Pastor Jackson,
You are welcome to publish these comments about metrics and Elton Stroh.
In the broad sense of the term, metrics has to do with making measurements. Metrology is the practice of measuring. The etymology is from the French word metrique. In industry, if inventory control is king, then metrics would be queen. Metrics are used by most businesses to measure performance and as a tool to prevent waste from getting out of hand. Likewise, astute managers will keep a close eye on key metrics. Metrics also provide some accountability to investors and higher level managers.
The use of metrics can also become too much of a crutch for some managers who do not understand the complexity of day to day operations. They can look at numbers too much without engaging themselves in problem solving. Another pitfall of metrics is setting up ratios between two different numbers that may only be loosely related. Using charts and graphs to visually express a metric is only useful if there is correlation between the data. As one wise old math teacher once quipped, "anything can be charted or graphed, but not everything should be".
The use of metrics within a church body means that there is an ulterior motive behind it. One economist stated that governments that want to centrally control a nation's economy are obsessed with numbers and figures. Synods would really love the use of metrics for individual congregations. It gives them all kinds of reasons to meddle internally at the congregational level. If a congregation is underperforming, a pastor could suddenly find his name on a call list. If the annual amount per giving unit ( a ratio), is below synod average, some synod boy could come in and give a pep talk. Here is another arbitrary ratio: congregational mission offerings per member. I employ some use of hyperbole to illustrate how easily all of this could get out of hand.
The corporate world lives and dies with metrics. It is one of many tools used in a free market economy. Yet there are many other aspects of business that may not be so tangible or easily measured. The real flunkies here are those who believe that a church can benefit from the use and misuse of metrics.
In Christ,
Randall Schultz
