MINISTRY EVALUATION
Church ministry is to be done on purpose. In order to do that, from time to time, we have to ask ourselves what we are doing and why we do it. I came across the following information while reading a Strategic Planning Report completed for a group of Regular Baptist Churches in Iowa. The full report can be read at www.iarbc.org
The following is prepared by Phil Fogle for members of the Strategic Planning Committee of the Iowa Association of Regular Baptist Churches.
Recently, I attended a seminar hosted by ECFA (Evangelical Council for FinancialAccountability). The President, Paul Nelson, discussed there (and in the last FOCUS [Second Quarter 2005] newsletter) the issue of life cycles of ministries and encouraged each member organization to evaluate their position in the life cycle. We were encouraged to match the various characteristics of each season of ministry life to our own organization.
Four Generations Theory
Stage-----Response------Characterized---Encapsulated
Infancy--Ignored--------Innocency-----Revival/Spiritual Awakening
Youth----Persecuted----Vigorous-------Life/Explosive Growth
Adult----Accepted-------Stability-------Education/Institutionalization
Senior---Irrelevant------Nostalgia------Decline Over-Cautiousness
Adult
“The life of organizations often parallels the life of people. When a ministry is formed, it is something like an infant. Some might think it is novel, but its influence is negligible and the public response is a yawn. But ministry beginnings are often characterized by the revival spirit in which a Vision is born, and as it grows, it takes on a youthful and robust development that eventually gets results that attract attention – sometimes persecution.”
“As time passes, the ministry matures and becomes a stable organization. It gains respect and is viewed as a credible witness and outreach for Christ. At some point, the organization faces a challenge of reinventing itself, usually through the same revival spirit in which it was born, and it becomes useful again. Some organizations, however, don’t achieve that renewal, and move into a senior status where they become irrelevant to the society around them, which is really very little different from when they were ignored as an infant organization.”
Paul Nelson states: “Some ministries are like some people that we all know. Some never grow up. Others grow old before their time. Some ministries make a profound difference with their energy, their boldness, and their mature judgment. They become reliable, they encourage fellow believers, and they make a mark for Christ. Success does not cloud their sense of purpose, their faith does not waiver in times of financial shortage or surplus.”
Paul Nelson’s last sentence reads: “May His call on your life carry your organization forward to its maturity and then toward its renewal, in order that you avoid the irrelevance that eventually will occur if you do not.”
