Practical Church Mission Evaluation

When you think of a church mission or mission program…what comes to mind? In the context of American 2023, is it the sign on the front of the church? Or the focus of a special week of services? Maybe for your church, it’s a bulletin that contains names that you cannot pronounce. But I want us to consider, “What is the church doing to reach people?”

What is the Mission?

To intentionally reach the lost and dying community in which God has placed us by action and through partnership.

So, where do we start? Don’t get me wrong, many people like to start in Matthew 28:19, which is great. “Go in the entire world and preach the gospel…” While that is a phenomenal verse and will excite you about evangelism, I would like to direct your attention to Acts 1:8. Like many others; I consider that this verse gives a tremendous practical blueprint of missions.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

Define our Areas

Before evaluating, let us start by defining the four main areas from Acts 1:8. I will also give practical examples for Lighthouse. Please understand that your church/ministry may choose to define each area differently.

Jerusalem is where God has placed you. It is your location or your home base. If you are struggling with what is considered your Jerusalem, let me encourage you to walk outside the church building and do a quick 360 circle. Everything you see is your Jerusalem. And while it may sound simple, there are a lot of churches/ministries that miss this point. Lighthouse and I define this as the county (or community) where the church is located. And while it may be my humble biblical opinion, this is your most important mission field.

Please allow me to speak truth in your life. If you feel that God has placed another location on your heart as your most important, then let me encourage you to follow God and to move to that location and become a missionary for Him.

Judea is close but not home. I help define Judea as the locations near or surrounding Jerusalem. For Lighthouse, Judea is the range from our surrounding counties to the state of North Carolina.

Samaria is considered to be like you, but they are not you. Typically, they are even further away but within a restriction. For this example, we take our Samaria to represent states surrounding North Carolina to the entire United States of America.

Finally, the Ends of the Earth (or Uttermost Parts of the World, depending on what you memorized). This is the easiest to define, as it is everyone else. The literal “rest of the world.”

Biblical Location	Practical Example from Pastor Mark
Jerusalem	Jackson County, NC
Judea	Surrounding counties to the state of North Carolina
Samaria	From states surrounding North Carolina to the USA
World	The rest of the world

Define our Mission Projects

{Caveat: I assume you and your church are trying to reach these different groups of people, especially those within your community. I also understand that some have not begun yet. If you have not begun, please consider what you will start and use this as a guideline for the next six months to a year.}

Again, “What is the church doing?” or “What is your church supporting?” This is not a rhetorical question. For this step, please write down, or list, all of the items that fall into the two questions above: “What are you doing/who are you supporting?” You may want to consider starting your church calendar and budget. Primarily so we don’t miss the obvious items. Also, give yourself some time (a couple of days) to consider and remember. This project/tool is important, so try not to feel rushed.

A word of warning: Resist the urge to count your worship services. With very few exceptions, your worship services are not designed to be mission projects in the community. Worship services are needed for the community. The services are necessary for your church family to worship collectively. The weekly service may even contain evangelistic aspects, but the event is primarily mission-passive for the church.

Evaluation Worksheet

Now that you have your list of mission projects, I want to walk you through the evaluation process. When I recently went through this exercise, I used a digital spreadsheet. However, you may choose to accomplish this by hand.

Step 1: Write down all the mission programs

For the example below, I listed our mission projects and programs in the first column. Because this exercise is based on individual projects and not other criteria, they are listed by how I remembered them and not alphabetically or by financial giving.

Step 2: Make four additional columns with Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, The World

We are setting ourselves up for the evaluation. We must prepare our thinking of “What area does this mission program/project reach?” To help you out, consider changing the columns to your definition of each area.

Step 3: Give a number or tally mark

Go down your list and mark the column or columns that most appropriately correspond. You will not do this perfectly. However, try to assign what you and your church hope to reach through that opportunity.

For example, Lighthouse supports the North American Mission Board. And while that organization helps people in North Carolina (Judea) or maybe even people in our county (Jerusalem), our evaluation of that mission falls under “Samaria.”

Step 4: Total your results

Again, using a spreadsheet, I put a 1, allowing me to total each column. If you are a real nerd like I tend to be, consider putting the results in a pie chart (see below). Visuals, like graphs, often make it easier to see and understand.

Mission Evaluation

Before you evaluate the result, we need to ask, “What is a good gauge of health in missions?” The question I want you to consider is, what percentage of our mission efforts should fall within each category?” And to effectively evaluate your next step, you need to think through this goal.

While there are people who may disagree with me, I lean toward the goal of:

• Jerusalem – 70%
• Judea – 15%
• Samaria – 10%
• World – 5%

Below, you will see the 2023 pie chart for Lighthouse. Have we met the goal perfectly? No. However, we are on a good path to continue and making the necessary priorities.

The goal for you and your church could be different with different percentages.

Pastor Mark’s Takeaway:

So, how did you do? What areas do you need to improve in the year to come intentionally? Maybe what do you need to cut back on? We have to remind ourselves that every church/ministry has a limited amount of resources. For us to say “yes” to certain things means that we may have to say “no” to others…and that’s okay. We can’t do everything. But we can intentionally reach the palace where God has placed us.

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