How Is Your Church Doing? Fellowship Of Presbyterians Tools

One of the great tools that the Fellowship of Presbyterians is providing to churches and pastors is the Narrative On The Health Of Mission And Ministry.

The foundation of this document was used by the Presbyterian Church in various settings until the 1920's to evaluate members, and fell into disuse because of various questions that were culturally bound.

If a church is an official member of the Fellowship of Presbyterians it's part of the covenant it has with the Fellowship to complete the Narrative each year for peer-to-peer review with the congregations they are together with in a mission affinity group.

I think it's a good tool that could be adopted by any church in any denomination.  I commend the questions to you:

1. How has the Holy Spirit been evident in your congregation in the past year; through conversions, growth in the fruit of the Spirit, or other transformational experiences that make disciples of Jesus Christ? 

2. How has your congregation extended itself beyond its bounds through the establishment of new commu-nities of worship and discipleship, expanding the Kingdom of God? 

3. In what ways is your congregation seeking the welfare of the community to which you have been called; devoting itself to the poor, seeking justice, and living out the whole of the Great Commission? 

4. How are you encouraging people to allow God’s Word to shape their priorities and actions, and to nur-ture constant learning and the life of the mind? 

5. How are you helping children and others new to the Christian faith to discover Jesus and grow in their understanding and love of God’s Word? 

6. Describe the moral expression in your congregation – are you more like the world or more like partici-pants in the values of the Kingdom of God? 

7. How is your congregation intentionally unleashing the ministries of women, men, and people of different ethnic groups who are experiencing God’s call? 

8. How is the idea of ministry as the joy and calling of every disciple evident in your congregation? How are you equipping people to represent Jesus more effectively in their respective professions? 

9. Illustrate the commitment of your congregation to global evangelism and discipleship, including examples of where you are engaging and with whom you are partnering. 

10. How does your congregation understand commitment to the larger church through our connectional rela-tionships within the Body of Christ?