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 How do you define success in ministry? |
FLRon |
Pondering the twists and turns of ministry, would you consider the ministry entrusted to you to be successful?
What is the criteria you use for measuring that success?
Obedience?
Souls won?
Faithfulness?
Stable home life?
Impact on community?
Finally, do you ever compare your ministry with that of someone you consider to have a successful ministry? Yes, I know that isn’t wise, but do you anyway?
_________________
“Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”
Voddie Baucham |
Acts-celerater
Posts: 776
12/4/23 11:49 am
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Cojak |
Looking back there was a time that numbers alone, it seemed was the criteria for success.
First was attendance in SS, GROWTH.
We on the outside assumed if attendance grew, souls were being touched, saved and blessed.
But individually a minister must decide within his own soul if he is doing the Work of the Lord. I will be interested in hearing how Men of God judge themselves. I know how I did, and FAILED COMPLETELY IN THE Ministry.
To my and my family's shame...
I am better now, sitting in the pew and trying to support the Man of God. 
_________________
Some facts but mostly just my opinion!
jacsher@aol.com
http://shipslog-jack.blogspot.com/ |
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Posts: 24278
12/4/23 1:26 pm
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skinnybishop |
Not sure how I define success.
Our denomination defines it in terms of numerical growth and financial stability. Attendance and tithes.
_________________
Eddie Wiggins |
Acts Enthusiast
Posts: 1055
12/4/23 7:57 pm
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FLRon |
| Cojak wrote: | Looking back there was a time that numbers alone, it seemed was the criteria for success.
First was attendance in SS, GROWTH.
We on the outside assumed if attendance grew, souls were being touched, saved and blessed.
But individually a minister must decide within his own soul if he is doing the Work of the Lord. I will be interested in hearing how Men of God judge themselves. I know how I did, and FAILED COMPLETELY IN THE Ministry.
To my and my family's shame...
I am better now, sitting in the pew and trying to support the Man of God. |
Brother, I’ve read enough of your posts to know you did not fail in the ministry. Your insight is inspiring to many.
_________________
“Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”
Voddie Baucham |
Acts-celerater
Posts: 776
12/4/23 8:45 pm
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FLRon |
| skinnybishop wrote: | Not sure how I define success.
Our denomination defines it in terms of numerical growth and financial stability. Attendance and tithes. |
I’d say most denominations define success that way. Too bad “seed planting” isn’t part of the definition of success!
_________________
“Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”
Voddie Baucham |
Acts-celerater
Posts: 776
12/4/23 8:47 pm
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Quiet Wyatt |
| Obedience to the known will of God. |
[Insert Acts Pun Here]
Posts: 12799
12/4/23 9:34 pm
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Link |
| Quiet Wyatt wrote: | | Obedience to the known will of God. |
I was going to say something like that. I heard that in a sermon once, that your success in ministry is determined by how obedient you are to God.
I think we can also consider how many lives one has impacted, maybe even how many other people one has raised up, trained, or how intensely one has done that with a few. One's family is a good place to start. |
Acts-perienced Poster
Posts: 11849
12/4/23 10:49 pm
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FLRon |
| Link wrote: | | Quiet Wyatt wrote: | | Obedience to the known will of God. |
I was going to say something like that. I heard that in a sermon once, that your success in ministry is determined by how obedient you are to God.
I think we can also consider how many lives one has impacted, maybe even how many other people one has raised up, trained, or how intensely one has done that with a few. One's family is a good place to start. |
I know a man that came to Florida some years back to pastor one of the state’s larger COG congregations at that time. He left in a few short years, beaten and broken, in large part due to his own insistence on doing things his way(his words, not mine). He very nearly lost his family over the experience, and ultimately backslid.
I’m telling this because of an interview he did a couple of years after the dust had settled where he was asked if he considered himself a successful pastor. He responded by saying if pastoral success was the goal, the best way to ensure that was to find a small church of about 40 members and immerse yourself into their lives, while at the same time opening up your own life to them.
Reality dictates that success in ministry be calculated several ways. Being faithful to God and one’s family is of course the primary factor for the minister. Numerical growth would likely be considered the primary factor used by one’s superiors.
_________________
“Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”
Voddie Baucham |
Acts-celerater
Posts: 776
12/5/23 4:45 am
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| Old Metrics / New Metrics |
FG Minister |
The old metrics for success were increases in attendance, giving, and membership. If those are the only metrics, then the Mormon Tabernacle is quite successful.
I think the new metrics should include some of the old, but I also believe the percentage of people who volunteer should be added, how involved your church is in local and world missions, and how many people are accepting Christ and being baptized. I read a statistic recently that the majority of churches (all denominations) have not baptized a new believer (not including pedobaptism), in 10 years! If you have not baptized a new convert in 10 years, you are failing for sure.
