Organic Discipleship - Appendix 9: Assessing Your Group
Outreach
How many first-timers have been to the home church during the last four months?
Of the first timers from the past six months, how many were probably non-Christians?
Do you believe that most of the people in the group are actively witnessing?
Do you see a trend in people’s attitude toward outreach during the past few months? What?
Overall, do you get the impression that your church is soft, average, or strong in the area of outreach?
Summary: How do you feel about the outreach in the group? How can you encourage progress, or stimulate change?
Follow-Up
Of the first-timers coming to the group during the past few months, how many are still coming? What is the ratio of first-time visitors and those staying on? (For instance, on average, one person stays out of every four that visit.)
Do members take it upon themselves to greet and talk to new people? Do their discussions include spiritual content?
What about people who have been lost during the past four months? Were the losses unavoidable, or the result of poor work?
How have you explained past losses? Look at recent cases. Is there a pattern in your losses?
Summary: Is your group’s follow up on new people adequate? Or is this a weakness? How can you encourage progress, or agitate for change?
Leadership Development
Have you identified people who are likely to be your next leaders?
Name the men and women most likely to reach home church leadership, in order of likelihood if possible.
Are people other than yourself discipling people in the group? Who is discipling whom?
Who in your group do you think really desires to become a home church leader some day?
What other members are actively seeking a personal discipling ministry?
Do you have any married people desiring leadership whose spouse may be uninterested? What should be done?
Can you think of anyone who should be discipled, but is not being discipled?
Summary: How strong is the group in leadership development? How can you encourage progress, or stimulate change?
Body Life
How would you assess the general emotional or relational health of the home church?
Do your members appreciate body life as significant?
How well do you think people are doing in the area of assisting each others’ ministries?
What do people do after the group meeting? Do they enjoy staying and relating to each other, or run right home?
How deep is the involvement between members during the week?
What percent of the group regularly attend large services at your church?
Summary: How satisfied are you with the body life in your group? Do you see any need for change in this area?
Prayer
Is there a special meeting for intercessory prayer?
If there is no special prayer meeting, is there any extensive intercessory prayer at other meetings?
Are you aware of other ad-hoc times where members get together to pray?
Do your home church members understand the important doctrines involving prayer?
Summary: Are you satisfied with the group’s prayer ministry? How can you encourage progress, or stimulate change?
Home Church Meetings
Is it possible that the teachings or discussions are not consistently good enough to truly hold the interest of the people? How would you rate the teachings?
Do you think teachers or discussion leaders are getting adequate feedback on their presentations? How do you know?
Who is the best teacher or discussion leader in the group?
How often does that person teach?
Is group sharing dead or alive? Why? (i.e. teachings are too long, one person monopolizing talk, silence, etc.)
Are members burdened for the meeting's health? How do you see them contributing?
Summary: How would you describe the quality of your meetings? How can you encourage progress, or stimulate change?
