LifeChurch does it again!
September 23rd, 2008
Introducing ChurchMetrics from ChurchMetrics on Vimeo.
It is pretty cool to see churches creating there own web apps, and then just giving them away. LifeChurch is such an amazing example of creativity and service to others. I can’t wait to see how ChurchMetrics works live, but if the music is any indication, it will be smooooth.
Thanks for the link Jesse.
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Holy Crap this is awesome!
I know, I can’t wait to try it out.
Cool technology. LifeChurch continues to the mold by creating great stuff and then giving it away. When I look at this though, I guess my question is… are we measuring the RIGHT things?
What do you think the church should measure, and how do you see it doing that. I think I agree with you, but I am not sure how to do it.
That’s part of the problem with metrics, or measuring. In our culture, we like to quantify things to gauge success. Keep it neat and clean. I’m not saying that measuring money and attendance is a bad thing, when raw church growth is the goal. The question is, should church growth be our primary goal? What about “church mission?”
I think Jon Talbert said it well in a post on his blog:
“Filling churches is no longer the goal… emptying churches into the streets is!! I cannot over emphasize the paradigm shift from “church growth” to “church mission”… To live Christ in our schools and workplaces, to re:engage Christ in out conversations at coffee houses, pubs, and restaurants. To host BBQ’s and bon fires in our community and neighborhoods… to re:imagine the expression of Christ in our artistic venues of music, theater, and comedy. To be foolish enough to think that we could collaborate with other entities in popular culture… like businesses, organizations, and government… to actually serve those in need around us… This is not a fad, its a model, given to us by Jesus years and years ago. We just some how messed it up.
(full post here: http://compassionunleashed.blogspot.com/2008/03/emptying-churches-filling-needs.html. And as an aside… Jon leads the wildly successful Beautiful Day ministry. The guy isn’t just talking the talk, he’s walking the walk)
So, is there a simple way to measure something like church mission? A way to measure spiritual conversations that take place in a coffee house or a soccer field? A way to measure the impact of serving the marginalized? A way to measure love?
Jon, thanks for that link and comment. These are great things to think and pray about.
This, honestly, makes me sad for the Church. I’m at a lost for words as to why this is so wrong.
We’re trying to quantify the work of the Holy Spirit. We’re gauging our own success as a church-body by how many people come, or how much they give? God forgive us!
What are we supposed to do with the numbers? Should we just shutter up because we haven’t had a salvation in over six-months?
The Church is not a corporation where we follow trends to see how we can grow in number, or achieve more giving. The things the Church deals in aren’t quantifiable with charts and graphs.
What kind of fruit is the congregation producing? Is there love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control? These are outward fruits you can actually use to tell if the congregation is healthy or not. Attendance and giving aren’t part of this.
What happens to our faith? It’s not about trusting the Lord’s provision, it’s about what we can do to get more people in seats, or squeezing out more offering money. It’s about us.
I have an even better idea for our tithe: http://destroyideas.blogspot.com/2008/09/tithing-time.html