Churches long to know better how to reach unchurched and unredeemed people. Sometimes leaders in local congregations wish to have a method to discover where they may better direct their attention, train the people and focus ministry efforts. Here is a list of topics aimed toward improving an outreach strategy with corresponding analytical questions. Evaluation: Vision/Purpose: * What is God specifically calling you to do? * What is your current purpose, or vision, statement? * Do your people know your purpose/vision statement? * How does that statement reflect what you are doing? * Does it indicate the what, who, and how of your church's ministries? * Does it reflect a scriptural, prayerful calling of God? * Do you evaluate new ministries based on your purpose? Leadership: * What are the strengths/weaknesses of your leaders? * In what ways do your ministry leaders use their time? * Is this use of time reflective of your purpose/vision? * Are your leaders focused on maintaining the status quo or do they have a vision for the future? *How willing are they to make changes? * Does your leadership team participate in pastoral care? * What is the morale of your leaders? * How strong is the prayer life of your leaders? * Describe the spiritual health of your leaders? * How many of your ministry leaders have been at the church less than two years? * What do you do to get new people involved in leadership positions? * What does a leader in your church look like? Mission Field: * Can you describe the "ideal" person you are trying to minister to? * Describe the demographics within a twenty minute's drive of your church? * Is your "ideal" person a part of the demographics in your area? * Are these the people your vision/purpose is trying to reach? * Are these the type of people you are already reaching? * Does your church meet the needs of people outside your church? * Are there new ministries that would meet needs of your community that you have qualified people to operate? Re-envision: * If the previous answers are incongruent with your purpose/vision, what does that indicate to you? • How can you revamp/recreate your purpose statement based on the information you now have? Implementation: Structures: * What are the ministries and functions that your church performs? * Do these ministries agree with your vision/purpose? * What are the results of each of these ministries and functions? * What programs do the best job of meeting your purpose? * Which of these ministries and functions are not producing results? * Why are these ministries and functions not producing results (e.g. lack of leadership, interest, relevance,)? * How might your church benefit by removing some or all of these non-producing ministries from its responsibility list (e.g. increased resources for effective ministries)? * What needs to be done to get a higher percentage of your regular attendees involved in meaningful ministry? * Do you have leaders trained and ready to begin new Sunday School classes when they are needed? * How can you get uninvolved people ministering? Worship: * Is your worship service directed toward evangelism? * Does your worship service reach the "ideal person" you've identified in your purpose/vision? * Is your worship service inspiring? * Does your style of worship attract your "ideal person"? * Does the music in your service sound familiar to your "ideal person"? * Is your message relevant to your "ideal person"? * Are your worship prayers comprehendible by your "ideal person"? * Is the atmosphere of your services conducive to making people feel comfortable even though they may never have been there before? * Do you need to begin a new service to attract new people? * Is Christ preached? * Is everything done with quality? Discipleship: * Do you have a clear pathway leading to spiritual maturity? * How do you approach personal spiritual growth, as a church? * What needs are you fulfilling for the people of your church? * How many people in your church are participating in ministries? * How might more be encouraged and equipped for ministry roles? * How do you incorporate guests into what you are doing? * In what ways do you include newcomers in your ministry teams? * How often do you start new Sunday School classes or small groups? * Do you encourage those not in a small group to get involved in one? * How do you get a guest to attend Sunday School? * What does your church do to get people to commit to the church? * Do you ask people to join your church? Evangelism: * How many of your people are involved in some form of evangelism? * How do you train members for outreach ministry? * What improvements could be made in your training? * What are the greatest needs of your community? * Who in your church is equipped (or could be equipped) to lead ministries to fulfill those needs? * How well do members welcome guests? * What percentage of your people invites friends to attend church? * Why do people invite friends? * Why don't other people invite friends? * What would it take to get them to invite guests (e.g. a different style or time of service; type of small group; evangelism training?) * Is the church schedule so full your people do not have time to be in the world? --Developed by Aaron Lynn, Mark Massey, Jamie Roach and James Strickland   Click here to return to January's One on One.