I have the great privilege of getting to connect with amazing leaders most every week. In some cases, it is with a coaching client. In others, it is with a senior pastor, senior leadership team or governance leader from a church that I am consulting with. And six times a year I host groups of senior pastors and executive pastors in one of our Leadwell Cohorts.
In every case, I come away richer for the insight from these innovative leaders.
So for the next several editions of Church Leader Insider, the Ligon Group Edition, I am going to pass along two or three quick insights that I have received and want to share with you. I hope that they will be encouraging, challenging, convicting … what ever you need in the moment.
And each time, I would love to hear back from you. What resonated? What did you disagree with? Are there adjacent insights that you are aware of and would be willing to share. Shoot me an email (greg@ligongroup.com) at or schedule a time that works for you here to talk further.
This edition focusus on thoughts related to knowing your people.
Moving From Metrics To Ministry Intelligence For Impact
I’ve been friends with Matt Engel for over a decade. If you don’t Matt, he is the data guru who is the brains behind a lot of the projects with gloo.us. One of the most visible gloo projects is the “He Gets Us” campaign. Matt eats data for breakfast. Before you put Matt in the nerd category in your brain, read the next sentence. Matt is one of the most winsome, passionate, committed evangelists that I know. He loves data, only because it helps him know people and knowing people helps him know how to connect God’s story with their story. Matt recently shared with me an article that he wrote and was published in Church Tech Today. You can read the full article, “Moving From Metrics To Ministry Intelligence For Impact” here. Following are some examples of Ministry Intelligence:
Conducting focus groups or interviews with new attendees to understand better what attracted them, their first impressions, and how they might suggest improvements. Their outside perspective is invaluable.
Evaluating ministry-specific outcomes using metrics like lives impacted, communities changed, and justices addressed rather than just dollars or attendees. Captures transformative fruit.
Tracking involvement through ministry area participation over time to gauge the depth of engagement across the congregation. Allows tailoring growth opportunities.
Mapping the geographical distribution of attendees to analyze driving distance and neighborhood demographics. This can reveal underreached areas to focus outreach.
Longitudinal surveys evaluating human flourishing (Barna and Harvard’s School of Human Flourishing) and/or spiritual growth by assessing biblical literacy, Scripture application, prayer lives, etc., over an extended timeframe signal discipleship efficacy.
If your ministry is not data informed, read this article and get started with some experiments.
You can also read more in Matt’s book, Fourteen Fridays: A Story of Baseball, Church, Data & Redemption (co-authored with Eric Swanson, a long time colleage from Leadership Network days.)
Four Disciplines of Execution
The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) is a simple, repeatable, and proven formula for executing your most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind. By following the 4 Disciplines—Focus on the Wildly Important; Act on Lead Measures; Keep a Compelling Scoreboard; Create a Cadence of Accountability—leaders can produce breakthrough results, even when executing the strategy requires a significant change in behavior from their teams.
There are lots of applications of these principles from Chris McChesney and Sean Covey’s best selling business book but one that I love is one that started during covid. Many churches, likely yours, went through a season of calling every member, checking in, praying with and encouraging. Old school pastoral care. We were certainly in a whirlwind of figuring out what church would look like in the early months. And churches focused on the wildly important task of staying connected, established a “lead measure” of calling their people, recording what was learned on the conversations (a lot) and established a cadence of accountability with their teams. In most cases, once we got back into the building, this practice came to a screeching halt.
But not at Lives Changed by Christ. Their team still has a personal contact with every person in their database at least once a quarter. Sometimes it’s a call. Sometimes, a personal (not mass) email or text. Sometimes, it’s grabbing lunch. Ever staff person has a set of 75-80 families. They track the contacts monthly and celebrate at all staff gatherings. What do they celebrate? What they have learned about their people and the ministry that has happened as a result.
What mechanisms do you have in place to know your people?
More after some notes about how you can connect with us and also peers to explore insights together.
Pastor Smart Succession
I’m partnering with Dave in bringing the Pastor Smart Succession process to come alongside you and your church as you enter the succession zone. We walk with you each step of the way as you shape a “framed fit” for your future.
If you are beginning to think about what’s next, I’d love to connect and learn more and share more about how we can help. You can schedule a call here.
Leadwell Cohorts
Also, if you are looking for a community of peers to navigate church, leadership and life with, consider applying for one of my Leadwell Cohorts.
Executive Pastors - April 9-11 (mentors Jenni Catron and Glen Brechner) - 1 spot left
Senior Pastors - April 16-17 (mentors Mark Batterson and Kirk Freeman) - 3 spots left
Senior Pastors Finishing Well - April 23-25 (mentors Tim Hawks and Steve Stroope) - 2 spots left
Cohorts are by invitation only. If you are interested, contact me ASAP either via email at greg@ligongroup.com or by scheduling a call here.
Intersect with People in Their Rhythms
I love Chase Oaks Church in Plano, TX and beyond. A couple of years ago, they expanded their long time commitment to love their committee through their “Doing Good Together” initiatives. You can read about all the creative applications here. But in short, they are creating experiences that range from podcasts to digital discipleship cohorts to coffee shops to food pantries to child care to dog parks to pickle ball courts. They are developing experiences that people need and in so doing creating means to get to know them. And in the words of Executive Director, Glen Brechner, they are attempting to “de-weird” church spaces for not yet Christians.
What are the rhythms of your community and how can you create ways to intersect?
Again, I would love to hear back from you. What resonated? What did you disagree with? Are there adjacent insights that you are aware of and would be willing to share. Shoot me an email (greg@ligongroup.com) at or schedule a time that works for you here to talk further.