Initial Considerations: Initial Inventory

The following ten issues are described below. After you read each description, please rate your congregation, using a scale of 1 to 10. A rating as low as 1 would mean that your congregation does not reflect the description. A rating as high as 10 would mean that your congregation highly reflects the description. A rating in between these two extremes suggests the relative extent to which your congregation does or does not reflect the description.

(Click inside each "rating" box and select your rating. Click outside the box after you have made your selection. Please note the total of all ratings, which will appear at the bottom of your screen. To clear all ratings, click on your Web browser's "refresh" button.)

#1: Visionary Leadership
How highly does your congregation reflect the following statement?

"Our congregation has a strong, clear, and passionate sense of our identity involving mission and purpose (who we are), our core values (what we believe or highly value), our vision (where we are headed), and our spiritual strategic journey as a congregation (how we are getting there)."

"Visionary Leadership" rating: 1
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#2: Relationship Experiences
How highly does your congregation reflect the following statements?

"Our congregation is doing well at attracting people to a Christ-centric faith journey (evangelism) and a relationship with a congregational community (connecting). We are also doing well at helping people who are connected to be on an intentional and maturing Christ-centric faith journey (assimilation). Among the results of their faith journey is a deepening spirituality (spiritual growth), the development of numerous new leaders (leadership development), and a willingness by many people to get actively involved in congregational leadership positions and in places of ministry service within and beyond the congregation (lay mobilization)."

"Relationship Experiences" rating: 1
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#3: Programmatic Emphases
How highly does your congregation reflect the following statements?

"Our congregation has outstanding programs, ministries, and activities for which we are well known throughout our congregation, and our geographic community or the target groups we serve. Our programs, ministries, and activities seem to be growing in numbers and quality. Our programs are meeting real, identified spiritual, social, and emotional needs of people."

"Programmatic Emphases" rating: 1
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#4: Accountable Management
How highly does your congregation reflect the following statements?

"Our congregation has excellent, flexible management systems (teams, committees, councils, boards, leadership communities) that empower the future direction of our congregation rather than seek to control the future direction. Decision-making is open and responsive to congregational input. Finances are healthy and increasing each year. The management systems are supportive of the visionary leadership efforts by the pastor, staff, and congregational leadership."

"Accountable Management" rating: 1
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#5: Contextual Relevance
How highly does your congregation reflect the following statements?

"Our congregation is demographically similar to its geographic community or the target groups that it has served over the years. Little or no gap is developing between the persons attending our congregation, and the geographic community or the target groups we have sought to serve over the past ten years. We are demographically reflective of the people we seek to serve in gender, age, race/ethnicity, socioeconomics, and lifestyle."

"Contextual Relevance" rating: 1
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#6: People of Passion
How highly does your congregation reflect the following statements?

"I can name at least seven people or seven percent—whichever is higher—of the average number of active, attending adults in our congregation, present on a typical weekend for worship, who have a positive and passionate sense of urgency for change and transition that may lead to transformation and the achievement of the full kingdom potential of our congregation. They also have the spiritual, leadership, and strategic knowledge and maturity to appropriately initiate and champion change and transition within our congregation."

"People of Passion" rating: 1
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#7: Pastoral Leadership
How highly does your congregation reflect the following statements?

"Our pastor has a genuine commitment to change and transition for our congregation that may lead to transformation and the achievement of the full kingdom potential of our congregation. In addition, our pastor is highly respected by our congregation, and they will proactively support our pastor’s initiating leadership and vision casting as part of a spiritual, strategic journey toward reaching their full kingdom potential."

"Pastoral Leadership" rating: 1
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#8: People of Position
How highly does your congregation reflect the following statements?

"Our key lay leaders have a genuine commitment to change and transition for our congregation that may lead to transformation and the achievement of the full kingdom potential of our congregation. While not always the people of greatest passion about the future of the congregation, by position and power they are competent and committed to lead us to fulfill our full kingdom potential. In addition, our congregation highly respects them, and will proactively support their leadership in a spiritual, strategic journey toward reaching their full kingdom potential."

"People of Position" rating: 1
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#9: Congregational Growth
How highly does your congregation reflect the following statements?

"Our congregation has grown in membership and weekly worship attendance during the past five to ten years by at minimum of 10 to 15 percent. (Or, compared to the change over the past five to ten years in population or size of the geographic community or the target groups we serve, our congregation has sustained or achieved an attendance that could be legitimately called growing compared to our geographic community or target groups.)"

"Congregational Growth" rating: 1
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#10: Level of Conflict (For a more detailed presentation of this issue, see the "Levels of Conflict" chart.)
How highly does your congregation reflect the following statements?

"Our congregation has clear, open, healthy communication channels that allow the congregation to identify and deal with any issues that might disrupt the sense of fellowship and unity, and perhaps produce unhealthy conflict. Our congregation works hard at creating and nurturing healthy relationships as a Christ-centric faith community, and uses our diversity to build a deep, qualitative sense of being on a common journey. We know how to disagree with one another without being disagreeable in a way that can destroy our relationship with God and one another."

"Level of Conflict" rating: 1
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Total of all ratings: