Assessment.

I don’t know many people in ministry who get excited by the idea of it, let alone the process.

I think, in part, it has something to do with the fact that most of us are highly relational people — and would prefer to be sitting with a group of students and talking about what God is up to in the world… and in their lives.

But I think there might be another part of us that, well… struggles to know how best to assess what we do.

How do we really measure something that has — as it’s end “goal” — the transformation of people?

In my post yesterday I started this conversation by asking the question: How Is Your Ministry Forming Students? (click to read) In it, I suggested that there are a number of ways that are ministries have the potential to shape students — and not all of them are healthy or helpful.

And the reality is that without doing some kind of formal assessment, it will be hard to really know how are ministries are shaping students, and therefore hard to know the overall level of effectiveness of our ministry efforts.

I wish I could tell you that after my 14 years of college ministry I’ve found a great assessment tool for what we do, and that I’ve become well-versed and intentional in my assessment efforts… but I haven’t.

The assessments I have conducted have been sporadic and haphazard.

Sometimes I’ve used web-based survey tools like Survey Monkey and at other times I’ve gone with the traditional half-sheet of paper with the little golf pencils.

More often than not I’ve chosen to assess specific events and/or experiences as opposed to the overall ministry efforts — a semester’s worth of worship experiences or a mission trip — and not the sum total of what we have done over the course of the academic year.

I often find that my evaluation efforts happen in more informal ways — a couple of questions with a small group of students right after an event, a one-on-one conversation with a student while walking through campus, and watching students reactions and responses in the midst of certain experiences.

And then, of course, there are the numbers.

And if you’ve been in ministry for very long you know that numbers can mean everything and nothing all at the same time. They are limiting in what they can tell us about how well students are formed, and to what extent our overall ministry efforts are “effective,” but they still must be included in the mix of how we assess.

I rarely get the panoramic perspective of where a student was at the time they arrived on campus… and where they are when they leave.

My assessment efforts have not been as intentional as they need to be… and I know a lot of this has to change.

Maybe it does for you as well.

And if you are doing this well… then I hope you’ll share your wisdom and tools with us!

So here are my questions:

• (How) do you measure the effectiveness of your ministry?
• Have you found an evaluation tool that measures more than just the quantitative, but also the qualitative, elements and outcomes of your ministry?
• What are the expectations put on you by your institution, or organization, in the area of assessment? Do you know what measures they are most interested in?
• What does “effective” ministry look like for you — at the end of a full year of effort?

Take a moment to share in the comment section below.