Dare to Evaluate
Your best planning tool is an honest look at last Sunday.
April 1, 2005
"Do your pastor and arts team meet weekly to evaluate your services?" It's a question I've asked in leadership gatherings all over the world, and every time, I'm disappointed by how few hands go up in response. Planning teams who routinely engage the discipline of evaluation are as rare as sunny days in a Chicago winter. Some leaders wonder if evaluation is biblical. Others default to the lack-of-time excuse: Sundays come so regularly we must move on to the next. And then there's defensiveness: Most of us don't know how to give or receive constructive criticism without sinning! It's much safer to put last Sunday behind us and brainstorm for the next. Here's a bold challenge: begin now engaging in a weekly process of evaluating Sunday services. Here's what you'll gain: 1. Reason to celebrate
Always begin evaluation discussions with celebration. Focus first and foremost on the good work God did through your service. Ask team members to identify moments from the service when it felt obvious God was at work, and affirm the hard work and creativity of team members whose contributions made those moments possible. Be specific in how you honor one another, and watch how the eyes of team members light up as they feel appreciated. Share any stories you may have heard about how people in the congregation were inspired, challenged, or transformed because of the Sunday service. All together, your team can say "Yeah, God!" for everything that worked well. 2. Reality checks
My pastor says a primary task of every leader is to define reality. Evaluation meetings enable teams to truthfully assess not only what was effective, but also what did not go well. Did parts of the service fail to communicate with authenticity, clarity, excellence, biblical ...
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