Beyond the Numbers
We recently completed another weekend survey at GCC. We try and do a weekend survey about every 6 months or so to try and get a handle on the simple demographics of our congregation, their spiritual growth and other ministry related aspects. Being the numbers geek, I started thru the returns after the first service on Saturday. There I read stories behind the numbers that rocked my world.
We asked what I thought was a simple question –
If you can recall a specific next step you’ve taken toward Christ recently, what was it?I was prepared for the expected answers – I started to pray more, read my Bible, etc. All great next steps. The ones I wasn’t ready for were –
- I had a heart attack
- I had a mastectomy
- My husband left me
- I lost my job
…and many others.
These were the stories of people who saw life threatening and tragic situations as positive steps toward Christ. People whose faith in Jesus overshadowed their situation. People who would rather say “thank you Jesus for bringing us closer” than “why me?”.
Don’t focus on just the numbers. The numbers aren’t the whole story. Measuring Innovation is sometimes about telling stories.
3 comments:
What amazing leadership you must have at your church that people would have the spiritual maturity to recognize that getting closer to God often means experiencing greater issues in our earthly lives.
Wow,what an incredible question!!
I wonder how I could approach my lead pastor to do this. This would be awesome to hear since I serve in my church. Thanks for sharing. I'm thankful that Granger is reaching past the numbers
hcasa,
That was just one question on the all church survey that we did. The complete survey was 19 questions, mostly checkboxes that allowed us to get responses in a relatively short time period.
We take the first 10 minutes of each weekend service once every six months or so. It's pretty painless for our attendees, but it gives us some great feedback.
If you'd like to see what we use or use it for ideas you can find our survey on WiredChurches.com here
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