Unit 2. Congregation and Community Assessment 

Having developed mission and vision statements, mission-centered planning proceeds to assess the situation (environment) in which the mission is carried out. This assessment involves a careful look at the life of the church, its ministries, facilities, and resources. Such a study will also include a look at the persons and the problems (needs) in the community and the world to which the church and its members should respond.

The overarching questions are: “Where are we now?” and “What are the needs?” Needs will indicate ministry emphases and actions that merit high priorities. Such an assessment need not be complicated. The demographic data should be focused and concise. (Some churches may find it helpful to utilize a consultant for this phase in planning. However, a church of any size can handle the steps of mission-centered planning given here). Retrieving and utilizing the following information is foundational in developing good church plans.

It is time to take a “snapshot” of the church and its ministries as well as the church community in which the ministries are expressed. This should be a “public activity” involving as many as possible.

(1) Tools you may use: It really doesn’t matter how structured the procedures you use to conduct assessment are as long as the results are valid and useful to the church and all the members have been empowered to participate. Some tools are:

• home meetings – core values
• statistical and demographic charts
• “town meetings” or public hearings
• group discussion (small and large groups)
• every-member canvas
• telephone interviews
• questionnaires

This section contains examples of several tools. You may pick and choose the approaches to assessment that best fit your church situation. In the “home meetings” example, the questions directed toward participants get to the very heart of core values. The values may not be all that is desired, but they do represent the starting point where the road to improvement begins. These data questions get to the very heart of the beliefs and opinions held by church members.

These questions could be asked in other settings like “town meetings,” “every member canvases,” telephone interviews,” or distributed in the form of a “questionnaire.” Our example of “home meetings” is recommended because it creates a context of fellowship and also involves a leader who is trained to process the interview questions and collect the responses.

Some churches will want to combine values assessment with hard, statistical data; thus providing the church with both “heart” and “head” information. As you read the material under the heading “statistical information team,” you will notice that the data requested for the “population and community” profile is factual and related to census information. This data can be extremely helpful in church planning.

The “church membership profile” and “church membership survey” examples get at both kinds of data, “hard” and “soft.” To do quality planning you need an in-depth assessment of the church, which includes both kinds of information. You should determine the types and extent of research you do based on such criteria as time, energy, and resources. Remember, the more you know about your church and community, the more purposeful and intentional your ministries can be targeted.

(2) Home Meetings – For example, a possible approach might be to involve the congregation in home meetings with ten to fifteen members invited to each. (In a small congregation this process may involve only a few people or one team.) A trained leader for each group processes these kinds of questions and is responsible for collecting responses:

• What is the one thing I like best about our church?
• What is the one thing I would change about our church?
• What do you think are the major strengths of our church?
• What do you think are the weaknesses (major problems) of our church?
• What changes would you like to see in the next one to five years; what are your hopes and dreams for our church?
• How should the church relate to our church community? What specific ministry suggestions do you have that would make a significant difference in the community?
• What important changes have occurred in our community in the past five years?
• What important changes are likely to occur in our community in the next five years?
• What do you feel are the major unmet needs of our community?
• What kind of persons need help and aren’t finding it?

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