Using the Membership Journey Diagnostic Tools to Make Decisions

How does a church know if its number of visitors, its visitor or guest return rate, or its membership loss is "normal" for a church of its size? Though this information is still being refined, there are a number of ways congregations can determine how they compare to other churches in these regards. The worksheets described below contain some of this comparative data for your reference.

Each of the questions below will link you to a worksheet that will allow you to enter your own church's data, and get a sense of whether or not this might be an area that needs attention. Suggestions on where to get ideas, should you decide to work on that part of the process, are included on the worksheet. See the entire set of worksheets (Excel) (PDF), or view them individually.

The following documents are in Microsoft Excel format;
PDF alternatives are also offered.

• Does my congregation get enough visitors to grow? (PDF)
• How many visitors do we need to meet our growth targets? (PDF)
• Are we repelling too many visitors? (PDF)
• Is our "path to membership" effective? (PDF)
• Are our new members likely to stay? (PDF)
• Are we losing too many members? (PDF)