16. External Communications: community awareness of church; regular media coverage; engagement within the local community.
17. Marketing: clear branding of the church; brand known to the community; effective marketing campaigns.
18. Discipleship: classes, seminars, specialized small groups and studies; knowledge of such resources; enlistment into such resources.
19. Next Steps: clear next steps to move people from the “crowd” to the “core”; classes to take, ways to get involved.
20. Vision: clearly articulated vision of future and growth/outreach.
21. Mission: strong sense of mission, clear target on the wall, turned outward versus inward; knowledge of who we are trying to reach.
22. Internal Morale: spirit of the church; enthusiasm toward the church and its staff/leadership; energy and commitment levels.
23. Volunteers: engaged, encouraged and enthused volunteers pursuing the mission; commitment of volunteer base; clear communication of need and opportunity for volunteers.
24. Staff Morale: attitude of staff; unity of staff; staff’s perception of appreciation.
25. Staff Quality: abilities of staff; capacity of staff; professionalism of staff; effectiveness of staff.
26. Leadership: staff well-led at all levels; vision and direction clearly articulated; wise decision-making; effective communication; staff training and development.
27. Volunteer Leadership: identifying and training key leaders; finding those who understand the church’s DNA the mission, vision and values.
28. Macro-Thinking: subministries of the church relate to each other and the church as a whole does not seem to fall into “silos” where they think only of their own interests.
29. The Relay Race: if the goal is to evangelize the lost, assimilate the evangelized, disciple the assimilated and then unleash the discipled … how are we doing at handing the baton off at each juncture?
30. Prayer: clear reliance on God through prayer on the staff level, team level, volunteer level, church level.
There you have it.
Thirty areas for thoughtful reflection. I’m sure there are many more areas for consideration, but at least this gets your conversation started.
Like it did ours.
And again, the point is not “How do I get my church growing?” It’s “What is keeping our church from growing?”
And then answering the question.
