Clarifying

This week is the week I’m looking at Andy Stanley’s 7 Practices of Effective Ministry. I came across the book a few years ago and it’s been a huge part of how we do what we do. Now that my 5th year is ministry is coming to an end I want to revisit the things that got me to where I am and see how they’ll take me into the next 5 years. It’s kind of exciting to think of how long I’ve been doing this, I don’t feel like a pro but I definitely feel experienced.
Right now I’m working on re clarifying our wins, basically I’m taking a look at what is important at every level of our ministry. Generally speaking we win when we see life change in a student, but because it’s difficult for us to look into someone’s heart, we need to look at tangible steps. A small example is we know a student wins when they invite their friend to join us on a Sunday and then that friend decides to come back. Or if a small group goes from meeting every week to doing service in the city or community. A third way is overhearing students quoting the message or utilizing something they learned and applied it to their life.
I could go on and on with examples but in order to help the ministers really focus on winning I need to be crystal clear on what is important.