Customer Reviews

When Better Isn't Enough: Evaluation Tools for the 21St-Century Church

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This was foundational and ground-breaking for me. Hudson succinctly lays out the challenges we face in the emerging postmodern world, and offers twelve characteristics of what effective ministry might look like in the 21st century. Each of those twelve characteristics is accompanied by a series of questions so the reader can evaluate how she or he is doing on each.

Hudson's questions are challenging and sharp. "Do you take a multivitamin daily?" "Do you have a plan for developing new believers into mature disciples?" Those and a multitude of other questions await you. As I went through her list, I found myself answering "no" far more times than I wanted to.

I can't tell you how important this book was to me -- in many ways, it's the bud from which all the rest of my thinking about church re-building and re-planting stemmed. It also caused me to begin a thorough self-examination of my own practices, habits, and areas for growth.

Many sociologists and a growing number of church scholars have noted that we live in a time of transition--from the modern era to the postmodern. Such information is no longer breaking news; it has been with us for more than a generation. However, the Church is still in the process of recognizing and responding (or reacting!) to the paradigm shift. One instinct might be to try to react to the situation by digging in one's heels and, like a dog with a bone, cling to what worked in the dim recesses of the past. In some communities, this is effective. Even so, in many other places, churches are discovering that programs and approaches have a life of their own (one might even call it a shelf life), and that, sometimes, a fresh approach is not only warranted, but necessary, lest the church become stale.

Author Jill Hudson presents her book When Better Isn't Enough from this standpoint, saying, "We must identify new criteria for success, and perhaps even for faithfulness, and hold ourselves accountable to them." Hudson's view is that the Church has a marvelous opportunity for prayerful and careful response to current realities. She identifies 12 characteristics to help us measure effective ministry today. Moreover, Hudson presents evaluation tools based upon those 12 characteristics. Real, practical ways that any congregation or group of leaders therein might help the church they love focus their future.

For those who are skittish about change, Hudson makes the point clear that not changing is not an option. She also makes it clear that insisting on all of the modes and methods of the past, without revisiting their effectiveness, will get a church into dire straits. Instead, why not aim for a church in which some of the past will be kept and honored, some of the past will be reshaped and refreshed and some will in fact be seen as unproductive and superfluous? A congregation that truly wishes to see its members grow and reach others for Christ can use Hudson's methods to select the right mix for their unique opportunity for ministry and mission.

Hudson calls the church to ask questions, and indeed she has a wonderful list of them at the end of the book. Questions a congregation's leaders and members could ask themselves about how they are listening to God's direction. For these questions, alone, the book is well worth reading. But only if we give them a try, to bring about God's vision for the church.

Jill M. Hudson is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and most recently served as Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of Whitewater Valley in Indiana. Jill served for thirteen years as vocational staff for the Synod of Lincoln Trails. A lecturer, trainer, and consultant with special expertise in church systems, Jill is also the author or co-author of: Beyond the Boundary: Meeting the Challenge of the First Years of Ministry; Congregational Trauma: Caring, Coping, and Learning; and Evaluating Ministry: Principles and Processes for Clergy and Congregations

Jill Hudson obviously has considerable experience in the ministry and considerable experience with both poor review methods as well as very good review methods. She has culled the best. The book begins with the acknowledgement that we are living in a new day and time (postmodern) and the church faces different challenges now. One of those challenges is in the area of clergy evaluation. She identifies 12 characteristics of an effect pastor (regardless of denomination, size of church, etc.) and lists provocative questions to help evaluate in each area. While the book's orientation is toward those in the clergy, I (pastor) purchased a copy for each member of the Personnel Committee and asked them to read it before the next staff reviews.

The book is also helps a church determine just how well the church (as a whole) is doing in fulfilling it's mission.

This book is a very useful resource for making church personnel reviews less adversarial and more collaborative. Recommended!

Provides an excellent framework for examining key characteristics of a healthy church. It can be used to frame an individual review of a pastor or for reflection on the effectiveness of one's church as a whole. Discusses societal trends and the need to adapt but remains anchored in the importantance of the church and the importance that it thrive.

This is an excellent source of ideas for religious organizations that will guide their growth and the growth of their pastor and staff. However, it also contains many ideas that will easily translate to secular settings, especially in fields that are service-driven like education and health care.

Jill Hudson has a simple insight on the changes which the church has undergone in the last couple of decades. The nature of ministry, even for the most traditional of churches, has changed because the context for that ministry has changed. She has done a particularly great service by providing a framework for understanding what real effectiveness is in light of these powerful changes. Each minister will have to navigate the waters and she has charted a helpful course. I have taken bruises to find out what she describes. Any minister would do well to review the contents of this book. Those who have been in ministry over fifteen years need it to understand some of the changes in the postmodern context. Those who are new to ministry or have been in ministry for a short time need to know that there was another context for ministry and some parishoners have a dogged grip on that older context.

I can't review this book because it's been lost by DHL. I've notified you twice, but no response.