While no church is likely to ever say, “We’ve arrived!” when talking about their spiritual journey, there are churches happy to say, “We’re moving in the right direction!”
But how do you know where your church is spiritually if you have no means of measuring the issues that bring transformation to lives and communities? Fortunately, quality church assessment tools can help leaders identify strengths and weaknesses in your church and where your church is following Christ and living on mission.
Here are four that can help you:
Transformational Church. In 2012 hundreds of churches participated in LifeWay’s Transformational Church initiative, giving their congregations an accurate look at where they believe they are in their spiritual journey. LifeWay developed Transformational Church by surveying thousands of churches from multiple denominations that are leading examples of spiritual transformation providing a biblical framework for the Transformational Church Assessment Tool (TCAT). This framework helps churches evaluate how they are doing with a new scorecard. The TCAT helps churches get an honest look at how their members perceive they are doing in relation to spiritual transformation. The results provide them with a snapshot of perceived strengths and perceived challenges based on the seven elements of a transformational church: missionary mentality, vibrant leadership, relational intentionality, prayerful dependence, worship, community and mission. The entire congregation is invited to participate. There is a cost.
Reveal. Churches are in the business of partnering with Christ to see lives changed. Often, though, it is hard to measure their effectiveness since spiritual growth is very hard to quantify. REVEAL for Church: Spiritual Life Survey measures spiritual growth. Born from state-of-the art research tools and the expertise of our veteran research professionals, the REVEAL for Church: Spiritual Life Survey provides you with a proven way to know whether or not your people are growing—in their relationship with Christ, and in their Love of God and others. The entire congregation is invited to participate. There is a cost.
Evaluating Church Readiness for Change The Change Readiness Assessment is designed as a practical tool for church leaders to ascertain how much “pain” they can expect from any improvement plan they intend to implement in a church. This has been field tested in numerous congregations around the country, but is not based on hard research. The goal is primarily to use it as a rough estimate as well as a discussion starter for church leadership teams. Free.
Natural Church Development. NCD started and continues as the largest biblical and empirical research project into the principles of healthy church growth in the world. It is about the non-negotiables of church development when all else is stripped away. It aims to put a stop to the toiling and spinning that so often pervades church life and replace it with unforced healthy growth based on the lessons we can learn if we take the time to ‘see how the flowers of the field grow’.
The NCD Survey for local churches draws upon the research and implementation learnings from over 70,000 churches in 86 countries. In so doing, it is able to lighten and simplify your ministry workload by showing you exactly where your time, treasure and talent would be best spent right now for maximum fruitfulness. For example, it will show you which of the following essentials of church life currently come most naturally to your church, and which do not…
- Empowering leadership
- Gift-based ministry
- Passionate spirituality
- Effective structures
- Inspiring worship service
- Holistic small groups
- Need-oriented evangelism
- Loving relationships
Rather than conforming your church to a particular model, NCD’s principle-based approach brings out the unique identity and purpose of your church so it can be all that God intends it to be. Just like a beautiful healthy forest, a healthy church is unique and rich in fruitful diversity. A selected team of 30 individuals is invited to participate in this survey, attempting to get a cross section of the church body. There is a cost.
