I played offensive tackle on my high school football team. Each week our game was taped (actually filmed…it was a long time ago!). The coaches met over the weekend to review the film and graded each player. The coaches knew every play that was called, so on every play they watched to see if each of us did what he was supposed to do. It was a humbling experience–my “grades” were never very high because sometimes I failed to block my man or more often I blocked the wrong man!
It was easy for the coaches to evaluate my performance in a football game. They knew what I was supposed to do and compared my performance to the standard. But how does a church evaluate its “performance” each week. (I realize we don’t think of worship as a “performance,” so it might be better to ask, How does a church evaluate its Sunday service each week?)
That’s a good question, but we’ve got to start with a different question: What’s the purpose of your Sunday service? This is a crucial question for every church planter (actually every church pastor) to answer. It’s important because without knowing your purpose, you won’t know if you’ve achieved it or how well you’re progressing toward it.
So what is the purpose of your Sunday service? Perhaps you think of this in terms of PRIORITY (not priorities). What are you trying to do with and during that service? Help people who are far from God move a little closer to Him? Bring healing to people who have been wounded by other Christians or churches? Grow people who are already Christians? Some churches try to do all of these (and more) and don’t really seem to be effective in any of them. That’s because they don’t focus.
When you define your priority–the main thing you want to do with your Sunday service–you have a basis from which to evaluate your “performance” each week. For instance, say your priority is reaching unchurched people and helping them move a little closer to God. You can begin your evaluation by considering if you are actually connecting with unchurched people and getting them to attend your Sunday service. Then you consider the elements of the Sunday service–music, teaching/preaching, visuals, etc. Do those elements help accomplish your purpose? (In other words, do they help move the unchurched person along in his/her journey toward God?) Often churches say they are focused on the unchurched, but many the elements of their worship service say otherwise–perhaps the music relates more to a passionate follower of Christ, or the teaching/preaching is more oriented toward those who are already believers.
At LifeBridge, we use two different surveys to help us evaluate our Sunday services. One is a “Guest Survey,” which is online (thanks to Google docs) and can be completed anonymously and the results are compiled online. Another survey is completed by selected persons inside our church–some of the staff and a few select people who understand what we’re trying to do. This survey is also available online and can be submitted anonymously. (For more on getting feedback, see the next post, “Evaluating Your Sunday Service, part 3.”)
These surveys help us consider how we’re doing related to our “wins.” For us, the first win is getting an unchurched man to come to our service once; a second win is getting him to come back. Then we consider if and how he is connecting with other people (perhaps on a motorcycle ride), participating in the church (perhaps on a setup team), and if he is attending regularly. Down the line is whether the man is investing and inviting and ultimately getting plugged in.
These elements relate to the vision of our Sunday service–to be a place where unchurched men want to attend. And while it’s not an easy task to fulfill, we have a standard with which to evaluate how we’re doing. And this evaluation gives us feedback we can use to make corrections in what we do, with the hopes that we will be more effective in our mission.
