A Congregational Self-Assessment for Clarity and Direction
Is this you?
Your congregation has good people. You have a history worth honoring. You probably have a genuine desire — in your leadership team, in your elders or deacons, in the pews — to faithfully serve God and your community.
But somewhere along the way, the path forward got murky.
Maybe you’ve sat through a planning retreat that produced a beautiful document nobody looked at six months later. Maybe your congregation keeps returning to the same unresolved tensions — about priorities, about resources, about what kind of church you actually want to be — without ever quite landing somewhere. Maybe you sense that your ministries have accumulated over the years rather than been built toward something, and the weight of maintaining all of them is quietly exhausting your people.
Or maybe things aren’t broken. They’re just flat. And you can feel the distance between the congregation you know God is calling you to become and the one that shows up to committee meetings.
Most congregational planning processes fail not because the people aren’t committed — they are — but because they start in the wrong place. They jump to goals and strategies before they’ve done the harder work of asking: Who are we? Why do we exist? What is God actually calling us toward?
Called Forward is a congregational self-assessment designed to help pastoral leaders and their teams slow down long enough to get honest — about where you have clarity, where you have confusion, and where the real work of discernment needs to happen before you make another plan.
The Framework
Every congregation lives somewhere on a spectrum between clarity and confusion — about who they are, why they exist, and where God is calling them next. Called Forward maps eight interconnected elements that shape a congregation’s ability to fulfill its calling with integrity and faithfulness.
The sailboat metaphor is intentional. A sailboat doesn’t move by effort alone — it moves when all of its parts are working together: hull, rudder, sail, and crew. A congregation is the same. Strength in one or two areas can carry you for a season. But sustainable, faithful movement requires attention to all eight.
This is not a report card. It is a mirror — an invitation to honest self-reflection before you plan.
- Identity — Who we are. The distinct character, values, and God-formed culture that make your congregation uniquely who you are — unlike any other.
- Calling — Why we exist. The God-given mission and purpose that animates your life together — beyond institutional survival or inherited habit.
- Direction — Where we are going. The vision and strategic path that orients your congregation toward a faithful, hope-filled future.
- Governance — How we are organized. The structures of authority, accountability, and decision-making that shape how you function as a community.
- Stewardship — What we tend. Faithful management of all gifts entrusted to you — financial, human, physical, and relational — in service of your calling.
- Witness — How we show up. The way you embody and communicate your identity and calling to your congregation, your community, and the world.
- People — Who serves and leads. The health, development, and relational vitality of those who lead and serve within your congregation.
- Partners — Who accompanies us. Congregations, organizations, and institutions that share your direction and join you in mutual, mission-aligned collaboration.
The self-assessment gives your leadership team a simple, honest score for each element — surfacing your two greatest areas of need so you know where to focus your planning energy first.
How this is connected to everything else
Called Forward is part of a broader suite of integrated pastoral leadership resources. It is designed to follow the Threefold Calling Assessment — because the health of a congregation is inseparable from the health and self-awareness of the leaders who guide it.
| Threefold Calling Assessment | Identity & Integration: Who am I as a leader? Am I leading from my whole self? |
| Called Forward Assessment | Direction & Future: Where is God calling us, and how do we get there together? |
| Strengths & Joy Assessment | Skills & Action: Where am I most effective and most alive in this work? |
| The Anatomy of Conflict | Relationships & Health: Why does conflict keep happening, and how do I lead through it? |
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