What Year-End Success Really Looks Like in Your Church: (And New Metrics to Consider)
(Hint: It’s not just attendance and giving)
As the year winds down, many churches do what organizations everywhere do: look at the numbers. Weekend attendance. Year-end giving. Budget surplus or deficit. These metrics matter - but they don’t tell the whole story.
If we’re honest, some of the most important indicators of a healthy church don’t fit neatly into a spreadsheet. As church leaders, year-end success should be measured not only by what grew, but by what deepened, stabilized, and multiplied quietly beneath the surface.
Here are several often-overlooked metrics that may give you a more honest picture of how your church is really doing:
1. Volunteer Sustainability (Not Just Volunteer Count).
Most churches know how many volunteers are serving. Fewer know how many are still serving with joy.
Common question: How many volunteers do we have?
Better question: How many volunteers are still serving with joy and would willingly say yes again next year?
Consider tracking:
Volunteer retention year over year.
Average length of service in a role.
Number of volunteers who asked to step into leadership.
Number of volunteers who took a step back due to burnout.
A church can grow numerically while slowly exhausting its most faithful people. Year-end success looks like volunteers who are energized, supported, and still saying “yes” without guilt or pressure.
2. Depth of Engagement, Not Just Frequency.
Attendance tells you who showed up. Engagement tells you who is leaning in.
Common question: How many people showed up?
Better question: How many people moved from attending to actively engaging in spiritual community this year?
Helpful metrics include:
Percentage of attenders in groups or classes.
Group leader retention.
How many people moved from “attending” to “participating” this year.
Stories of spiritual practices being adopted at home.
How many first-time givers?
A smaller group of deeply engaged disciples often signals more long-term health than a large crowd with shallow connections.
3. Staff Health and Clarity.
Staff burnout rarely shows up in financial reports - but it shows up everywhere else.
Common question: Did we get everything done?
Better question: Would our staff say they are clearer, healthier, and more supported than they were a year ago?
End-of-year indicators to reflect on:
Staff turnover (and why people left).
Clarity around roles and decision-making
Staff members are taking real-time off.
Access to Biblical counseling, coaching, or mental health resources when needed.
Whether your team would describe the culture as “life-giving.”
A church is rarely healthier than its leadership culture. If your staff is thriving, the church usually follows.
*Recommended Resources:
Best Christian Workplaces provides a trusted, Christian-based employee engagement survey that helps churches cultivate a flourishing workplace.
Still Water Reserve provides rest and renewal for Pastors and staff through care, adventure, and fellowship.
Altar Fly Fishing offers soul-renewing retreats, outdoor adventure, and Christ-centered coaching for ministry staff and leaders.
4. Leadership Pipeline Strength.
It’s not just about how many leaders you currently have, but whether you’re developing new ones.
Common question: Do we have enough leaders right now?
Better question: If key leaders stepped away tomorrow, how confident are we that others are ready to step in?
Ask:
How many new leaders were identified and trained this year?
How many ministry areas rely on a single person?
Are leaders mentoring leaders, or just filling gaps?
How many children or youth are being intentionally developed as future ministry leaders?
Year-end success looks like a church that’s less fragile—one illness, move, or resignation doesn’t collapse an entire ministry.
5. Conflict Health and Resolution.
Conflict is inevitable. How a church handles it is revealing.
Common question: Did we avoid major conflict this year?
Better question: When conflict surfaced, did we address it quickly, biblically, and in ways that built trust rather than fear?
Consider:
How quickly issues were addressed.
Whether hard conversations were avoided or handled with grace.
If unity was preserved during moments of tension.
Whether trust increased or eroded.
A church that navigates conflict biblically and relationally is a church positioned for longevity.
6. Stories of Transformation (Not Just Programs Launched).
Programs are easy to count. Transformation takes effort to notice.
Common question: What new programs did we launch?
Better question: Can we clearly name and celebrate specific ways people’s lives were transformed by the Gospel this year?
Track and celebrate:
Testimony stories and baptisms.
Marriages restored, faith rediscovered, generosity unlocked.
People who moved from skepticism to belief.
Quiet stories that didn’t make the stage.
If you can’t point to a life change, growth may just be momentum - not movement of the Spirit.
7. Margin in the System.
Healthy churches build margin - not just momentum.
Common question: Did we maximize every opportunity?
Better question: Did we create enough margin - financially, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally - to sustain our people and respond to the unexpected?
Look at:
Financial margin, even if small.
Calendar margin for staff and volunteers.
Emotional margin in leadership.
Space to respond to unexpected needs.
A church that ends the year exhausted may have “won” the calendar but lost the people.
A Better Year-End Question
Instead of asking, “Did we grow?”
Try asking, “Are we healthier than we were a year ago?”
👉🏼 And what I’ve noticed is that healthy things breed healthy growth.
Success at year’s end isn’t always louder, bigger, or faster. Sometimes it’s quieter: clearer leadership, stronger teams, deeper faith, and people who are still whole.
Those are the kinds of wins that last - and the kinds of churches that help people deepen their relationship with God and faithfully live out the mission they’ve been called to.
Todd Rukes
Founder & President
Rukes Group