Accurately counting the right things can profoundly impact ministry effectiveness. Knowing “the story in the stats” can inform decisions and lead to the things that produce the results most pleasing to God. Gathering and studying the right numbers can help a church wisely invest its resources of time, effort, people, money, and facilities. Effectiveness by the Numbers will help ensure that your church is measuring the right things for the right reasons. Counting what counts enables a church to fulfill its mission--making mature followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus and his disciples counted. They knew how many he fed with the five loaves and fishes. When a crowd gathered they often knew and recorded the number of men, women and children present for the event. The early church counted. They knew that on the day of Pentecost about 3,000 were added to their number. The book of Acts reports that “many believed,” “people were added,” and “many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.” If Jesus counted and the early church kept track of numbers, it is not unreasonable to expect churches today to use metrics to increase their effectiveness in doing God’s work on earth. Chapter One: The Fear of Numbers Chapter Two: If You Could Count Only One Thing Chapter Three: How Many and How Often Chapter Four: How Many Stick? Chapter Five: How Many Serve? Chapter Six: Who's New? Chapter Seven: Growing by Staying Small Chapter Eight: What's More Important than Dollars? Chapter Nine: What Product Are You Producing Anyway?

Effectiveness By The Numbers

Counting What Counts in the ChurchBy William R. Hoyt

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2007 The United Methodist Publishing House
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-687-64175-8

Chapter One

THE FEAR OF NUMBERS

Seems Like Everyone Counts

In most of life's arenas, counting and keeping score seem second nature. We teach toddlers numbers by counting objects. Counting is often a child's first verbal skill. My grandchildren love to count the blocks they pile, one on top of the other, before they knock them down. Skipping rope and counting successful jumps seem to go hand-in-hand.

Children and bored adults count the cars on the train while waiting for it to pass. As teenagers, some friends and I climbed to the top of the Washington Monument. I counted each stair so I could brag about my "monumental" feat! Walkers and runners wear pedometers so they will know how many steps or strides they take during their workout. The more compulsive types around us count just about everything.

We keep track of the pennies in our piggy banks and the dollars in our IRAs. Athletes count runs, touchdowns, baskets, and seconds. Business leaders keep track of customers, costs, inventory, and sales, among a myriad of other things. Gamblers count cards and figure odds. Gallup and other pollsters will count just about anything if someone wants to know and will pay.

In business, sports, and politics, success demands that people not only count, but also count the right things and count them accurately. If a business stops counting the right things accurately, bankruptcy looms in its future. In sports, coaches and managers keep stats, study them, and make adjustments based on them. If they do not, their jobs will soon be in jeopardy. Tony La Russa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, is viewed as one of baseball's all-time best managers. Coincidentally he was one of the first to use a laptop computer in the dugout.

People count whatever is important to them. We count the money in our wallets or purses. Students calculate their grade point average. Since parents are loath to lose children, the parents of five do frequent head counts at the mall.

Churches Count, Too. Well, Sort of ...

Failure to Count

Most churches count. Some do not, and not counting is always a bad sign. Not counting generally indicates they do not care or have given up. It's a little like children shooting hoops in the backyard with dad or mom. They know they can't win, so they want to play for fun. You know the tide is changing when they suddenly decide they want to keep score. That decision ushers in a period of close games with the parent still winning a good share of them. Then comes the stage when the parent is no longer interested in keeping score and wants to play for fun.

When doing a church assessment, we ask for statistics from the most recent ten-year period. Far too many churches struggle to assemble basic numbers like attendance, income, and baptisms. Gathering such elementary figures should never be a struggle unless the church has suffered a record-destroying fire, flood, or earthquake, or a crashed hard drive with no backup. Often the gaps in the data tell as much or more than the numbers themselves.

In my experience, the worse things are, the less people count. The more gaps in the data, the more bad years there have been. Keeping score was no longer fun, so they quit counting. When the statistics are bad and getting worse, they are depressing. Most people do not like feeling depressed. Making the changes necessary to reverse the negative trend can be difficult and requires giving up some things held dear by the church's long-timers. Since it is easier to stop counting than to make changes, they simply stop counting. Their inattention to numbers is a way of denying a reality they do not want to admit or address.

Lack of statistics for certain years sometimes indicates a kind of apathy. People counted and records were kept, but currently there is a new regime. The new pastor or new board did not care enough to protect the records and now they are lost. Or sometimes a long-time board that was unhappy with the former pastor will lose statistics, creating gaps in the records.

