Seeking feedback for your children’s ministry can help it grow! Use this guide to create an effective evaluation strategy.

Evaluation is the key to leading a healthy ministry poised for growth. While it’s often human nature to avoid feedback because we fear discovering something negative, wise leaders embrace opportunities to evaluate their ministry and seek ways to improve.

We use many avenues to gather feedback—from surveys to casual conversation to complaint boxes. But to be truly effective evaluators, we must do three things:

1. Challenge any mindset that limits our openness to feedback.
2. Seek different types of feedback from different aspects of the ministry.
3. Adopt a mindset that ongoing evaluation is part of the fabric of a healthy ministry.

Read on, and you’ll find the starting point to create a culture of feedback and evaluation in your ministry. Let’s dive in!

First, Challenge Your Mindset

Before you and your team begin to evaluate, do a bit of self-reflection. That means setting aside preconceived assumptions about, well, a lot. Turn your thinking upside down to get the most out of your evaluation efforts. Start by challenging yourself—and your team—in these three areas:

Challenge 1: Hands Off!

Ensure nothing will be off limits when it comes to feedback. And remember: Evaluation isn’t something we only do when things aren’t going well or when we realize something’s broken. Evaluation is ongoing, constant, and comprehensive. Take time to examine what you know isn’t working—but also be willing to examine the best things you have going.

Many ideas we now view as antiquated were once new and good. Change happens faster than ever, and even a ministry’s best ideas may be out of touch. So don’t cheat yourself out of proper evaluation by protecting the way things are.

Challenge 2: Good News/Bad News

Rather than assuming “no news is good news,” assume no news is not good news. When we fall into thinking no news is good news, we tend to leave things unexamined and therefore unimproved. But when we assume no news isn’t always good news, we constantly seek out feedback and press for answers as to how we can improve.

Challenge 3: Culture Check

Commit to establishing a bi-weekly or monthly evaluation process so gathering some kind of feedback becomes a natural part of your ministry flow. When you weave in feedback as part of your regular culture, it’s far more effective than a once-, twice-, or whenever-it-comes-to-mind “event.” (Make sure to check out these four ways to develop great team culture!)

Second, Seek Feedback From Different Areas

It’s time to evaluate the key areas of your ministry: regular services, kids, parents, the whole family, and guests.

We’ve included a list of questions you could ask pertaining to each key area. You’ll notice that these questions are open-ended rather than close-ended, “yes or no” questions. That’s because when you pose questions like “How could we improve our check-in process?” rather than “Do you like our check-in process?” you’ll get much more useful information!

Regular Services

Ask these questions on Sundays. Invite several people (volunteers, parents, other leaders) to give you feedback.

1. What went well (or not so well) with the check-in process? This information ensures you have a pulse on whether families wait too long upon arrival, whether volunteers interact in a positive way with families, and whether parents or kids experience frustration.
2. What logistical issues came up during large group, small group, or class time? Keep abreast of how volunteers manage time, transitions, flow, lessons, supplies, and other aspects of your regular programming. You’ll discover whether you’re constantly short on supplies or if you need to change aspects of the programming flow.
3. What issues did volunteers and teachers experience? Feedback from your team will help you discover whether activities work with kids or if teachers struggle with the curriculum. 
4. What happened during checkout? Monitoring checkout tells you whether it feels organized or unsafe, if parents are frustrated over wait times, or if there are ways you can streamline the process.
5. What, if anything, took place that needs to be addressed immediately? Maybe a sibling checked out a child and when the parent arrived, no one knew where the child was. Maybe a teacher dealt with a parent situation in the wrong way and you need to address it. This is an important question to ask each week.

Kids

To get useful feedback on what your ministry does for kids, involve them! Don’t simply rely on what you or other adults assume. This step may seem like common sense, but it took us a couple of years to figure out the importance of going straight to the kids.

