WHAT ARE THE NEWMEASUREMENTS OF ASUCCESSFUL CHURCH?10 Benchmarks of a Healthy Missional Church

www.caesarkalinowski.com

WHAT ARE THE NEWMEASUREMENTS OF ASUCCESSFUL CHURCH?10 Benchmarks of a Healthy Missional Church

www,caesarkalinowski.com

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The 10 Benchmarks - Assessment6

The 10 Benchmarks - Score Your Church

Additional Resources For Growth7

WHAT ARE THE NEWMEASUREMENTS OF ASUCCESSFUL CHURCH?10 Benchmarks of a Healthy Missional Church

No one sets out to have or lead an unhealthy church or ministry. Butoften we find ourselves stuck in a loop of numbers and metrics thatwe may have inherited or are imposed on us by the “higher-ups”.

The 3 BsFor a long time now, churches have often or only measured threethings I call the “3Bs”: Butts (attendance on Sunday); Building size;and Budgets. Hmmm... I wonder how Jesus’ ministry career wouldmeasure up to these three benchmarks?

Butts in seats.Sure Jesus could draw a crowd, usually around healings and massivemeal times, yet he primarily spent the bulk of his leadership energyand time with only a dozen people. In the modern church Jesuswould not get a great score here and would probably not get thatpromotion up the ladder.

Sorry Jesus.

Building size.Well, Jesus never owned a home or built a church building, and mostoften he taught his disciples in the rhythms of normal everyday lifeover meals, on the road etc.

Gonna have to give Jesus a zero on this one.

Budget. When Jesus sent his disciples out with no money, food or extraclothing (Luke 9:3) he was teaching them that his Father can andalways provides for that which He has called us to. Even when therewas a little extra cash around Jesus let a traitor hold the offeringbaskets.

By Caesar Kalinowski

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Who hired this Jesus guy?! Jesus was immeasurably the most successful person in humanhistory. In every way. Yet, if we were to measure his lifetimeeffectiveness using today’s current standards, he would probablyfind it hard to get hired on at most churches.

“If we measure the same old things we will fund and build the same old church.”

Question: What if we had new tools to measure health and successin the church or in a missional community? What if we watched overand prioritized the same things Jesus did?

Here are 10 benchmarks of a healthy missional church:

Growth in...

1. The number of mature disciples being made. Disciples makedisciples; they don’t just hang out or sit in rows together once aweek.

2. The number of relationships with not-yet-believers. Is therelational base among those who are not a part of our churchgrowing? Are we moving beyond a tight “holy huddle” and buildingtrue, meaningful relationships?

3. Gospel display in and through culture. Is our physicalproclamation of the gospel expanding through serving others,especially the “least of these”? Is the Good News demonstrated asgood news for today?

4. Gospel conversations taking place naturally. Is our verbalproclamation of Good News increasing? Are folks growing in theirgospel fluency? Does the gospel come up naturally and often?

5. The number of indigenous leaders being developed. Are newleaders, teachers and preachers coming to faith through yourministry or are you often hiring from outside the “family”?

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6. Multiplication of missional/discipleship communities. Healthythings grow and if we are making disciples who make disciple thenumber of our missional communities will be quickly expanding.

7. Ministry “ownership” levels going up among the saints. Areour people increasingly, willingly taking on the responsibility forevery area of life and ministry as a community or congregation?

8. 5-Fold Maturity. Are there maturing leaders being allowed tolead in all five of the key giftings that are outlined in Ephesians 4:apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers? This is KEY tomaturity throughout the entire church!

9. Priest-hood of all believers engaged in every area of ministryand mission. Another thing we learn from Ephesians 4 is thatleaders are to equip the saints for the ministry and acts of service.Leaders are not to be doing all of the ministry. Look across yourchurch or community. Who is doing most of the teaching, preaching,counseling, strategic planning etc.? Is it paid or non-paid people? Is itmostly men? What about the women? What about teens and kids?

10. People “sent” to start new works / new church plants. Itshould be the most normal thing for a church or missionalcommunity to be sending their folks out to start new communities.Are we “raising the kids to move out”?

Multiplication ALWAYS beats addition!

