Directions for the Ministry Inventory
Ministry Inventory
In the business world, major projects often begin with a feasibility study that lays out the resources, staff, culture, and track record of the organization. This helps planners determine the most efficient and realistic approach. Similarly, a game plan grounded in a clear picture of the current reality can be a helpful starting point for ministry development.
A ministry inventory helps your church take a careful look at how it is reaching out beyond its walls with good news and good works. If local mission is a new venture for your congregation, the inventory can help identify a strategy for building readiness for ministry. For churches already engaged in external ministry, an inventory can help organize, enhance and build on the church's activities.
A ministry inventory has several goals:
1. To identify how God is already at work in and through your congregation.
2. To bring patterns of church outreach into sharper focus.
3. To discover and appreciate your church's unique ministry "style".
4. To identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges for ministry.
5. To reveal hidden assets for effective community outreach in your church.
6. To take the pulse of your church's commitment to externally-oriented mission.
7. To lay the groundwork for a strategy for mission transformation.
The ministry inventory may go hand in hand with a ministry program evaluation (see the next section). The ministry inventory looks at the church's overall approach to local mission; the ministry evaluation looks at specific ministry programs.
Holistic ministry is a growth process that builds on experience, learning from past struggles and celebrating successes. An honest look at the current attributes, strengths and weaknesses of your church's outreach can help you anticipate obstacles and avoid mistakes as you enter new ministry territory. An inventory can also rekindle a church's excitement about using its gifts to make a difference in the world. Recalling afresh how "we've come this far by faith" inspires praise and greater trust in the Lord's leading.
What is important is not whether your church has already arrived—but whether you are willing to allow God to guide your next step on the ministry journey (Phil. 3:13-14).
Conducting the Ministry Inventory
The first step is to gather a team of people who will lead the study: either the ministry vision team, or a smaller designated task force. Select people who care about the church but can be objective in describing it. The group should reflect the diversity of the church.
The process of conducting the ministry inventory is flexible. Decide the methods that best suit your church's size, style, and situation:
The ministry inventory guide (starting on p. 43) includes ten sets of questions. Not every question set may be relevant or helpful to your context. If you need to shorten the process, consider using at least the first five question sets. Feel free to adapt, add or delete questions for your own purposes.
The inventory refers to a number of worksheets in the supplemental Toolkit that can stimulate critical reflection on your church's ministry activities and priorities. Select the most helpful tools for your use.
Recommended tools to get you started are Explore Your Church's Foundations for Outreach (#15); How is Your Church Engaging the Community? (#16); Ministry Program Inventory (#17); Ministry Patterns and Priorities (#21); Does Your Church Smell Like Mission? (#22); and the Church Outreach Opportunities Worksheet (#38). If you have limited time, you can use a selection of these tools to conduct a "mini-inventory."
- How will you gather the information?
This inventory is most fruitful when a group of members are involved in answering the questions, drawing in diverse perspectives. There are two main options for conducting the inventory. The first option is the simplest to implement; the second yields a broader range of input:
A) The team may conduct the assessment on its own, meeting together at least once to discuss the selected questions. (More than one meeting will probably be necessary.) Assign one or more team member(s) to take notes on the discussion and write up the inventory report.
B) The inventory process may be opened to a large group of members (or even the whole congregation, in a small church). One method is to set up a discussion table for each question set. Participants can be assigned to tables, or they can be allowed to choose the question they would like to discuss. Assign team members or other volunteers to be facilitators and recorders at each table, writing up their notes afterwards. (It may help to entice people to stay after church for a fellowship meal, then set them to work on the inventory.)
A few notes:
· Some questions require more information, or sensitivity, to complete than others. It may be appropriate to combine the two methods outlined above: select some questions to be discussed by a broader group, and others to be handled by the team.
· For certain questions, the team may wish to interview specific church leaders and individual members who bring a particularly valuable perspective.
· Other sources of information for the inventory may include relevant church documents (e.g., annual reports, prior surveys or assessments), and people outside the congregation with a useful perspective on the church's outreach or reputation in the community.
· Don't expect consensus in answering the questions. There are no "right answers." If you encounter diverging answers to questions, simply note this in your report.
· Participants in the inventory should understand that the purpose is not to critique the church, but to prepare the church for next steps in ministry by building on the church's strengths while confronting weaknesses and avoiding past mistakes. Try to promote an attitude of sober humility and open-minded optimism.
First, drawing on all the information and insights gained from the inventory guide questions and related tools, create a report that provides a brief overview of the key points. The next step is to process the inventory report using the reflection questions on p.60 to discern its implications for ministry development.
Plan how you will share the fruits of your learnings with the congregation. Make a summary of the report available to members, and share highlights in the church bulletin or newsletter. Consider a special worship service that celebrates God's unique gifting of your church for holistic ministry.
- How will you act on the information?
Without a plan for action, your ministry inventory report is likely to end up gathering dust in a file folder. The information gathered in the inventory process becomes useful when it serves the process of transformation.
God seeks to transform each church into a vessel of healing, pouring God's love and hope into a hurtful, hurting world (Romans 15:13, 1 Thessalonians 3:12). This is the work of God's grace, but also of our faithful preparation (Colossians 1:10, 2 Timothy 2:21).
Set a plan for following up on the inventory. The guide and worksheets include many suggestions for next steps based on your findings. The action plan does not need to be ambitious – in fact, it's best to identify two or three small, achievable steps that build on past successes, address a weakness in the church's approach to ministry, strengthen the church's relationship with the community, build a bridge between an asset and a need, or equip the congregation for outreach.
For more help, see the many resources for church-based ministry on FASTEN (www.fastennetwork.org). Identify best-practice models, training, networks and capacity-building resources that can help you sustain the momentum sparked by this self-assessment – being confident that "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion" (Philippians 1:6).
