Measuring the church

I finished reading 'The Externally Focused Church' yesterday. It had quite a bit of good stuff in it - if you're a pastor/church leader. A lot was geared more towards urban or suburban, but some of it had universal appeal. For instance, on p. 214 there is a section "Change the Conversation," which I found particularly good. It says...

Put two pastors in a room together, and you can bet that within the first five minutes someone will ask, "What are you runnin' these days?" That's pastor talk for "How large is your attendance?" or "What size is your church?" Maybe the conversation needs to change to "Tell me about the difference your church is making in your community." If the other pastor starts mentioning numbers of people attending Sunday school or worship services, respond by saying something such as "Oh, I'm sure people love listening to your teaching, but what's happening in the community because of your church?"

It's not about size; it's about impact. Can you imagine the difference it would make if the more than 340,000 churches in North America all measured their effectiveness by external measures (impact on communities) rather than internal measures (attendance)? Can you imagine the difference it would make if every church around the world did the same?

Yeah, good stuff. I like that - and not just because our attendance sucks. But what good is a church if it has no impact on the surrounding community/world? What good is being 'tranformed into the image of Jesus' if you're not becoming more Christ-like? Can you even do that?

I've lately been thinking of just completely stopping all record-keeping, other than financial. I don't know, it sounds nice - sounds real "missional" and all - but historically speaking it would probably be a big disservice to those who follow.

At any rate, I am all for this "measuring impact, rather than attendance." So... I'ma wonderin' what impact my church is having....