In a monthly meeting while discussing the church history and attempting to identify trends, the new pastor asked, “Is this a trend? I’ll be out to supper with my wife, and a church member will come up to me and say, ‘Pastor, I want to introduce you to Bill and Jane. They used to be members of our church.’ Then I’ll be visiting someone in the hospital and the patient will say, ‘Pastor this is Judy. She used to be a member of our church.’ Everywhere I go church members are introducing me to people who used to be members of our church. Is this a trend?”
He posed the question to me, but I turned it back to all the members of the team sitting around the table. “What do you think? Could this be a trend in the church?” Within a few minutes they had identified a trend that had been ongoing for twenty years. Each time the church had to say good-bye to a staff member, they lost several families.
Looking at the history of an organization can bring to light evidence of trends that may have followed the organization. Trends will be evidenced in things we count such as attendance, giving, membership, and baptisms. Trends can also be discovered in the way a church is inclined to vote on church matters, or how they treat church leaders. Trends can emerge in how a church deals with political or social issues. It is interesting to surface trends and bring to a discussion of the church members or leaders as they may never realize the trend unless it is oftentimes brought before them from an outside observer.
It is important when looking at the trends of an organization to attempt to unveil any subdued or hidden causes or reasons. For instance, if a church is turning over pastors every three years, what might be the underlying reasons? It is possible the church is using seminary students, and the students are using this church as a steppingstone. It could be the church likes this approach because they do not have to pay a full-time salary to a long-term pastor. In other churches, it is possible there are leadership issues among the members of the church. There could also be a number of other reasons. When similar actions are taken on numerous occasions, a trend is being cultivated. Some trends can be good; others may not be lending to the good health of a church.
The important measure is to unearth the reasons for trends in the organization. Many church members and leaders are actively involved in the trends of the organization and may not realize the reason for the trend. Oftentimes the detriment of the trend is not realized by the church – until irreplaceable damage is made. This brings another viable reason to surface for including an outside perspective of looking at your historical eras and data.
What trends are prevalent in your church? Can you identify the good and detrimental trends?
George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.