Compassion By Design

This last installment answering the “why community needs assessment” question will address several additional important reasons to include a needs assessment in your new church preparation. We are convinced that this process can make a huge difference in the way that you start and the kind of church that you grow.

Crack the cultural code in your community early and accurately. One well known pastor told me that it took him nearly 10 years to really understand the culture of his community after he started a new church. Needs assessment advances this time clock dramatically, but giving insight to not only the leaders of a new church, but to its entire plant team. The entire team becomes more culturally aware within a short amount of time. This will sharpen everything about the new church from style to teaching, small groups and worship by aligning them with community values.

Help every member of your plant team to become a community net worker. Current research places the number of network contacts over 1200 for an effective church launch, and the planter cannot be the only net worker. Needs assessment points the entire team at specific community targets and gives them the initial opening to initiate a relationship.

Relationships are really the biggest reason for both needs assessment and the community ministry that follows. If we want relationships building to be a key part of our ministry expression, we have to prioritize them at the beginning.

Prepare to focus and sustain long term community engagement. The real question for new churches that want to have a community ministry or service focus is how will they sustain it? We often focus on community outreach only at the beginning of our effort and the current default for many churches is occasional or random community efforts that don’t result in sustained relationships that lead to transformation. The needs assessment brings clear focus to the community ministry by aligning the community ministry focus with the church calling, gifts and resources. Focus is a primary ingredient to community ministry that can be sustained.

If you are working to grow a missional church that is relationships centered and community focused, the real question you should be asking is “why wouldn’t I include a community needs assessment as a critical part of the launch process?” While this may require a shift in your focus, it can transform our launch effort from purely a preparation of church services to an effective relationship effort that connects to the hearts of people like a net.

Needs Assessment Resources community needs assessment kit for new churches
Check out the community needs assessment for existing churches
Join a free conference call to learn more

New research out today from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has some important insights for those who believe that the presence and impact of the local church is really important. Some of the news is no surprise—the protestant church is in serious decline. But some parts of this report hold key insights.

The largest growth group, as the blog title suggests, are those who are joining the Church of the Unaffiliated (that is—no church). To quote from the report: “The survey finds that the number of people who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith today (16.1%) is more than double the number who say they were not affiliated with any particular religion as children.” This tells us where people are going when they leave a protestant or catholic church.

How do we appeal to those who have been disaffected by the church? To them, the church has lost real credibility or personal value. It seems clear to me that we have to reshape our Christian experience to include activity that is personally meaningful and powerful. That ought to include community service focused on critical community needs (see the needs assessment kit), and an approach to faith expression that touches the real values and sense of reality.

25% of those under 29…
What I found even more striking in this report was the composition of these “unaffiliated church non-goers.” The report stated that “Among Americans ages 18-29, one-in-four say they are not currently affiliated with any particular religion.” This predicts that if the trend continues, the unaffiliated category will grow toward 25%– and the protestant/ catholic majority (now 51%) will surely and quickly slip into the minority in our country. This is a dramatic shift to which we need to pay attention. We also know that this same age group has a specific expectation that community service be included as a key part of any organization in which they belong. If you are interested in this research, email me at info@compassionbydesign.org.

This report is a must read for those who are serious about impacting the culture, and intentional efforts to engage community are not optional for churches that want to grow in this season.

A couple of resources the community needs assessment kit for new churches
Check out the community needs assessment for existing churches
Join a free conference call to learn more
Pew Study

(part 3) Community Needs Assessment is a vital part of the launch plan for any new church. See the previous two posts and explore what follows…

Let the community know we are serious about serving. Since community needs assessment is the official method that new organizations in the community use to prepare for service, our use of the needs assessment lets the community know that serving is more than lip service—we are serious, intentional and sophisticated about understanding the needs in our community. The needs assessment changes the conversation with community leaders from the very beginning. It is critical to establish a service identity for the new church from the beginning, both for team members and the community.

Develop community partnerships. Long term partnerships with community organizations result from the needs assessment process. It allows us to begin by asking “how can we help?”, rather than “what can you give us?” You will discover that your requests for meetings with community organizations are much more readily accepted for the purpose of needs assessment that they are for the introduction of a new church. One church reported a 100% “yes” response to appointment requests with more than 200 community leaders during their needs assessment.

Look for some more insights about the importance of community needs assessments in the next post. Check out the community needs assessment kit for new churches
Check out the community needs assessment for existing churches
Join a free conference call to learn more

If you are a church planter, or someone considering starting a new church, an emerging practice in church planting is the use of community needs assessment as an integrated part of the “pre-launch” phase up through the first couple years of the new church. As we explore this idea we must first, answer the question:

“What is a community needs assessment?”

A needs assessment is the process of systematically listening to community members and leaders through surveys, interviews and other methods. This is a period of intentional “listening,” that when approached in the right way, can have dramatic benefits for the growth of the launch team, new church and its impact on the community. To work for churches, the process has to be modified from the traditional social work approach and should engage volunteers as the primary workers, include questions about strengths and needs in the community and help the new church focus its ministry both inside the new church and in its community. It will result a public report that can be issued to coincide with the launch date, and help to establish a clear community focused identity for the new church.

Now that we know “what it is”, we need to answer the why question:

“Why Should I Include Community Needs Assessment in My Church Plant Process?”

WHY #1-It’s the natural prerequisite to the New Testament model of Demonstration and Proclamation. For us to effectively demonstrate through service, we have to first “investigate.” To use the words of Rick Rusaw of Externally Focused, who believes in “show and tell” as a key ministry approach, needs assessment creates a process that is “LISTEN, SHOW AND TELL.” Listening and intentionally networking increases the impact of service and helps to embed our demonstration of love in respect and a relational network.

WHY #2- Maximize your servant “outreach” activity. Many new churches include a series of outreach events that range from free car washes to block parties. The impact of these activities can be improved when they are linked to a needs assessment. The team simply does intentional survey work during the outreach events to help them focus on listening, make better connections with those who attend and to listen to the heart of the community.

next blog…more “Why Needs Assessment?”
Check out the community needs assessment kit for new churches
Check out the community needs assessment for existing churches
Join a free conference call to learn more