“People didn’t like the idea of measurements,” said a member of this clergy conference. “Too threatening.”
If only one person is held accountable for performance, I can understand why metrics would seem threatening. The answer, however, isn’t to avoid measuring results. The answer is to share accountability.
Churches are systems, not individual canvases or fiefdoms. Whether a visitor returns or flees, for example, depends on numerous factors, from the quality of first greeting to perceptions of openness, which are determined by many small actions or inactions.
Many factors go into a program’s success or failure, most of them beyond control of the clergy.
Accountability, therefore, should be a systemic duty, not a grim burden on a few hired hands. If the measuring is done consistently and transparently, then the finger won’t point inevitably to one person, but will identify various inputs that could have been handled more effectively.
A collaborative style of pastoral leadership will be grounded in shared metrics. In the process of designing programs, for example, we will agree on how to measure results and how to allocate accountability. Measuring won’t be punitive, but instructive. Outcomes won’t be occasions for blame, but for learning.
Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of “Just Wondering, Jesus,” and the founder of the Church Wellness Project.
