Evaluating Your Ministry

Periodic evaluation of ministry is necessary to ongoing development and innovation. It is a sign of godly wisdom to consider or evaluate one’s way. Evaluation is a part of OC culture. Research tools and techniques can be used to aid evaluation the evaluation process. Specific examples of how Surveys, Focus Groups, Interviews, Participant Observation, Time Management Evaluations and Formal Research Projects can be used to evaluate ministry.

Outline

  • A Biblical Basis for Evaluation
  • Evaluation is a Part of OC Culture
  • Evaluation Tools
    1. Surveys and Questionnaires
    2. Focus Groups and Interviews
    3. Participant Observation
    4. Time Management Evaluation
    5. Formal Qualitative or Quantitative Research Projects

A Biblical Basis for Evaluation

Words like “feedback and evaluation” are not normally found in the biblical text, but the concepts are present. The concepts of receiving feedback (counsel, consultation, discipline) and evaluation (consider his steps) are especially evident in Proverbs. Here are several key verses.

    Prov. 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.
    Prov. 11:14 Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.
    Prov. 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.
    Prov. 14:8 The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way, But the foolishness of fools is deceit.
    Prov. 14:15 The naive believes everything, But the sensible man considers his steps.
    Prov.15:14 The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on folly.
    Prov. 15:22 Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed.
    Prov. 19:20 Listen to counsel and accept discipline, That you may be wise the rest of your days.
    Prov. 24:3-6 By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power. For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in abundance of counselors there is victory.

Evaluation is a Part of OC Culture

Evaluation is a significant part of OC culture. Teams and individual missionaries are encouraged to engage in periodic evaluation though the objective process, tracking of progress toward ministry objectives, the annual evaluation process and writing monthly highlights.
Each fall OC teams establish objectives and goals. This process encourages a team to discuss its progress toward the team’s vision and goals. Discussion of the SWOT themes is often useful: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It is also a time to ask “What is God doing in our context? Where is God at work? How can we align ourselves with what God is doing? The outcome of the objective process is the establishment of team objectives and goals. From these team objectives, each team member is encouraged to develop personal ministry goals and objectives. ?” (See the OC Objective Process Manual for more detail)
Both team and personal ministry goals should be SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time –Bound. Because these objectives are measurable, research tools can be used to evaluate progress toward the desired ends. Each quarter the Field Director or Team Leader prepares a progress report on objective. Monthly each team member provides “highlights” and comments on progress toward objectives.

Each yearly OC gathers from the Field information about ministry impact, e.g. Number of leaders trained, number of new churches started, Number of Bible Studies started, Number of professions of faith, Number of people receiving publications, number of people visiting website(s), number of children educated, etc.
Yearly all OC personnel have performance evaluations. Each OC missionary is expected to have a Personal Development Plan and to be working on the specified development goals.

The evaluation process is enhanced if certain “habits” are developed. When writing monthly highlights strive to provide the measurable information that will be needed to prepare the quarterly and annual reports.

  • If you start a Bible Study, indicate how many people participated.
  • If you have a conference, or meeting or training event, note the number of participants.
  • Track the number of church starts, professions of faith, Bible Studies started, etc.

Also when a team or a person works through the evaluation process, action points need to be developed so that concrete steps will be taken to improve. It is a sad situation when no follow up action is taken after an evaluative process. “Fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7). Coaching or accountability can be helpful in implementing positive change. These are practical ways to “to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24).

Evaluation Tools

1. Surveys and Questionnaires

If you have a regular news letter or bulletin you send out, periodically hold a reader’s survey to gain feedback on articles people would like to see. Once our team asked about how many people read our publication. We were shocked to discover the number of secondary readers – Our audience was many times larger than the number of our distribution list.

When you have a training event or conference, use this opportunity to solicit feedback. Participant evaluation forms are often used. Give thoughtfully prepare the questionnaire. Surveys can also now be done on-line, which can increase participation and aid the interpretation of results. You may wish to ask about the schedule, accommodations and food service. Give opportunity for participants to rate workshops and plenary sessions. Also provide opportunity for general comments and ask for suggestions to improve the event in the future. Analyzing the responses can provide feedback that will enable you to improve the next training event.
Likewise a training event or conference is an ideal time to distribute a ministry survey. Don’t overlook this opportunity to ask questions about leader’s needs, needs in the churches, etc.

Another point is to follow up with conference or training participants. We are interested what they have done after the event. (We all have been to conferences, enjoyed the experience, but implemented nothing when returning home. “Been there. Done that. Got the Notebook.”) Surveying participants six months or a year after an event is one way to track results of the conference. After all, if a training event was held to promote church planting, but we receive no feedback whether or not participants actually started any new churches, how can we evaluate our effectiveness? Be intentional, then, in creating a feedback loop so that ministry activity can be evaluated.