Since in our humanness we tend to count those things that matter most to us, most churches will at least count the offerings. They might not be able to tell you how many came to services, how many unbelievers became believers, how many participate in small groups, or how many serve in some form of ministry, but they can tell how much was given—and of course the amount given in these situations is never enough!

Failure to Count Accurately

Some churches count but do not do so accurately. Attendance figures are notoriously inaccurate. Since attendance is one of the things most frequently used to measure effectiveness, pastors and sometimes laypeople succumb to the temptation to count "everything that moves."

Over the years I have seen attendance figures that included not only worship but also Sunday school classes, the nursery, and even off-campus church retreats. Counting total Sunday attendance is neither bad nor unethical unless you compare your total Sunday attendance to your neighbor's worship only figure without disclosing the difference in methods.

There is a more common source of attendance inaccuracies found in churches with multiple worship services. The inflated attendance figures come when the same people are counted each time in multiple services. The same worship band, singers, worship leaders, ushers, greeters, and audio and video people often serve in multiple services.

Let's say on a given weekend a church has a team of six instrumentalists, six vocalists, two leaders for various aspects of worship, eight ushers, six greeters, two soundboard people, a slide projection operator, and the pastor running their worship services. That equals thirty-two people per service. If the same people serve in both services and are counted in both services, attendance figures for that day are inflated—by thirty-two. If they have three worship services, the inflation factor is sixty-four; and for four services, it's ninety-six!

There is a third fairly common cause of inaccurate counting. Since pastors are often ranked according to attendance figures, they have a bias for generosity when counting. When at a conference or convention, pastors are often asked, "How large is your church?" or as some put it, "How many are you worshiping these days?" One of the first questions search teams or call committees ask of any potential candidate is, "How large is your current church?" Pay raises tend to happen more frequently in churches where attendance is growing. All of this encourages pastors to speak "evangelastically" when citing attendance numbers.

A head usher who likes the pastor will allow generous attendance figures to stand. A head usher who really likes the pastor might even be compliant in the stretching of the figures, but woe to the pastor who falls from grace in the eyes of the head usher. Double counting ceases. New rules may appear such as, "If they aren't in their seat by five minutes after, they don't get counted." Actual counting may become less frequent, and estimates may become the norm. Of course these estimates tend to be significantly less than a hard count might produce and dramatically less than the pastor's tally.

Frequently when assessing a church we will be given two sets of books. The pastor (and/or supporters of the pastor) will provide one set of books showing strong attendance and perhaps even growth. The head usher, who often acts in collusion with or by order of a board at odds with the pastor, will provide a second set of books. Contrary to the pastor's books, these numbers will tell a different, more negative story. Sometimes neither set of numbers is accurate since both sides are "cooking the books" in order to support their purposes.

At some point, uncovering a fairly accurate attendance count is important in order to provide a helpful assessment. In the meantime, you know this for sure: Discovering two sets of books is a bad sign in either a business or a church. Finding them in a church suggests that there is bad blood between the pastor and some segment of the church.

Failure to Count the Right Things

Success in any endeavor requires that leaders count, count the right things, and count them accurately. Most churches do not count the right things.

I love baseball. My wife does not. She is a good sport, though, and humors me by attending about one game a decade. Some years ago, while pastoring a local congregation, I organized a group trip to the ball game. About forty people from our church signed up. Gwyn thought she would enjoy simply being with the people so she agreed to go. She brought along a book so she would have something to do when we all were engrossed in the game and the conversation lagged.

At one point in the game, one of baseball's most exciting plays unfolded. With a runner on first, the batter hit the ball sharply into the gap in right-center field. The ball rolled to the wall in the deepest part of the park. The runner was streaking from first and rounded third as the outfielder fired the ball to the relay man. Every person in the stadium (except Gwyn, of course) was on his or her feet in anticipation. The ball and runner reached home plate a split-second apart. The umpire signaled safe and the home team (our team) scored the go-ahead run. The stands went wild.

People began to sit down. The cheering died, and as sometimes happens after an exciting play the crowd became uncommonly quiet. At that very moment Gwyn looked up from her book and asked in a voice that could be heard by nearly all forty members of our group, "Who scored the touchdown?" She became an instant legend in her own time! At baseball games and at church, it is important to count the right things.

If churches count anything, nearly all of them will count two things. As one friend of mine puts it, "They count butts and bucks—how many people sat in the pews and how much money was placed in the offering plate." Or as another friend of mine puts it, "It's all about nickels, noise, and numbers."

The chapters that follow will deal extensively with the idea of counting the right things. I have come to believe firmly that it is vitally important for churches to count, "to keep score" if you please. Further, it is important to count accurately. Finally, it is essential, indeed critical, to count the right things.

