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Church Metrics and Measurements

The pastors in the discussion identified several key metrics to evaluate the health and growth of their churches, distinguishing between indicators of spiritual health and those necessary for stewardship.

Spiritual Health Indicators:

1. Baptisms & Salvations – Seen as clear markers of spiritual transformation and commitment to Christ.

2. Small Group & Bible Study Participation – Reflects engagement in biblical community and spiritual growth, aligning with Acts 2:42-47.

3. Regular Serving – Indicates a maturing faith expressed through active participation in ministry.

4. Professions of Faith & Altar Calls – Signals of evangelistic effectiveness and spiritual renewal.

5. “Joy of the Lord” & Hunger for Righteousness – Less tangible but critical signs of a vibrant faith community.

6. Prayer Engagement – A healthy church fosters a culture of prayer.

Stewardship & Engagement Metrics:

1. Giving Per Household – Measures commitment and heart engagement beyond attendance numbers.

2. Small Group Attendance Per Person – Evaluates actual participation in community rather than just total group numbers.

3. Attendance & Engagement Patterns – While not always a direct indicator of health, monitoring regular attendance (2-3 Sundays/month) and participation in at least one other ministry (study, service, home group) is helpful.

4. “The Big 3” – Gathering, Giving, and Serving – Churches emphasize that being consistently engaged in at least two of these three areas is a strong indicator of commitment.

5. Church Planting & Mission (“Going”) – A healthy church is outward-focused, multiplying itself and sending members on mission.

Challenges & Considerations:

• Difficult-to-Measure Growth – Many pastors noted that the most meaningful signs of spiritual growth are not easily quantifiable.

• Attendance ≠ Health – While attendance trends provide insight, they are not the sole measure of a thriving church.

• Long-Term Engagement – If someone remains at a basic level of participation (occasional Sunday attendance, one ministry) for over a year without further growth, it may signal stagnation.

• Cultural Trends in Attendance – With the norm shifting toward lower frequency of in-person church participation, tracking engagement across multiple touchpoints is increasingly important.

Additionally, some referenced the LifeWay Transformational Discipleship Assessment, which outlines eight attributes of growing disciples, as a valuable framework for evaluating spiritual growth.

Ultimately, pastors emphasized a balanced approach—measuring both spiritual and practical metrics while maintaining a focus on fostering genuine discipleship rather than simply counting numbers.

Mentioned Resources

Full Discussion Thread

What metrics do you look at to evaluate health and growth?

We watch:

  1. Baptisms (an indicator of spiritual life change)
  2. Small group and bible study/class participation (an indicator of healthy church participation defined in Acts 2:42-47)
  3. Regularly serving (an indicator of spiritual growth)
  4. Church plants (an indicator of multiplication… we currently have only planted ourselves, but we’re praying and working towards another!)

There are metrics to evaluate health (your specific question) and metrics needed for good stewardship. When we mix those up we begin to think things like “more attendance=healthier”. Attendance needs to be monitored but it doesn’t immediately speak to health. Unfortunately, the things that are easy to measure don’t matter and the things that matter aren’t easy to measure.

Two key metrics I like to see regarding health are:

  1. Giving per household unit. This is a weekly (total amount in offering) divided by (total number of households giving). I like this number because it ignores total amount of dollars and total amount of attendance and gets closer to the heart of engagement.
  2. Small group attendance per person. Instead of measuring attendance or membership per group, I try to look at a per person attendance per opportunity to attend. If a small group has 20 meetings on the schedule, how many did John attend? Seeing 5/20 vs 18/20 tells me a lot more than the total attendance or membership roll of a group tells me.

Regular participation is some form of community – whether home groups, Bible Studies, or service. Ideally we like to see people regularly being fed, serving, and participating in community so if they are doing these 3, that for us is a sign that the ball is teed up for growth through God’s Word and the impact of his people.

Also keep an eye on baptisms and professions of faith. If these aren’t happening, is it because we aren’t valuing them for our people or aren’t making them a priority? In other words, does church just become an other social club rather than a commitment to follow and proclaim Christ?

With the growing trend being regular attendees are 1 time a month, this is a harder and harder thing to gauge as we’re not rubbing shoulders as often. I would say if someone is regularly coming on Sundays (2-3 times a month) and involved in one other group (study, serving, or home group), we think that’s a good starting block. If that’s all they’re doing 6-18 months later, then I’d considered them stalled and probably not growing in ways we think are reflective of a life committed to Christ and his church.

  • Baptisms
  • Altar calls
  • Joy of the Lord
  • Hunger & thirst for righteousness
  • People praying
  • Service attendance
  • Bible study/ class attendance

Many of these are hard to fully gauge. Surveys can be effective. But I try to maintain the mindset that counting belly buttons does not necessarily equate to spiritual growth but it tells you something. I try to do spiritual & physical metrics in other words

Baptisms and salvations- of course.

Our big 3 are: gathering, giving and serving. There’s no magic rubric/combo. Consistently 2 of the 3 is good with 3/3 = really engaged. Gathering is not just Sunday but Bible study/small group.

“Going” is actually our 4th. We operate out of the assumption that if the first 3 are happening, so is that.

And we teach those 4 every January.

This is a helpful tool to assess health and growth. Are you familiar with this study LifeWay did years ago called the Transformational Discipleship Assessment? They identified 8 characteristics of growing disciples. Some have used this as a target for their discipleship strategy: https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/transformational-research-attributes-of-growing-disciples