If the ways in which we are teaching, preaching and making disciplesis not being easily reproduced to the third or fourth generation andbeyond, the next best time to rethink our methods andmeasurements is now.

We always focus on what we measure.

What are you measuring?

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Non-Existent In Decline Leveled Off Some Growth Growing Like Crazy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. The number of mature disciples being made.

Non-Existent In Decline Leveled Off Some Growth Growing Like Crazy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2. The number of relationships with not-yet-believers.

Non-Existent In Decline Leveled Off Some Growth Growing Like Crazy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3. Gospel display in and through culture.

Non-Existent In Decline Leveled Off Some Growth Growing Like Crazy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4. Gospel conversations taking place naturally.

Non-Existent In Decline Leveled Off Some Growth Growing Like Crazy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5. The number of indigenous leaders being developed.

Non-Existent In Decline Leveled Off Some Growth Growing Like Crazy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6. Multiplication of missional/discipleship communities.

Non-Existent In Decline Leveled Off Some Growth Growing Like Crazy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7. Ministry “ownership” levels going up among the saints.

Non-Existent In Decline Leveled Off Some Growth Growing Like Crazy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

8. 5-Fold Maturity.

Non-Existent In Decline Leveled Off Some Growth Growing Like Crazy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

9. Priest-hood of all believers engaged in every area of ministry.

Non-Existent In Decline Leveled Off Some Growth Growing Like Crazy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10. People “sent” to start new works / new church plants.

On a Scale of 1 – 10: Where is your Church, Small Group, orMissional Community on each of these 10 Benchmarks?

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The 10 Benchmarks of aHealthy Missional Church

AssessmentAfter you give your group or church a rating on each of the10 Benchmarks of a Healthy Missional Church, add up all tenfor your overall total.

81-100 Missional RockstarsYou've probably been measuring these types of benchmarks for awhile now. And you've largely broken free from measuring the3 Bs to set trajectory and priorities. Way to go!

Total Score ____

61-80 Missional Practitioners You've been growing in some of these 10 benchmarks more thanothers for a while now. A little more modeling this lifestyle (morethan just preaching it) will start to really move your score upward.

41-60 Missional Wanna-bes All the books you've read have started to change some of yourlanguage and practices. But more than likely you're feeling pulledbackwards by traditional-church inertia. Time to really get started!

21-40 Missional Tire KickersYou're probably a bunch of folks who are tired of the same ol',same ol' when it comes to your church. And the 'missional thing'looks exciting...or at least intriguing. Pick ONE thing & get started!

0-20 Missional DudsFear, traditions, or a really bad understanding of who God is andwhat he is up to in this world is really plaguing you. But there ishope! Shoot your sacred cows. Then seek out other folks that arefurther along on the missional journey and spend time with them.

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Resources For GrowthThese resources are a mix of awesome books, studies andtools that I really love and recommend for understanding andgrowing in the 10 Benchmarks of a Healthy Missional Church.

The Gospel Primer - Caesar KalinowskiNothing beats this resource for helping a group, or full church,grow in their gospel-fluency and confident ability to speak theGood News naturally and effectively in every area of life.

Transformed: A New Way of Being Christian - Caesar KalinowskiNarrative driven, this book shows that when you became aChristian, everything about you changed in an instant. And howwe are no longer enslaved by performance-based Christianity.

The Tangible Kingdom - Hugh Halter, Matt SmayWritten for those who are trying to nurture authentic,incarnational communities and for those who have struggled toretain and/or share their Christian faith in relatable ways.

The Permanent Revolution Playbook - A. Hirsch, T. CatchimExpounding on Eph. 4 (Five-fold ministry) this playbook isdesigned to introduce the disciple to his or her own, Jesus-given,vocational profile. Designed to be used as a team or church staff.

The Tangible Kingdom Primer - Hugh Halter, Matt SmayThe TK Primer is about building life-long habits, with two primarypurposes: first as a formation tool to prepare your heart formission, and second as a field guide for starting mission together.

The Justice Primer - Brandon HatmakerThis Primer is designed to be your guide on the journey of“learning to love mercy and do justice.” An 8-week journey to putmission back into your small group or faith community.

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