I’ve said before that one of the more challenging aspects of leading a church is knowing what to measure when evaluating how things are going. The two most common metrics are nickels and noses. We count the number of people and we count how much money they give each Sunday. Most churches count these things not because they’re the best indicators of vitality but because they are the easiest things to count. Without diminishing the importance of either one–it’s easy to say it’s not about the amount of money or the number of people until you run out of one or the other or both–I try to pay attention to others things as well that may give a bigger clue as to how things are really going.

One of the most important indicators of a church’s vitality is the number of guests there each Sunday. If week after week after week your church doesn’t have a new face in the crowd your church is going to die. Not overnight, and it may be one person at a time, but eventually it will die for lack of new blood, fresh ideas, and beginners energy.

It’s even better if the majority of the guests aren’t church hopping and shopping. If all your guests are from other churches then it may be a sign that your church is judged to be safe by disgruntled Christians who are fleeing churches that are trying new things. Not exactly the kind of people with whom I want to fill a room. It could also mean that your church is doing some really great things and the word has gotten out among the consumer Christians and they’ve come to check out your church just like they plan on checking out the new Bottomless Buffet restaurant that has just opened up in the shopping center across town. Again, not ideal, but it is a sign of vitality.

Even more important than the number of guests each is week is the number of guests who are there because someone from your church invited them come. This indicates a number of things. People from your church feel good enough about what’s going on there to talk about it with others and extend an invitation. It also means they’re spending time with people outside the church, hopefully with people who are chasing down the answers to some big questions.

Even more important than how many guests you have that have been invited by a friend is how many first time guests who have been invited by a friend come back a second, third and fourth time.

These may be obvious to the rest of you, but I have to remind myself to pay attention to these things.

What other indicators of vitality do you pay attention to?