Consideration/Evaluation
This post is the seventh in a series around the C’s of leadership, featuring a different Leadership C with each new post. Whether you lead a corporation, a church, a department, a classroom, or a family, HOW you lead has enormous impact on those you lead.
OK, first off, it’s been more than two weeks since I blogged. With the holiday, I got behind. Secondly, while I’ve titling this “Consideration,” the words “review” or evaluation” are definitely better words… but they don’t start with a C and I’ve already confessed my bias for alliteration.
Years ago, I attended a church growth training event. At the event, a leader said that, after any ministry concludes (short-term and long-term), there should always be an autopsy. I’ve always remember that and it came to mind again when I recently read a great article from the Lewis Center. You can access it here: https://www.churchleadership.com/leading-ideas/7-questions-to-determine-if-your-advent-traditions-are-still-meaningful/?utm_source=cc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=LI20231108
However, isn’t it a bit late? Many churches had their Advent calendared out two months ago. Nevertheless, the questions were too good to waste. So, why not use them in January to consider or evaluate the effectiveness of your annual Advent traditions/events. Plus, having pastored in the real world, I know it can take months (sometimes years) for people to release time-honored traditions even if their effectiveness is now minimal. So, if we evaluate in January, we might be able to discern, release, grieve and be ready to create something new and more impactful for Advent, 2024.
Below are some of the Lewis Center’s questions adapted for a review context:
- When this ministry/event began, who was its targeted population? Is that who attended this year? If not, why might this be? Does this population still exist in our neighborhood? If they do, are their needs/interests the same or have they evolved? Did this year’s event attract a specific demographic? If so, who? What do we know about this population and why might it have attracted them?
- Are there “churchy” patterns or rituals associated with this event that have become foreign to our secular, contemporary culture? And if so, are those patterns/rituals still important? And if they are still important, how might we express them in more cultural accessible ways?
- How did you hope people would response to this outreach ministry/event? Is that, in fact, how they responded? If your goal was for them to join your church and start volunteering and giving financially, that’s a pretty self-serving goal. As Carey Niewhouf says, that’s something we want FROM people, not FOR people. So, go deeper. What do you hope FOR people and how did this event communicate that hope.
- Finally, did this event foster building human connections and cultivating Christian community? Today in America, most people don’t need to go far to get food, entertainment, and social services that are better than the food, entertainment and services provided by most local churches. So, offer people what the Church can distinctively offer: a connection to Christ and community!
traceyleslie 