Instructions
Below are some instructions on how to take the diagnostic. If you have difficulty, contact us at: pdouglass@covenantseminary.edu
The appropriate committee or pastor (perhaps along with the Governing Board and staff) should choose 30 men and women in the church who meet the following criteria (if the church is smaller than 80 people then choose 15 to 20 people):
- An opinion leader whose perspectives are valued by the people of the church. In some cases this person might not fit the second through fourth criteria below because of being elderly, disabled but still be very influential. These leaders may or may not include staff members.
- Active in the ministry of the local church—attendance, giving, etc.
- Involved in a small group—Sunday School Class, prayer group, Bible study, support group, etc.
- Involved in a ministry role—Sunday School teacher, board member, small group leader, prayer ministry, children’s ministry, youth ministry, etc.
This should not be an effort to gather a representative sample of the church.
By e-mail, letter or in person, invite these key leaders to take the Opinion Leader Inventory below. You can use the explanation you will see below in item 3 to explain the purpose of their taking the Inventory. You should plan to follow up the invitation with a phone call to confirm their willingness to participate.
Brief Explanation to the Opinion Leaders: “We invite you to participate in a survey that will help us determine our personality or primary ministry style as a church. The results will help us discover practical ways by which we can continue to progress in the fulfillment of our church’s calling. These survey results will help us:
- Identify our church’s strengths as well as our challenges,
- Minimize our potential problem areas and sources of conflict,
- Develop a God-honoring plan with specific strategies that will increase our church’s ministry fruitfulness.”
Each question in the diagnostic contains two opposite ideas that relate to the types of behaviors or traits of church Opinion Leaders. The questions should be answered according to the Opinion Leaders’ preference of interaction and leadership, rather than how they think they should behave as they relate to others in the church.
You may want to choose a number under each statement if you believe that both descriptions apply to you, or you might want to choose a number under one side only.
The numbers on the scale below each set of questions are your shorthand answers and have the following means:
- Only occasionally true
- Sometimes true
- True about half of the time
- True most of the time
- Always true for me
Always answer with your initial response. Try to respond in terms of how you normally behave, not how you think you should behave. Try to express your own behavior and not mirror what you think others expect of you, or what your family, church or ministry situation demands from you. Think especially of how you relate to the Lord and other Christians as you answer.