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This year, we will be diving deeper into our 2025 insights. Each month, we will focus on one lesson our partner parishes learned and offer concrete ways to incorporate these insights into your own ministry. May God bless our work!

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Lesson #1:

Ministry health is not only measured with numbers – coming up with appropriate metrics is key. 

We hear it all the time in ministry: “It’s not all about numbers!” Well, okay. While it might be true that attendance numbers are not the end-all be-all, we still need to find ways of assessing the health of our ministry.

If we say, “It’s not about the numbers,” we must follow it up with what it is about. Why do we do what we do?

Is it about the quality of relationships?
Ministry participation?
Conversions?
Depth of transformation?
Evangelization radius? 

How do we even begin to measure these things?

Each parish will need to come up with their own scale of measuring the effectiveness of their ministry. One thing I can promise you is that numbers will be involved – we just need them to be illuminated by stories and accompanied by long-term observation of our ministry. 

While I don’t believe that attendance numbers alone will cut it, attendance numbers in addition to qualitative data about the attendees gives us a fuller picture.

Here is an example of what I mean: A parish might decide their metric will be the number of young adults who become OCIA sponsors. Not only can we observe increasing numbers of young adult sponsors during the OCIA formation season, but we can continue supporting these relationships after the Easter Vigil through regular check-ins, continuing catechetical formation, and connection to a small group within the parish. This metric is both quantitative and qualitative, and it gives a better idea of how effective our ministry really is. If we notice people feeling disconnected from the community or even leaving the parish after receiving their sacraments, then we know that we need to focus more time on forming intentional community during the OCIA process. Numbers alone won’t give us this information. It also takes time, patience, and persistence to change the way we evaluate ministry. 

Here are some practical tips for how to measure the success/growth/health of your ministry:

• Begin with the end in mind. Ask yourself the following questions: “How do I want people to encounter God and one another through this ministry? What goals do I have for those who participate? In what way can this ministry lead to greater discipleship/conversion for those who participate?” When we look ahead at the envisioned “end goal,” we not only see more clearly why we minister, but we can ask the Lord to show us what steps we need to take to get there.
• Set metrics that include both qualitative and quantitative data. Once you have your end in mind, then decide how you will measure growth. It’s important to choose metrics that are observable, but that also allow room for stories and experiences to flesh out what the numbers mean. You can see this in the example above about OCIA sponsors – it’s easy to count the number of sponsors, but the number is paired with accompaniment of and reflection with the people in question. It’s important to offer numbers and stories together and push back on the idea that raw data is the best or only way to measure ministry success.
• Practice long obedience. Once you have the vision and the metrics you’ll use, the next step is to…wait. Waiting in this sense is not passive; it’s more like the waiting we talk about at Advent – an active, expectant waiting. What are we waiting for? We are continuing down our path of ministry, practicing daily faithfulness, waiting to see how the Lord works through us and our community. What should we expect? We should expect God to be generous to us, for Him to be good to us. The practice of long obedience invites us to lengthen our timelines, trust in the hidden work of God, and not throw something away just because we don’t see immediate fruit.
• Reflect regularly: This step happens simultaneously with the step above. While we wait in trust, we should also reflect on what we’re seeing in our ministry. It’s important to pay attention to patterns of behavior, participant feedback, what kinds of events/programs attract participation, where we see the Lord at work, what challenges come up, etc. As an example, we do this on a monthly basis with our partner parishes so they can pause and reflect on the previous month of ministry.
• When it’s not working, stop doing it. It sounds obvious, but so often when asked, “Why do you do it this way?” the answer is, “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” Instead of submitting to the yoke of comfortability or complacency, give yourself permission to stop doing things that aren’t serving the mission – even if you are unsure whether your next idea is a “winner.” I promise that if you’re engaging in the steps above and centering Christ in your decision-making, He will be generous in making up for whatever is lacking in your efforts or ability. It may not be in the timeline we’d like, but as Scripture reminds us, “He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)

In the end, we have to remind ourselves that measuring spiritual growth and conversion is different than other types of calculation we make. There is no way to quantitatively account for the work of the Holy Spirit, who often works in the hidden places, and whose influence is perceived in the fruits of our work.

So, my encouragement is this: don’t be afraid to change the way you think about ministry success; be patient and give the Lord proper time and space to work within your ministry; reflect often, asking the Holy Spirit to show you the places that need your special attention; remember to prioritize relationships so you can see how your people grow in faith over time; and trust that the Lord is working even when you can’t see Him.