Pursuing Excellence in Mercy Ministries

by Nigel Ring, Brighton, UK

All believers want to be the best they can be for God! Yet sadly, when the word ‘Christian’ is associated with some activities the cynical expectation is often that they will be second rate. That should not be the case!

Therefore, part of the mandate to the Task Team ‘Embracing the Poor’ has been the development of materials and training opportunities under the title, ‘Pursuing Excellence’. Through these our hope is to raise and maintain the standards in our mercy ministries so that they become exemplary.
How do we tackle this? To begin with, we seek to define ‘good practice’ and equip people to exercise it. For example, two categories would be: are we caring for those who are carrying out the ministry, as well as those we are hoping to help? And, are we handling our finances with integrity?

Definition of Good Practice

What is good practice? Good practice is God’s practice. As kingdom people, we aim to do everything to a high standard. At the end of every stage of creation, God declared, ‘It is good.’ The gospels teach about good stewardship (eg the parable of the talents), which involves making good use of gifting and resources, and of course caring for people holistically. God’s love believes for the best and looks to enable people to reach the potential for which they were created. God is thorough, wholehearted and consistent in His dealings with us.

So how do we earth the phrase ‘good practice’? In 1982, some management consultants in the USA produced a book In Search of Excellence (Robert H Waterman and Tom J Peters. Publ. Harper and Row. Now updated), in which some research was described based on the premise that there are companies generally acknowledged as good and efficient. They then set out to identify the characteristics that led to this excellence. We decided to adopt a similar stance.

We therefore looked at what different churches are doing both within Newfrontiers and outside, and also at what is being done through secular agencies. As we compared them, we were thankfully able to come to the conclusion that we have initiated many programmes which many would acknowledge as being good models. For example: ‘Foundations for Farming’ (formerly ‘Farming God’s way’) in Zimbabwe; HIV community care in South Africa; Karuna leprosy ministry in India; ministries to asylum seekers in the north of England – the list goes on!

The Task Team for ‘Embracing the Poor’ then discussed what some of the characteristics are that we would expect to see demonstrated among ‘excellent’ ministries. We came up with a list of twenty Indicators. Before we list them, let’s consider how they can be used.

Using Key Indicators

There are two main ways in which Indicators can be helpful. First, where churches are planning a particular ministry the Indicators can provide a helpful check list of values and practices. The list is not exhaustive, so others may occur to you as you plan; however they do represent a good starting point.
Second, they can be used in monitoring performance when the ministry is up and running. Such monitoring and evaluation is a crucial yet often neglected part of any ministry. Through simply asking questions such as, ‘Are the intended outcomes being achieved?’ or ‘Are our processes working well?’ we can assess our effectiveness.

Church and Leadership Issues

These are peculiar to church-based ministries, the ‘secret ingredients’ that make Christian projects among the poor more transformational than those undertaken through secular agencies, however well structured they are.

Apostolically endorsed (Gal. 2:10): the apostolic commission to remember the poor.
Local church eldership oversight: the ministry integrated into the vision and life of the local church.
Hearing God: the certainty that He has spoken, and that this is not just a good idea!
Clear vision: clearly defined goals, expectations and objectives.
Gospel impact: evident fruit in people’s lives.
Individuals changed from poverty to active mission: Good News to the poor leading to them becoming ‘oaks of righteousness’ (Isa. 61).
Intentional extension of the kingdom of God: the ministry will extend the kingdom of God in defined ways, eg through church planting, challenging injustice.
Biblical principles, such as stewardship, compassion, faith, wisdom to be conspicuously evident.

Practical Issues

The second category relates more to skills and practices that make the project flow smoothly and efficiently.

Project cycle management:

4 key components are
(i) Identification of need
(ii) Planning and design of project
(iii) Implementation of the programme
(iv) Evaluation

Finance: good budgeting, accountability etc
Mature leadership: spiritually mature, both for their own health and for the sake of those they are leading.
Responding to gifting/passion: the workers have a personal sense of call and are appropriately gifted.
Pastoral support for the whole team.
Regular training.
Impact: is the ministry accomplishing pre-set goals?
Partnering/networking: active liaison with others through formal partnership or informal networking.
Local community ownership: acceptance by locals
Sustainability: how can the ministry become self-sustainable rather than donor dependent?
Scaling up and multiplication: how can the programme be reproduced or multiplied in other settings?
Use of God-given resources: is full use being made of them?

We shall expand on some of these in future issues of the magazine.