Sometimes success may include a thinning of the herd! You may have to lose some folks to get rid of the dead, so you can bring in new people. For a brief moment, it looks like failure, but in the big picture you have succeeded.
Therefore, success is relative to the local situation, but some metrics should be measured by all. |
Acts-celerater
Posts: 875
12/5/23 8:56 am
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Quiet Wyatt |
When all is said and done, the only thing that will matter is to hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
Not even Jesus had constant ministry ‘success’ if numbers of followers and the admiration of men were the measure of success. |
[Insert Acts Pun Here]
Posts: 12799
12/5/23 11:22 am
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Da Sheik |
| Quiet Wyatt wrote: | When all is said and done, the only thing that will matter is to hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
Not even Jesus had constant ministry ‘success’ if numbers of followers and the admiration of men were the measure of success. |
Well said, my friend! Now that I'm long in the tooth, I look at things a lot differently than I did in my youth. I know it's every young preacher's dream to have a large congregation. Our conferences, camp meetings, and seminars are all catered to encourage this kind of ambition. But I realize now that if your church is much larger than a few hundred, you're not really a pastor to that group. Your sermons and leadership can have tremendous influence. But you are not a shepherd over a group that size. |
Acts Enthusiast
Posts: 1860
12/5/23 2:43 pm
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| Re: Old Metrics / New Metrics |
FLRon |
| FG Minister wrote: | The old metrics for success were increases in attendance, giving, and membership. If those are the only metrics, then the Mormon Tabernacle is quite successful.
I think the new metrics should include some of the old, but I also believe the percentage of people who volunteer should be added, how involved your church is in local and world missions, and how many people are accepting Christ and being baptized. I read a statistic recently that the majority of churches (all denominations) have not baptized a new believer (not including pedobaptism), in 10 years! If you have not baptized a new convert in 10 years, you are failing for sure.
Sometimes success may include a thinning of the herd! You may have to lose some folks to get rid of the dead, so you can bring in new people. For a brief moment, it looks like failure, but in the big picture you have succeeded.
Therefore, success is relative to the local situation, but some metrics should be measured by all. |
Yes, the number of baptisms is down across all denominations. I spoke with a pastor recently who just had his first baptism in 5 years!
_________________
“Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”
Voddie Baucham |
Acts-celerater
Posts: 776
12/5/23 4:56 pm
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FLRon |
| Da Sheik wrote: | | Quiet Wyatt wrote: | When all is said and done, the only thing that will matter is to hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
Not even Jesus had constant ministry ‘success’ if numbers of followers and the admiration of men were the measure of success. |
Well said, my friend! Now that I'm long in the tooth, I look at things a lot differently than I did in my youth. I know it's every young preacher's dream to have a large congregation. Our conferences, camp meetings, and seminars are all catered to encourage this kind of ambition. But I realize now that if your church is much larger than a few hundred, you're not really a pastor to that group. Your sermons and leadership can have tremendous influence. But you are not a shepherd over a group that size. |
Totally agree with this. Before the advent of the multi-site campus format, large churches would often start a new church on the other side of town comprised of a few families from the parent church. That made shepherding much easier. Well, until the new church wanted to break off on their own that it. But that’s for another day.
_________________
“Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”
Voddie Baucham |
Acts-celerater
Posts: 776
12/5/23 5:33 pm
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Cojak |
| Da Sheik wrote: | | Quiet Wyatt wrote: | When all is said and done, the only thing that will matter is to hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
Not even Jesus had constant ministry ‘success’ if numbers of followers and the admiration of men were the measure of success. |
Well said, my friend! Now that I'm long in the tooth, I look at things a lot differently than I did in my youth. I know it's every young preacher's dream to have a large congregation. Our conferences, camp meetings, and seminars are all catered to encourage this kind of ambition. But I realize now that if your church is much larger than a few hundred, you're not really a pastor to that group. Your sermons and leadership can have tremendous influence. But you are not a shepherd over a group that size. |
Well said also my friend. My gauge has long been my dad. He was one to say 100-150 he could pastor, after that # was reached in attendance he sought to plant another church. It worked well in 3 of the churches he pastored.
Have a wonderful Christmas season and thanks to all for the prayers for my son. He is now a ;student; at Faith Farm near Okeechobee, FL.
_________________
Some facts but mostly just my opinion!
jacsher@aol.com
http://shipslog-jack.blogspot.com/ |
01000001 01100011 01110100 01110011
Posts: 24278
12/6/23 11:17 am
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