Measuring Impact – Missional Challenge

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How do you measure the impact of your ministry?
It’s important to know what matters and to determine where you will focus time and resources as you serve God in ministry.

At the end of the day, what counts?

I serve as a missionary with OC International. Recently I was handed a brochure that included the following picture of our global ministry impact in 2011:

Participants in Leadership Training Ministries: 239, 719
Decisions for Christ: 24,664
Short-Term Teams: 78
Partnership Relationships with Other Organizations: 435
Receiving OC Publications: 77,970
Leaders Mentored: 6,028
Churches Assisted/Coached: 6,206
Short Termers: 986
OC Field Publications: 39
Downloads from OC Websites: 11,893,548
Missionary Kids’ Schools Served: 17
Trained in Theology Institutions: 15,926
Churches Established: 2,199

Just reading this report tells me several things about what matters to our organization – and what appears to not matter as much. Paying attention to what you report as a ministry will give you insight into what really matters.

Think about what you report to others – whether you “report” formally in written form or informally in conversations or stories. What do you talk about to others?

Many times when I used to gather with pastors and church planters, it seemed that most conversations would gravitate to certain numbers – Sunday attendance was always one of them. It seems that the scorecard of effectiveness was always linked to how many people showed up to weekend services.

Now inside I knew that this wasn’t the most important measure of our ministry impact. Yet it seemed to be the thing that I was asked about most frequently.

What do you ask others about?

What numbers matter you?

How do you measure ministry impact?

I wonder what it might look like if attendance was talked about less while generations of disciplemakers was emphasized more.