Clergy Assessment Tools

Looking for a tool to help with pastoral and professional church employee assessments? We have been working to identify some quality and user-friendly assessment tools that can help provide the kind of assessments that build on the church mission and the individual gifts and passions of professional church staff and foster vocational growth and development. The Lewis Center for Pastoral Leadership offers on its pastoral excellence webpage this quote about the importance of assessments for professional growth: “Evaluation is one of God’s ways of bringing the history of the past into dialogue with the hope of the future…. We are called into new growth and new ministries by taking a realistic and hopeful look at what we have been and what we can still become.” — Theological and Theoretical Foundations for Evaluating Ministry, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 1990. Here are some recommended tools that might be helpful for your assessment needs.

Lewis Pastoral Leadership Inventory (LPLI): A Confidential, Online, 360° Leadership Development Instrument Designed for Pastors
The Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary has developed a new online leadership assessment instrument called the Lewis Pastoral Leadership Inventory™ (LPLI). Specifically designed for clergy, the LPLI helps pastoral leaders identify individual strengths and weaknesses to improve their ministry effectiveness. The LPLI uses a three-fold understanding of fruitful leadership encompassing Character, Competence, and Contribution. LPLI users receive a personalized leadership profile report that can be used for self-discovery, gathering feedback from others, setting goals for improvement, identifying continuing education needs, and tracking progress over time. Learn more about it here: http://www.lpli.org/about
 
Annual Professional Development Evaluation Tool (used by Bethany UMC Austin)
This assessment process is engaged in preparation for a new year where goals are established and follow up on their progress is revisited throughout the year. Goals established by staff can be tied to the church’s mission and vision. Church employee policies regarding employee professional conduct and behavior can serve standards being measured. Permission has been graciously granted by the church to share this tool that can be modified to your church context. For more information, Contact Rev. Tom Deviney. 

Download the Professional Employee Evaluation Form