21 Questions Church Leaders Should Ask Themselves Every 6 Months

As a church leaders or church staff member, you already know that flexibility is one of the necessary qualities to have in order for you to successfully serve your ministry and your team. But when your church is growing (and especially if it’s growing quickly), agility is even more crucial as you adapt to the changing environment and the new needs that result from those changes. How do you know whether you’re adjusting appropriately to your church’s growth and that your ministry is keeping up? How do you ensure that your role is still relevant to your church’s needs? Do you need to adjust your responsibilities and goals?

One simple way is to conduct a self-assessment every six months or so by asking yourself the following 21 questions. Once you have done that, you can share your answers and thoughts with your senior leader or your staff as necessary; that way, you can work together to redefine your goals and/or your roles. This will help you avoid the confusion, burnout, and mission drift that can sometimes result from a lack of clarity on your role and where you and your ministry fit into the church and its vision.

1. Am I still operating out of my strengths?

2. Am I still doing what only I can do?

3. Are the needs in my ministry still being met? Have those needs shifted? Have I identified new needs?

4. If the needs are not being met, can I meet those needs, or do I need someone else to meet those needs?

5. Am I thriving or surviving in my role? If I’m merely surviving, why?

6. Have I received a mission update from the senior leader in the last six months to a year?

7. If so, how has that mission changed, and how does that affect my role?

8. Is my ministry still aligned with the church’s mission, vision, and values?

9. When was the last time I took a break/rest? Do I honor a Sabbath each week? How can I build a habit of rest in my life?

10. When’s the last time I checked in with my team on their own spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and professional needs?

11. When was the last time our team did something fun together? How am I fostering community among the team?

12. How is my family doing? Do they see any changes in my ministry? Is my ministry detracting from our home life?

13. What are the new challenges I’m facing and how am I proactively addressing them?

14. What have I said “no” to lately? Is there margin in my life? Are there things that I would like to say “yes” to, but can’t because of time constraints? If so, what can I step back from?

15. When and how have I invested in my own professional development?

16. Who am I allowing to speak into my professional and personal life? Am I actively seeking mentoring and discipleship?

17. If our organization doubled today, would our systems still support us? What new systems does my ministry need? What existing systems can we improve?

18. What mistakes have I made and what can I learn from them?

19. Have I celebrated my ministry’s wins?

20. Am I bringing new ideas to the table? Am I executing those new ideas?

21. Is this church still a good fit for me, and am I still a good fit for the church?

Church leaders, what questions would you add to this list? Do you already conduct a similar self-assessment on a regular basis?

If you liked this, you'll also like 8 Signs It Might Be Time To Resign From Your Staff.