Fear of Failure

So if counting is such a natural part of life and if keeping score is so important, then why do so many churches fail to count? Why do so many fail to count accurately, and why do so few count the things that matter most? Most often the problem is a matter of fear. To the degree the pastor or lay leaders harbor any doubt about their leadership effectiveness, they will have a similar degree of resistance to counting or keeping score. They fear their leadership effectiveness will be called into question. They fear they will be found out and labeled failures.

Over the years I have been told by many pastors and lay leaders that numbers do not measure spiritual success. I cannot recall a pastor or lay leader in a highly effective church ever expressing this sentiment. The fear of failure frequently expresses itself in a fear of accountability. Numerical measurement sets the stage for accountability.

In my twenty years of consulting with churches, I have observed the discomfort of many staff members as I talk about the importance of numeric measurement and the need to set numeric goals. They cringe when I get to the "M for Measurable" as I train in the use of SMART goals. They have never before been held accountable for measurable outcomes, and they do not want to start now! They fear accountability because they fear the failure that measurable goals can expose. But it's delightful to see their dismay and discomfort dissolve as they come to realize they are always held accountable in some form and that the specificity of being held accountable to mutually agreed-upon, measurable goals can be a safe and productive place for them.

The Faithfulness vs. Fruitfulness Debate

Some churches, in their attempt to escape being accountable for effective ministry, hide behind God's call to be faithful. They cite the Bible's numerous calls to faithfulness. They excuse their lack of effectiveness by citing their faithfulness. They argue that God has called us to be faithful in our service.

God most certainly calls His followers to be faithful. In his first letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul declared, "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful" (1 Corinthians 4:2). In his letters he specifically commended Timothy, Tychicus, Epaphras, and Onesimus for their faithfulness (1 Corinthians 4:17; Ephesians 6:21; Colossians 1:7; 4:7; 4:9). Paul made them heroes for the ages by naming them, and in the apostle's mind it was their faithfulness that made them heroes worth naming. Faithfulness is listed as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).

Those who seek to hide behind the call to be faithful often point to missionaries who labor a lifetime in a "hard field." "What about a missionary who works faithfully among people who practice another religion and in the end has no converts to show for his or her labor?" they ask. "Will you dismiss that missionary as a failure? Won't he or she hear the Lord say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant'?"

I cannot accept the faithfulness argument for two reasons. The first flows out of my own experience. I have never heard the "faithful missionary with no results" defense cited by a missionary. I have heard it cited by ineffective pastors and lay leaders here in the United States. I believe in the history of Christianity there have been, and are, people who have served faithfully with little or no tangible results to show for their labors, and I do believe they will be praised and rewarded generously by the Lord on Judgment Day. But few, if any, of us serving in the United States can cite with integrity the "hard field" as a reason for our ineffectiveness.

The second reason I cannot accept the faithfulness argument is far more substantive. The Bible clearly teaches that God expects us to be both faithful and fruitful.

The phrase, "Well done, good and faithful servant," is found in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). In this story Jesus defines faithfulness as fruitfulness. True, He uses an economic rather than an agrarian metaphor, but He is talking about a form of fruitfulness. The two who produced a return on the Master's investment heard him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (21, 23). The non-productive servant was condemned as "wicked and lazy" (26). He was not commended for his faithfulness in the absence of fruitfulness.

One of Jesus' most powerful metaphors is that of the vine and the gardener (John 15:1-8 TNIV). "I am the true vine," Jesus declares. He admonishes us to remain in Him and promises that if we remain in Him, He will remain in us. Then He warns, "No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me" (4). He continues with His famous words, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (5). He concludes by proclaiming, "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples" (8). Can you imagine a more clear and profound call to fruitfulness?

In making His point unmistakably clear, Jesus reminds us of God the Father's role as gardener. He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit. It's not that if we are unfruitful, we might be in danger of being cut off. No; He cuts off every unfruitful branch. Furthermore, He prunes every fruitful branch. Though I am not a fruit tree, I am sure that pruning is a painful process. I know His pruning in my life has always been painful! So why would our loving Father cause us pain? He makes us endure the pain of pruning "so that we will be even more fruitful." In the Divine Gardener's economy, it's all about fruitfulness.

Later in the same teaching session, Jesus said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last" (John 15:16). Our purpose in our lives as Christians is to bear fruit; fruit that will last for eternity. Now, that's a reason to get up in the morning! Can you imagine a more meaningful reason for living? I can't.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Effectiveness By The Numbersby William R. Hoyt Copyright © 2007 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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