Just over a year ago, I considered the difference between worship attendance and discipleship. Today I am thinking about a related question.
How do you measure life change?
I know, trust and hope that lives are changed through my ministry at Resurrection and the collected life and ministry of this local faith community. But how do you know?
This nagging question keeps coming back to me. It is important that people show up to worship. It is important that people make a decision to join the church. These are measurable and quantifiable. It is much more difficult to measure life change.
The best way that I know how to accomplish this is through story. One person that has experienced life change that is able to tell that story to another person can make it certain that change has happened and continues to take place. I am sometimes blessed to be able to hear these stories. More often I am left wondering about how or if lives are being changed.
I continue to struggle with this question. Maybe I need to trust the life change to God…
What I do know is that life change and sharing that change with others is crucial to the continued vitality of the church of Jesus Christ.
Rev. Andrew Conard 
2 replies on “How do you measure life change?”
Perhaps if we focused more on stories of life change than merely numbers, we might find more ways that the Church is growing rather than declining?
Totally agree Andrew, though numerical growth can be an indicator of Life Change because invitation to friends and family to come and see is often a product of life change. I know it worked that way for me especially during the time of my early discipleship.