2. Focus Groups and Interviews

Debriefing. Another approach to event evaluation is to hold a short debrief with event organizers immediately following the event. In research jargon this is technically called a focus group. The KISS acronym is useful in remembering four key words that are useful in evaluating an event

    KEEP – What worked well that we wish to retain for future events?
    IMPROVE – What should we improve upon next time?
    STOP – What problems arose that we do not want to happen again? How can we prevent those problems from happening? How can we be proactive?
    START – What are some new things we should start next time?

Have a “secretary” take notes of the discussion. It is helpful to use four large sheet of paper with the titles KEEP, IMPROVE, STOP, START to note people’s observations. If you use a white board, take a picture of what was written down. The secretary should prepare a digital summary of the Focus Group’s findings and share this will the organizers. When it is time to start planning the next event, refer to this KISS evaluation.

Evaluate your ministry with board members or ministry partners. Invite board members and other ministry partners to a round table discussion about your team’s ministry. Prepare a set of discussion questions beforehand. You may choose to start with a short presentation about your ministry vision, goals and objectives. Have a secretary take notes of people’s comments.

360° Leadership Review. A 360°Leadership review is when a leader asks peers, direct reports and line leadership to provide feedback about his or her leadership effectiveness. This feedback can help a leader be aware of blind spots, needs of others to taken into consideration, etc.. Areas for personal development may be suggested. And of course, praise will be received for strengths.

Field Test New Ministry Materials. It is good to field test new ministry materials before printing a large number. Allow participants to give feedback on the relevance of the material and the training process. Use a simple evaluation form or have a discussion at the end of the training. If a translation is being tested, ask about what terms were “foreign” sounding, or hard to understand. Ask what better terms could be used. Invite people to point out grammatical or typographical errors in printed materials. I’ve found it useful to listen to nationals present the ministry materials and note where they have restated concepts in a more natural way. This type of feedback is invaluable to improving ministry materials.

Interview Pastors and Church Planters. Ask them about fruitful practices, contextualization issues, cultural issues, their perception of OC’s ministry and what they perceive as Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This kind of information enables the team to sharpen its ministry focus.

3. Participant Observation

Vision Trips. When you hear of a ministry that is fruitful, go visit that ministry and observe what they are doing. Ask questions. You will likely learn much about fruitful practices by first hand observation. It is recommended to take a group as groups learn faster than individuals. Debrief your vision trip to gain the most insights.
Church Visits. Visit a variety of churches to learn about the “Christian Culture” and “denominational distinctives.” This knowledge will enable you to contextualize your message and methods for that particular group. For example, with Brethren Groups, don’t speak about Pastors, but elders. Choose modes of prayer that suit the group. For some groups, it is worldly if you wear a neck tie; with other groups it is disrespectful if you do not wear a neck tie. For women, the issue of head covering, makeup and attire can be an issue.

Cultural Understanding. By observing how people interact in the culture, you can learn how people view time, communication styles, problem resolution styles (director or indirect), attitudes about planning ahead, Etc. You will also learn what is acceptable customs about greetings, hospitality, showing respect, personal hygiene, meal time, etiquette, funerals, celebrations, etc. Discovering these cultural values and practices will enable you to “become all things to all men, so… by all means save some.” (1 Cor. 9:22) and learn to “Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God” (1 Cor. 10:32).

4. Time Management Evaluation

Scripture directs us to effectively manage our time. “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15,16). For a week or even a month, track how you use your time in order to improve your time management. Consider if your schedule reflects the most effective use of your time. Does your schedule reflect your stated priorities? Consider if you can delegate tasks to others so that you can focus on more important issues. Are there activities you need to stop, either because that activity is no longer necessary or is a “time waster”? You may be discouraged when you see that little of your time is focused on important ministry objectives. But remember the 80/20 Pareto Principle: 80% of your results come from 20% of your activities. So the 20% of the time that you might be able to focus on important ministry goals actually gets you 80% of your results.

5. Formal Qualitative or Quantitative Research Projects

A team or individual may decide that a formal research project is needed to evaluate a ministry. This might be especially the case if “fruitfulness “is less than desired. A deeper look into the factors that are help or help or hinder fruitfulness may be necessary. This could be either a qualitative or quantitative research project. The Breakthrough research manual prepared by Stan Nussbaum from GMI might be of use in getting at the contributing factors for a lack of fruit and help identify fruitful practices.

Which of these research tools would be useful to evaluate your ministry? What will you do to improve your ministry through evaluation?

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