Category: Good Practice

Last time we looked at the statements that have a spiritual impact. In this final part of the series I list those statements that we would expect to apply to any work of this nature, whether Christian or secular, NGO or Aid Agency. These are coloured green in the PowerPoint presentation. 9. Who? It is clear who the ministry is for, why we are doing it and what is the best approach It is known what other ministries provide a good model and where there are the gaps in provision It is known what service clients want 10. When? The ministry has clearly defined objectives and activities with a structured schedule and budget There are short, medium and long term plans with a built in flexibility so as to be…

What are the other statements? Having shared some examples of statements let me now provide the full list in this and the next posting. Written here they seem somewhat overwhelming but please do not be put off! For clarification on any of these please refer to the series which I posted Sept - Dec 2009 where I described the 20 basic Key Indicators. These statements have been created around those Indicators. The statements are grouped under common headings, as shared in part 1 of this series. This grouping is reflected in the PowerPoint slides which are coloured according to the group. The complete presentation may be downloaded here. The orange ones are 1. Spiritual Oversight The ministry is apostolically endorsed The elders of the local church oversee and support the…

The Process When launching a Health Check I first encourage all team members to rate the statements individually, before meeting together. I urge them not to think too deeply; respond to the first impression they may have about a particular statement and its relevance to their particular ministry. When the team does come together they then take each group of statements, such as those in the first category ‘Spiritual Oversight', and compare their gradings. Although it is important to discuss every statement, initially attention should particularly be given to those areas where gradings differ significantly between team members. As illustrated in a previous posting, this may highlight a fundamental flaw in relationship, team communication etc. In event of that being the case it is helpful to address this at an…

The value of grading We ended the last posting discussing grading of the various statements. Recently I was leading a workshop in Zimbabwe on the Ministry Health Check. I asked participants to work in ministry teams but to score these statements as individuals before starting any discussion. I was surprised to find that some members on one team graded a particular statement very highly and another at a very low level. The resulting discussion revealed that this arose from there being little communication between team members on a daily basis; this then became the matter to consider for improvement. An illustration Returning to the statement above "The elders of the local church oversee and support the ministry, integrating it into the vision and life of the church" we were working…

In the first post of this new series I introduced the concept of a Ministry Health Check using the Key Indicators of Good Practice which have been discussed previously. What is the purpose? The Key Indicators have application in two areas: 1) Planning and 2) Evaluation. For planning they underpin more formal planning practices, as described in the previous Series (Jan-March). This provides a useful reference list. Planning should not be completed without intentionally going through this list and comparing it with your proposed protocols and activities to ensure nothing has been omitted. For evaluation a colleague and I have worked these Indicators into a battery of material that is designed to help you carry out the Check, to record the results and discussions, and to agree any actions. The…

A visit to the Doctor Recently I had a health check with my doctor. I had no reason to think there was anything wrong and I am glad to say his questioning demonstrated that to be the case. Nevertheless, as he asked me questions about my life-style, sleep patterns and so on it caused me to think about things I had never considered. Further, I have a close friend who is involved in Human Resources. Occasionally I spend time with him and encourage him to ask me difficult questions! As he enquires about my work/life balance, about my marriage and so on, issues are raised that are well worth considering. I benefit from both exercises. Ministry in the church can be like that. We can become so deeply involved in…