What Shall We Measure?

In the March/April edition of Holiness Today, Tom Nees writes about how institutional, quantitative measurements (numerical statistics) do not fully reflect the relational and qualitative elements in our churches. (Click here to read the full article.)

Most churches count the number of people in worship or small groups as a measure of success because it’s easy to measure. However, attendance, membership, and giving statistics do not reflect the transformation in individuals’ lives. They also don’t reveal the spiritual love of the congregation or its obedience in living according to its mission. In fact, it is nearly impossible to quantify the value of a changed life, the sacrifice of pastors, or the discipleship of believers.

In my own reflection on this article, and as the person who compiles USA/Canada Sunday School statistics for the Church of the Nazarene, let me add that while some important information is gathered in collecting numerical statistics, an over-emphasis on numbers can be misleading.

For example, just by the stats, qualitatively good things can look quantitatively bad:

• Attendance drops because a third of the church has started a new church plant.
• Attendance drops because a large family has left to pastor a new congregation.
• Attendance drops because the Hispanic congregation is now a fully-recognized church with its own statistics.
  

Likewise, when such a heavy emphasis is placed on numerical attendance statistics, loopholes can be found for how to get the “best numbers,” even if it’s not the best qualitative thing to do. For example…

• If you have a snow storm and hold church, your attendance figures are down because not everyone was there. But…if you had cancelled church that week, you “drop” that week’s attendance. (For the stats… it’s better to cancel church than hold it.)
• If you cancel Sunday School on Easter Sunday, you can count the morning worship attendance (this usually being the most-attended Sunday of the year) as your Sunday School attendance for the day. (For the stats… it’s better to cancel Sunday School than to hold it.)
  

So, in a denomination that values numerical statistics, what is a healthy attitude and practice for compiling statistics? I propose that we need to stop counting attendance “for the numbers.” We need a person-centered attendance ministry rather than simply “counting heads.” By that, I mean we need to attach a name and face to each statistic. We must follow up with absent members as well as visitors. The “who” must be more important than the “how many.” The “how many” helps us assess certain areas, but we must always remember that the “who” and the “how many” will never tell us the “how” or the “why.”