1. Describe your favorite part of our program. Kids’ responses will tell you what your ministry is doing well and what’s impacting kids. The more kids are engaged, the more they’ll retain.
2. What part is boring or do you wish we could get rid of? While it’s important for kids to realize it’s OK to be bored sometimes, it won’t hurt to gain some self-awareness in your ministry around something kids don’t like.
3. What do you wish we did more of? This information will tell you which experiences are working and which to consider integrating on a more regular basis.
4. When do you feel most connected to God during our service? Pinpoint when and where kids feel God’s presence the strongest so you can push them to really dig in during those times.
5. What do we do that helps you grow as a Christian during the week? It’s important for you to know whether your take-home resources, lessons, and activities extend beyond Sunday into kids’ everyday lives. 

Parents and Caregivers

A great way to have this conversation with parents and caregivers is over a meal. Once or twice per month, a leader or key volunteer could invite some families out to lunch and ask these questions:

1. What resources do you wish we provided that we don’t? Knowing what parents are actually looking for is the first step in giving them the right help. Don’t assume what caregivers need; go straight to the source.
2. In your role as parents or caregivers, explain whether you feel supported by the church. Share that you want to partner with parents and caregivers to help them disciple their kids. Ask for feedback about how we’ll you’re accomplishing that.
3. Is there anything we don’t do that you wish we did? Maybe parents would like a night off once per month and would love it if your ministry provided child care. Maybe they wish for more opportunities do things with other families in the church. When you hear multiple parents and caregivers say similar things, take action.

The Whole Family

Parents’ responses from the previous section will inform your answers to the following questions, but these two discussion questions are designed to be discussed internally within your ministry leadership.

1. What services and experiences do we provide for the whole family to participate in together? It’s great for your ministry to be age-graded, but it’s also important to bring families together. Perhaps kids and parents could participate in the worship segment of the service once per month. There are loads of opportunities; the important thing is to create space for families to experience God together.
2. What experiences do we have outside church for the whole family? This is more of a relational question that explores how you connect families in your ministry. It could be through small groups focused around preschool or preteen parents. Maybe it could be family fun nights at different locations in your community. It could be connecting families you think might hit it off and facilitating a meal. Again, there are almost limitless possibilities; the important thing is that you’re creating space for families to connect.

Guests

It’s vital to have a clear process to integrate new families into your church and to continually tweak that process to improve it. Much of what we’ve talked about so far makes the proverbial “back door” of your church much smaller. This evaluation area is focused on making your front door much larger. Ask guests these questions on Sunday:

1. How can we make the registration process simpler? You might not need as much information as you’re currently asking for. With email and texting, is it really necessary to collect families’ addresses from the get-go? Maybe; maybe not. The simpler you can make registration, the better the experience will be for new parents.
2. How can we make check-in faster? You could have a designated check-in line just for guests. Or, simply allow guests a front-of-the-line pass. Whatever your strategy, strive to make guest families feel like VIPs.
3. How can we use registration and check-in time to connect meaningfully with families? Make sure you have your friendliest and most hospitable volunteers walk with guests through the entire registration process. This is a great opportunity to get to know families and make them feel welcome, so use it.
4. How can we make registration and check-in more personal? You probably give families a welcome gift; figure out a way to make it meaningful and personal.

Third, Let Growth Be Ongoing

This may seem like a lot to take in—and it is. But by taking one small evaluation bite at a time, and you can do it.

Don’t attempt to implement all this at once. Pray and ask God and others where to begin and then take it one area at a time. Then integrate the evaluation ideas and subsequent feedback in a consistent, systematic manner. After all, ministry is a marathon, not a sprint.

And finally, remember that evaluation isn’t something to do alone. Include lots of other people. Lean on your most trusted leaders. Have conversations with kids. Enter into the worlds of your parents. Talk with other pastors. Because what gets evaluated gets better.

 

Brandon Horst loves helping kids’ ministry leaders think differently by sharing fresh ideas and new principles. 

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