Actscelerate.com

Ministerial Reporting Question

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5330 **8/24/17 1:18 pm**

I've been reporting to the COG now for more than 32 years and for the first time received an email questioning if the numbers on my report were correct. I looked it over and it is correct, but it leads to this question. I have reported using the same manner of counting that I was taught in 1985, but I wonder if others view it differently and how you count. The area in question is "Pastoral Visits". In the MIP back then, we were taught, for example, if you went to the hospital to visit someone and while visiting a member there were 3 family members in the room, to record "4" pastoral visits. Frankly, I really don't care and think that much of this is a needless thing to report, but as I said, I've done it that way for 32 years and the man who taught this in our MIP had done it this way for decades and even he said back then, there is no outlined system for counting, but this is the way it had always been done. So, now after all these years, Cleveland questioned the number on my report... and I'm wondering why, after all these years does someone question the number put in that box?

Re: Ministerial Reporting Question

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 16646 **8/24/17 1:20 pm**

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 15570 **8/24/17 2:33 pm**

The Business/Records Dept has been watchin ya fer 32 years, Dawg. Son, you can't stretch a number but so far an its gonna snap. Did em MIPper fellers say if ya visit the local park on family day ya could count 2,398?

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5330 **8/24/17 4:24 pm**

Anyone care to comment about how you actually do count visits? Then maybe we could get into the discussion as to who really gives a rat's patoot about how many visits we had? lol

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **8/24/17 5:00 pm**

I try to keep track of my personal visits to hospitals, nursing homes, or people's homes. I haven't ever counted a hospital visit for one sick person as more than one visit, regardless of how many family members might have been present.

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 15570 **8/24/17 7:02 pm**

When I visit a home if they is 20 people there, I count it as one visit. If the hospital room has 5 folk, I made one visit to minister to the patient. Same with a nursin home, I made a (meaning one) visit to see the resident, so if 10 family members is there, I did not make 10 visits.

Personally I think them MIP fellers gave incorrect advice.

Golf Cart Mafia Consigliere Posts: 3382 **8/24/17 7:45 pm**

I've heard of ....

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1994 **8/25/17 7:57 am**

I've heard of pastors who drive school buses as counting every child they pick up and deliver (each day) as a home visited. This would put their visits near a 1000 each month. Makes for impressive numbers at the end of the year for a bi-vocational pastor who runs 20 in attendance on a "high" Sunday.

Some denominations have just annual ministers reports, with some accountability to the local church on a more frequent bases. Have you ever felt "managed" by the questions on the monthly reports? As in the questions are instructing you as to what you or your local church needs to be doing. Seems like its a kind of "paternalist" control system by the higher ups to keep the worker bees busy.

Mat

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5330 **8/25/17 11:23 am**

That's just crazy. I'm not talking about blowing up numbers like that. But let's say I go in to visit one and 2 others are there, and I end up talking with them and leading them to Christ, did 2 people get visited and saved or not?

WAIT JUST A MINUTE!!!

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6042 **8/25/17 11:25 am**

Are y'all telling me that y'all are NOT counting your visits to Actscelerate as pastoral visits?

Bummer.

Bro. Garrett...

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6042 **8/25/17 11:34 am**

01000001 01100011 01110100 01110011 Posts: 24285 **8/25/17 11:56 am**

I filled out these reports for a few years. I used to be embarrassed at the numbers I put in the blocks. It has been so long since I filled out a report I have forgotten what I did. BUT if you do visit and 'talk-to' or encourage several I see no problem with the report.

I have never been one to be impressed by numbers until at my dad's funeral. Someone had checked his life time numbers (I have no idea how they got them, it was over 50 years of reports), they certainly were impressive and I could not see my dad 'inflating any number'.

Over all reports are good barometers for 'bean counters' in admin for statistics, but I think guessing would probably be just as good a barometer. Very Happy

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Some facts but mostly just my opinion!
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Admin

01000001 01100011 01110100 01110011 Posts: 24285 **8/25/17 12:00 pm**

Administrations of all types LOVE reports and numbers, it is something to play with and come up with new programs and maybe even add a new box.

I have never been a public school teacher, but in the last few years I have know some. They seemed to be loaded down with 'REPORTS', so much so that a couple said it took 2-3 hours of their time a week just for REPORTS.

That said, I would like to see a 1940-50 report form and one for 2017 to see the big difference. Just for fun!
_________________
Some facts but mostly just my opinion!
jacsher@aol.com
http://shipslog-jack.blogspot.com/

Re: Bro. Garrett...

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 15570 **8/25/17 12:10 pm**

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 15570 **8/25/17 12:13 pm**

Darrell I may hold the record for pastoral visits

Acts Mod Posts: 3346 **8/25/17 1:25 pm**

One time as I was filling our my report I thought about how dumb I thought "Pastoral Visits" one the report were.

So I decide to find out if they (Cleveland) pay any attention to pastoral visits. So I reported 10,000,000 I did not hear from anyone. So next month I reported 10,000,001 again nothing.

My wife's cousin worked in records. She said some ran through their department saying look at this report. She looked and said, that is my cousin.

I suppose when I die and they show my records at the assembly someone will get a laugh.

BTW, I have not reported a pastoral report since then. In fact I didn't report them before that.
_________________
Recorded Sermons @ www.pastorwiley.com

No one who died without Christ is happy about their decision.

I did get dinged...

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6042 **8/25/17 1:49 pm**

I felt (and still do) that AVERAGING the SS and FTH together can give a very wrong impression as to how many attend. For instance, if I have 4 in Sunday School, but 400 for mid-week service, that is an average of 733 (just kidding; 204). HOWEVER, when someone called me about it (as I was reporting the numbers in the comment box, since I didn't know how else to go about it), I realized that I was making someone's job harder than it had to be (including mine!). So I just have gone with it ever since.

At the same time, I have noted that it seems that Morning Worship is the "big service" that matters most now. I wonder what would happen if we could get ALL the services on the report. Not averaged, etc., but stand-alone numbers.

If a church didn't have a Sunday night service, then, instead of putting in zero or NR (not reported), there would be something else there to note that there is not service on Sunday night. At the same time, I imagine that some folks would "decide" to have a Sunday night service if it were being counted--ESPECIALLY if they could show up in the Top 25!

Years ago, our church decided to try to break into the Top 25 Sunday Schools (I don't know if it is still listed that way, but back then it was). We made it to the Top 26...but that was a moral victory for us. (Of course, with the way some folks count, it's not really fair. To count people standing in the hallway...or that walk in 30 seconds before Sunday School is over...is JUST CHEATING. We just had a policy that a person had to be in class for at least 15 minutes--that may not be the greatest idea either, but we felt it was fair--in order to be counted.)

I say let's measure (and have rules to how things are counted) those areas where we want to grow.

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5330 **8/25/17 4:08 pm**

You can see my point. First, none of us really care about most of these numbers. Second, there is no outlined "how to" to do it, and because I did it the way I was taught others insinuate that I have done something "shady" for doing it that way. No wonder so many just walk away from the COG with the love you feel from "ministers."

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **8/25/17 4:47 pm**

Darrell, I'm sorry if it seemed my response was meant to insinuate anything negative about you personally. I was only answering how I report visits, because you asked. There is not a doubt in my mind concerning your integrity as a minister of the gospel.

Friendly Face Posts: 358 **8/30/17 9:09 pm**

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