Church Self-Study - What is our Unique Potential for Ministry

Church self-study:

Why is this step important: The self-study report gathers information about the congregation in a variety of areas: identity, history, membership, theology, leadership, organization, resources, spiritual life, relationships, partnerships. The self-study best goes hand in hand with the ministry audit.

Why it is helpful: What your church does should grow out of who you are. Every congregation has a unique set of characteristics, identity, and ministry "style." The self-study guide helps a congregation see these attributes in a new way and to assess how these represent strengths and weaknesses for holistic outreach. A self-study helps to ensure that outreach is grounded in your unique context for ministry and builds on what God has already been doing in your church. A self-study also takes the pulse of your church's spiritual maturity, commitment to outreach, and openness to change.

Your church might benefit from this step if ...outreach is a new venture for your congregation and people are not sure how it fits with "the way we do things here"; you are at the beginning stage of discerning a direction for ministry; you want to discover what assets your church brings to community ministry; you want to identify potential obstacles or sources of resistance to holistic ministry.