5 Important Church Metrics Every Pastor Should Monitor
There are many church metrics to monitor but these five church metrics will set a strong foundation for any church leader or pastor to make better data-informed decisions.
Service Attendance
It’s a no brainer but every church leader should be closely monitoring short and long term trends on service attendance. Better understanding attendance behavior allows leaders to make informed decisions on reducing or increasing service count, changing service times, and many other critical decisions that impact the entire church.
Of all the possible church metrics to monitor, accurate and long term service attendance data is foundational to making data-informed decisions.
Next Generation Attendance
Many churches know general numbers of attendance for children and student ministries but accurate long term data can provide a more clear picture. For example, an increase in children or student ministries without a corresponding increase in service attendance may be showing an outreach opportunity with non-attending parents.
Though easy to ignore, accurate long term next generation attendance data will give context for better data-informed decisions.
Total Giving
It’s the topic few want to talk about: money. Monitoring total giving doesn’t have to be as controversial. With proper data visualization, church leaders can better understand why giving is in a dip or downtrend. Without giving, ministry will be hindered. Without monitoring total giving data, data-informed leadership decisions will also be hindered.
Giving Units
Are faithful church members merely giving units? May it never be! The term “giving unit” is simply a name for the church metric more commonly known as “giver.” This metric gives insight into the onboarding and retention of giving members/attenders in the church. When monitored along with total giving, church leaders can better know how stewardship and discipleship efforts are impacting the behaviors of their people. Total giving and giving units are key financial church metrics every pastor should be monitoring.
Groups Participation
Last but not least, church leaders should be monitoring short and long term data on groups participation. Groups could include small groups, affinity groups, Sunday School, or any other group activity. This church metric gives church leaders a pulse on faithful engagement and community within the body. Having many groups but decreasing participation could be showing an opportunity to simplify and align groups for better engagement and experience.
Monitoring groups participation gives church leaders a broader view of how faithful members are choosing community outside of weekly service. Groups matter. And so does monitoring group data.
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Article by:
Josh Breland
I started Churchlytics to equip church leaders with analytics dashboards and strategy. I previously led communications and strategic initiatives at College Park Church in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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