STATS VS. PASSION

Daily thought:  One of the most important discoveries I made as an urban pastor is that success of a church cannot be measured with membership statistics and stewardship campaign results alone.  In the church I served, if we looked at annual reports and statistics alone, we wouldn’t still be around.  The church I served for 28 years has never depended on statistics alone to measure success.  While metrics are important from a business standpoint, they don’t represent the true measure of the faithful good and care we offer as the ‘living and vibrant body of Christ’ to those around us.  The true measure of success for the church is in the passion we have as congregants and pastors for what God has given us and what Christ can do through us in serving the disenfranchised around us.  This is the most important reason why we must encourage denominational councils and presbyteries to support multicultural and urban ministries.  It is my fear we will continue closing churches if we measure success only with statistical standards.  Instead we should be measuring:  How satisfied are we with what we are doing with what God has entrusted our care?