TL551 Evaluations

ISSUES FOR EVALUATION IN THE SUPERVISORY EXPERIENCE

Expectations for ministers vary according to the various settings in which ministry may be performed.  Some ministry's competencies are fairly universal in their appropriateness to all forms of ministry.

Here is a list of some important issues to consider when evaluating preparation for ministry.  Click here to go directly to TL551 Evaluation FORMS.

1.  Personal integrity:   Are you a person of your word?  Do you live a principle-centered life or do your principles shift according to the current situation?

2.  Person faith commitment:   Do you have an active and dynamic faith?  Is your faith real?  Are you able to share your faith in appropriate ways?

3.  Personal spiritual discipline:   Do you have an active devotional life, including the use of the Scriptures, prayer, and meditation?

4.  Trustworthiness:  Can you be trusted to carry out responsibilities without constant supervision?  Are you dependable in completing tasks and assignments?  Do you keep confidences?

5.  Honesty and openness in relationships:   Do you relate to others in genuine ways?  Are you able to reveal yourself to others in appropriate ways?  Do you value the worth of other people?

6.  Flexibility:   Are you flexible in dealing with your own life and lives of others around you?  Are you flexible to the point of having no firm convictions?  Are you rigid and unbending?  Can you be spontaneous?

7.  Ability to relate with warmth and interest:   Do you communicate to others that you are interested in them as persons and not just as objects of your ministry?

8.  Sensitivity to the gifts of others:   Do you need to be the center of attention or can you truly find joy in the gifts of other people?  Does your sensitivity to the gifts and abilities of others mean that you find little worth in your own gifts and abilities?

9.  Self-discipline:   Are you a disciplined person?  Are you punctual in completing your tasks?  Do you value the time of other people?  Are you able to provide personal initiative for your ministry or must you be prodded and reminded by others?  Are you able to exercise appropriate control of yourself--your emotions, your use of time, money management, etc.?

10.  Criticism:   Are you able to give constructive feedback to others?  How do you respond to constructive criticism?  How do you respond when others criticize you harshly?

11.  Listening: Do you listen to others with your ears, your eyes, and your heart?  Do you talk too much or do you spend your listening time shaping your own responses while others are talking to you?

12.  Decision-making skills:   Can you make decisions easily?  Do you rely on other people to make decisions so that you will not have to take responsibility for the outcomes of those decisions?  Are you too quick to make decisions without considering all of the consequences of your decisions?

13.  Stress:   How do you react to stress in your life?  Do you work well under pressure?   If so, what effect does this have on your other relationships?  How does the presence of stress manifest itself in your life--irritability, overeating, procrastination, task-oriented approach to work, etc.

14.  Conflict:   Can you identify various forms of conflict?  Do you know different ways of confronting or dealing with conflict?  What is your personal style of conflict management?  Do you enjoy conflict?  Do you avoid conflict?

15.  Anger:  How do you handle the anger of others?  Do you recognize the presence of anger in your own life?  What kinds of people or situations cause you to become angry?  How do you deal with your anger?

16.  Self-awareness:  How open are you with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses, your likes and dislikes, the way your past has influenced the way you behave in the present?

17.  Self-concept:   How do you view and value yourself?  Are you able to receive the affirmation of others without discounting their compliments, or are you always seeking praise from others?  Are you able to appropriately affirm yourself and your gifts, skills, and abilities?

18.  Encouragement:   Are you able to offer words of encouragement to others in appropriate ways?  Are you too critical?  Do you offer empty words of praise?

19.  Collegiality:   Do you work well with others?  Do you always need to be in control?  Do you share in group processes or do you tend to be passive in group situations?

20.  Sensitivity to diversity:   Are you open to the diversity among other peoples and beliefs?  Are you aware of areas where you need to broaden your understanding of cultures and perspectives different from your own?

21.  Personal care:  Do you take good care of yourself--emotionally, physically, and spiritually?  Do you have an appropriate sense of self-esteem?  Are you well groomed and neatly dressed?

22.  Sense of humor:  Are you able to use humor effectively in relating to others?  Do you laugh with others or at others?  Are you able to laugh at yourself?

23.  Authority:   Do you have a healthy sense of personal authority?  How do you react to those in authority over you?  Does the gender, age, race, or socio-economic background of the person in authority over you affect the way you respond?

24.  Sexuality:   Are you comfortable with your own sexuality?  How well do you relate with persons of the opposite sex?  How do you relate with persons of the same sex?

25.  Leadership skills:   Do you have an understanding of the various styles of leadership?  Do you provide leadership that is manipulative, controlling, passive, aggressive, etc.?  Are you able to enlist and motivate others to assist you in ministry?

26.  Organizational skills:   Are you able to plan your ministry and implement your plans easily?  Are you able to prioritize your work, giving appropriate attention to important matters and not getting caught up in minutia?  Are you able to delegate tasks to others, equipping them to do the necessary work, trusting them to do what you asked, and accepting their work even if it is accomplished in a different manner than you would have?

27.  Caring skills:   Are you able to provide care for others in a variety of contexts--crisis intervention, hospital visitation, grief ministry, marriage counseling, social ministry, pastoral care, and counseling?

28.  Worship leadership skills:   Can you plan and lead meaningful worship experiences?

29.  Teaching skills:   Are you able to teach others utilizing a variety of teaching methodologies based on the various learning styles?

30.  Integration of theory and practice:   Are you able to put together the things you have learned in the classroom and through reading, with the practice of ministry with real people?

31.  Communication skills:   Are you able to communicate effectively with others through verbal and written means?  Are you able to articulate ideas on a variety of levels so that people of differing ages and backgrounds might understand you on their own levels?

32.  Understanding of structures:  Do you understand the formal and informal power structures at work in your place of ministry?  Are you able to work within these structures?

Do not let this list overwhelm us!  No one is competent in all of these areas.  We can work toward improving our competence in these and other important areas as we seek to grow into the person and minister God has called us to be.

Extracts from Experiencing Ministry Supervision

Wm. T. Pyle and Mary Alice Seals, Editors

Broadman & Holman Publisher 1995

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