Unless you have a devil worship ministry, all of the ministries in your church are probably good. That’s why good or bad can’t be the measuring stick. But certain ministries, programs and event are more effective at accomplishing your mission and vision.
When you’re evaluating, you must do so honestly and without emotional attachment. There’s a good chance some good comes out of each ministry, so you’ve got to look honestly as a good steward.
A while ago, I was meeting with a church leadership team helping them evaluate their ministries. One of the team members in the meeting was highly committed to a particular program. He said, “If just one person meets Jesus through this event, then isn’t it worth it?” I think he was surprised when I said, “No.”
Of course, it’s great if one person meets Jesus. That’s cause for celebration in heaven and on earth. But what if the time, money, energy were used elsewhere in a ministry that helped 10 people come to know the Lord? Wouldn’t that be a more effective use of resources?
That’s why effectiveness has to be our key measuring stick in evaluation.
Action Step #2: Replace it with something.
Let’s say you’ve done the hard work of evaluating and have decided that a particular ministry or program is no longer effective. When you’re ready to stop it, here’s what you do next.
Don’t just cancel it or stop it … replace it with something.
In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul encouraged Christians not to be conformed to the pattern of the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. The secret to being a non-conformist was to actually replace the world’s thoughts with godly thoughts. The key to getting rid of ungodly habits is replacing them with good ones. The key to escaping the traps of the world below is to set your mind on things above.
This is a great teaching principle for church growth, but the same principle applies here. If you want your church to stop spending time and money on an ineffective program or ministry, show them the alternative. Cast vision for the better use of time.
When you’re stopping a program or ministry, the idea isn’t to give up. It’s to refocus. It’s to reorient your budget and your volunteers to a program that’s more effective. It’s not a retreat; it’s an advance.
Now maybe you’ll replace it with something new, but it’s far more likely (and helpful) that you’ll replace it with a renewed focus on something else you’re already doing.
Here’s an example.
Let’s say your church does a mid-week children’s program during the summer. It’s got worship, teaching and snacks. It takes a dozen volunteers a good bit of time, and you allocate some resources in the budget.
You’ve also done a week-long Vacation Bible School each summer. It takes two dozen volunteers, involves multiple planning meetings and gets an even larger chunk of the children’s ministry budget. As you look at VBS, you realize it’s mostly church kids (from your church) and other church kids (whose parents love the free childcare). You evaluate and make the hard decision to stop doing VBS.
But instead of just pulling the plug, you take the volunteers and budget dollars and put them into the existing Wednesday night program. Suddenly, what you do every week is dramatically better. Volunteers are happier. Every Wednesday night is a VBS-like experience.
I’m not arguing you make this change (I’m a six-time VBS graduate!). It might be the right call to do the exact opposite. But the goal here is to refocus energy and money, not cancel stuff to free up time for nothing.
