How are you developing that? How will you know if they are successful?
• What will your leaders and disciples need from you to grow in the next year?
• What are you doing so that congregational members feel like they are a meaningful part of their communities: congregational, local, and global?

Total Participation:

• How many church members do you have?
• What is the typical number of ministry participants across all congregation activities weekly? How many of your people are actively involved in a ministry of some kind each week? *Don’t count a person twice if they serve in multiple ministries*
• What is the average size of your weekly worship service(s)?
• Are you operating with a positive financial margin every month?
• What percentage of your congregation gives financially every year?
• How many baptisms have happened this year?
• Does your congregation participate in communion? If so, how often?
• Does your congregation participate in feet washing? If so, how often?

Global Mobilization:

• What do you see as being the most important local mission field in the coming year?
• What do you see as being the most important global mission field in the coming year?
• Are you engaging in online or digital mission/community? How?
• How many missional initiatives do you currently have implemented?
• What kind of new missional opportunities would you be interested in developing?

Daring Action:

• What was your greatest joy or success in leading this congregation in the last year?
• What is the biggest struggle or frustration heading into the next year in leading this congregation?
• What do you see as your greatest opportunity this upcoming year?
• What enables and/or prevents your congregation from succeeding in your mission and vision.

FOR REGIONAL DIRECTORS: Relational metrics for regional leadership:

Based on the responses to the ministry review, answer the following questions on a scale of (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree).  

1. This church has a vision/mission statement that aligns with the CGGC and is making progress towards that vision/mission statement.
2. This church produces disciples or leaders that will benefit this church and/or the region.
3. This church actively engages its local and/or global community.
4. This church seeks daring, but Spirit-led opportunities to build God’s kingdom.
5. This church views your office as a safe place to source of safety, trust, and counsel, and can share honestly

What's Next? 

We wanted to get these new metrics in front of our pastors and church leaders so they can begin look at their ministry through the lens of these questions. The pace and roll out of the Ministry Review will not change. We will still be asking for our churches to fill out the Ministry Review at the end of the year. With these new metrics, will come a new process to fill out the review. We are aiming at a simplified and more accessible version of the Ministry Review that will make filling it out easier. We will have further updates as that tool is finalized. 

While the Ministry Review is probably not the most exciting thing, we are excited about what it represents. It's another step toward measuring what matters, digging deeper into our values and our mission, and working together, from the local church to the regional offices, and to the national office. We want to leverage every part of our unique structure to maximize our collective potential for Kingdom Impact. 

In the future, you'll be able to find up to date information at the official New Ministry Review page. 

CGGC eNews—Vol. 17, No.  25

CGGC eNews