Is it time to check the pulse of your church?
Mike Robins
How healthy is your church?
As an engineer working in aircraft manufacturing, Mike Robins was used to environments where quality control and continual improvement were essential. When he moved into church leadership, however, he realised something was missing.
“Quality control is second nature in engineering – lives depend on it,” he says. “Then I saw several significant churches go through major difficulties and was troubled by the pain and fallout leaders and attendees suffered. It made me ask: where is quality control in our churches?”
Unable to find any tool to measure church health, Mike used his engineering background to develop one – the 360 Pulse Matrix.
The 360 Pulse Matrix
“We have to begin,” Mike explains, “by asking what Jesus told us the church should do. He set five clear priorities: create disciples who develop intimacy with God, who feel part of a family and who reach out to others with servant hearts. If this is what Jesus called us to do,” he says, “shouldn’t we check we’re doing it well?”
The 360 Pulse Matrix helps churches do just that. Mike describes it as “a programme that measures a church’s effectiveness across these areas, producing a report and action plan to help leaders celebrate strengths and identify priorities for growth.”
“Are we creating attendees or disciples?” Mike asks. “Are people merely singing songs, or are they growing in intimacy with God? Are we raising the next generation of leaders? These are the kinds of quality-control questions that help keep churches healthy.”
How it works
To assess every area of church life, Pulse begins with a 60-question online survey for church attendees. It covers areas such as discipleship, worship, evangelism, service and operational topics like safeguarding, demographics and leadership development.
A 360 Survey is then completed by the senior leader and team, allowing them to reflect on their leadership, teamwork, ministry and overall church health. Once all responses are gathered, the data is analysed and two reports are produced:
One for the whole church, giving an overview of strengths and areas for growth.
A detailed leaders’ report, highlighting key insights and top priorities for action.
Positive results
Mike recently completed the “Beta 3” version of the Pulse with seven churches and reports highly encouraging feedback. “Most leaders are pleasantly surprised at the results,” he says. “There are common themes, like the challenge of raising volunteers or improving how we reflect gender and racial diversity from our platforms, but each church also has its unique results.”
He acknowledges that it takes courage for leaders to invite this level of reflection, “But it’s a positive process,” he adds. “Most churches that genuinely engage will see real improvement in their health. What’s poignant is that leaders I’ve spoken to whose churches have faced severe problems say they could have been saved if they had undertaken this programme. Beyond a doubt, this is the most significant project I’ve ever worked on. If it helps churches stay healthy and focused on what matters most, it could truly reshape how we lead.”
This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.