The objectives you set and metrics you use make a big difference
It is no secret that I dislike the metrics most commonly used - particularly by judicatories and denominations - to measure a church’s health. Giving and attendance are not only lagging indicators, which show us what has happened rather than give us a sense of what is possible, they are only loosely connected to spiritual growth and showing Christ’s love in the world. Those two things, after all, are what we are to be about as Jesus followers.
And in this time of Covid, these numbers tell us even less. You may have 40 views of your worship service on YouTube, but how many people were watching per device? How engaged were they as they watched? Did they hop on for five minutes or the whole service? What helped them feel most connected to others and to God? Depending on how we interpret online participation in worship, Bible study, meetings, and other gatherings, we can have an inflated or (more likely) a discouraging sense of our church’s and our pastoral leadership’s impact. Feeling like we’re spending all this extra prep time to reach only a few people can have a devastating effect on our sense of efficacy, our proximity to burnout, and even our call to ministry.
Lately I have been working with several coachees on establishing objectives and metrics that do not depend on these minimally-informative numbers. On the objectives side, what could the benefits of your worship service or event be no matter how many people attend? It could be that participants are spiritually nurtured or challenged or that they will have the opportunity to connect with others. It could be that you will have the chance to test out a new idea or approach and get feedback on it, allowing you to improve it for the next time. Metrics might include the takeaways from your offering, which you could ask for in live voices, chat, or comments, or the number of smiles or laughs you notice, or the amount of interaction among participants as opposed to responses just to you.
Notice that all of these examples are within some level of your control as the leader, unlike monetary giving and attendance. They also call for some creativity. Knowing your work matters and having the flexibility to adapt your framing are both essential for moving through this pandemic with your calling intact, which I hope for you, because the church needs your presence and voice!