404 - Evaluation of Ministry Effectiveness

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Rejected

Comments

[sheryl colter]

I have concerns regarding this resolution. Is this a call for the traditional pastoral vote- the one most congregants will see as a way of keeping or loosing a pastor and a possible "rallying point" for their own agendas. There is no qualifier for what kind of members- those who remain on a list or those who are actively involved? How do the very broad questions reveal ministry effectiveness? Would we use them in evaluation of a Superintendent or Bishop? The timing of this vote occurs too soon after the holiday rush and vacation time. It can put a damper on all this. Perhaps a later date would be more beneficial with better lead in time for effective education of the process? How would the conference leadership use this tool to better help the partnership between the congregation and the pastor to fulfill its mission? I do agree with a survey to all active members only. I desire to see an evaluation tool that identifies the good and the need to work on areas inclusive of the pastoral role and the partnership relationship with congregants and the community with specific illustrations and suggestions of solutions.

[Curtis Turner]

Ministry effectiveness as conceived reminds me of personal narcissim. The kind of introspection once a year is nowhere near enough since effectiveness must be discovered and corrected in real time. Local societies should be continously evaluating the impact of church programs and react accordingly. The implementation of a "Ministry Effectiveness Sunday" also coveys the notion that we are doubtful regarding effectiveness and we know that this is not true, if we are following a program that regularly adds to the body of Christ in some measure, i.e. souls.

[David Bicksler]

This resolution is interesting because as I studied the statistics on Free Methodist churches and conferences, it seems like there has been little or no evaluation of ministry effectiveness of local churches, conferences, or indeed the entire U.S. General Conference. Bishop Snyder said at a One More Soul conference that 2/3rds of U.S. churches were stagnant or declining. This is certainly true you look at the percentage of local churches with no positive change in adult members(60%), worship attendance(56%), and converts(71%), and these statistics don’t include churches which didn’t report for two years. Just 10% of churches grew all three. With all these dismal results, most churches and conferences have never had that frank and honest discussion as to why this is true. Is it a failing of pastoral leadership or training, or an incompatibility between the pastor and the people? Is it poor supervision by the church board or delegate that doesn’t keep track of how the church is doing? Is it fundamental failures in the system of appointed pastors, or a lack of conference leaders working closely with churches? Just 3 of 28 conference groups grew in 2005 in all four areas of: churches, adult members, worship attendance, and converts. In 9 years we lost 348 churches from 1996 to 2005. And the bishops are presiding over so many failing conferences. So pastors, conference leaders, and bishops should ALL have at least one day each year where their Ministry Effectiveness is evaluated by members of local churches after being presented with these statistics in one or more informational meetings. Preferably these could even be quarterly. The results of these votes should be posted on a web site for all to see, and a denominational blog to discuss and seek answers. Bishop Snyder has said we should be a learning organization, and learning requires open sharing of information on how we’re really doing between members of all the churches. Then there should be accountability and correction as needed, because leaders are responsible when poor outcomes occur for long periods of time. Check the church & conference stats sorted by their rankings on http://www.fmnetwork.org/Files/2005%20Church%20Results.xls and http://www.fmnetwork.org/Files/2005%20Annual%20Conferences.doc . Getting local churches and leaders throughout the denomination talking about these issues would be a very healthy change away from pretending “all is well.” Perhaps then we could consider the solutions proposed by resolution #910? In addition to these 3 criteria for churches and 4 for conferences, we should also track the number of people actively discipling someone who in turn will pass that on within a year or two.