"The CHAT church survey really stands out. I like how CHAT identifies your church's strengths, involves every member, is easy to take online,
and offers highly-readable results. What a great tool to assess where you are, fill people with hope, and together discern God's will for your
future."
Kevin Miller
Executive Vice President
Christianity Today International, IL
"Steve Macchia is at it again. His burning passion to see churches achieve maximum health has taken the next step. CHAT
(Church Health Assessment Tool) provides churches with an easy-to-use look at themselves that could move many congregations toward the
health that Steve (and, more importantly, the Spirit) envisions."
Larry Crabb
Founder
New Way Ministries, CO
"Without a doubt, one of the greatest needs of a large number of churches in America is to become more healthy. Leadership Transformations' new CHAT survey should be a great help to all who use it. It is a joy to recommend it to you!"
Paul Cedar
Chairman/CEO
The Mission America Coalition, CA
Congregational Assessment Tool
Congregational Assessment Tool — Your Key to Awareness
A congregational assessment tool, when used periodically, can help church leaders get a handle on the biggest issues facing their
church community. An assessment is essentially a listening or information gathering device. In this case, the assessment allows
those in leadership to be attentive to the voice of the congregation. Listening leads to awareness and awareness is the first step
to planning and/or action.
The credibility of the congregational assessment tool and the instrument used to collect feedback is vital to the data which is
collected. Creating your own assessment tool for the purpose of surveying your congregation is generally not recommended for a
number of reasons. In-house survey instruments are invariably biased toward or against a certain agenda (even unintentionally), and
have not been through the scrutiny of a survey expert to ensure that the questions and anchor points are properly worded/formatted
for mainstream understanding. The use of a proven, statistically sound congregational assessment tool will ensure the objectivity
and accuracy of the results you receive.
Congregational Assessment Tool — The Importance of Objectivity
Use a congregational assessment tool from a reputable and objective third party whenever possible. The tool should be chosen based
on the biblically-based nature of the questions asked and their alignment with the church's understanding of congregational health.
The assessment tool should be comprehensive in its measurement of the congregation's overall spiritual health and vitality. Ideally,
the assessment process should allow for feedback from all willing parties or a selection process based on a truly statistically
random sample of the congregation. The participants should not be singled out or selected by church leadership. In addition,
the survey instrument should allow for the participants to remain strictly anonymous in their ratings and/or remarks. As an added
benefit, look for a web-based congregational assessment tool where the participants fill out the survey over the Internet. That
will save you any tabulation work.
In any event, assessment is important because listening is essential to effective leadership. Leaders who take time to listen have
better information upon which to make important decisions.
For more on congregational assessment tools, click here.
Website Created By Leadership Transformations, Inc.
