Participant digital workbook
Study all nine Ms, reflect on what they mean for your church, complete each exercise, assess current practice and prepare your contribution to the church's shared work.
Digital workbook OR-NM-1.0 (prototype) · Nine M curriculum version 1.0
Your progress through the workbook
9 assigned modules, four lessons each, with a rated self-assessment and a 90-day plan per module.
0 of 36 exercises written · 0 of 45 areas rated (0%)
Every activity in the printed workbook can be completed here online. Your answers stay saved under your name, and the downloads give you the same complete workbook on paper.
M9 — Missions (module 9 of 9)
Align evangelism, outreach, partnerships, community service, and external mission investment with demonstrated needs and measurable impact.
What this module produces
Missions and Community Impact Plan
- Community-needs assessment summarizing listening sessions, demographic data and existing community assets
- Outreach and Missions Inventory cataloguing current activities by purpose, audience, cost and partner
- Community Needs and Assets Map connecting priorities to evidence from residents, schools, nonprofits, civic leaders and ministry partners
- Portfolio Scoring Matrix balancing local, regional and global commitments
- Evangelism and partnership strategy naming roles, expectations and safeguarding standards for each partner
- Participation plan describing how members are invited, trained and rotated into mission involvement
- Investment analysis comparing cost, participation and expected outcome across the portfolio
- Beneficiary safeguards and consented-story standards protecting dignity in all communication
- Community Impact Scorecard tracking outputs, outcomes and learning across the year
- A named gaps list distinguishing what is unknown or unresourced from what is simply undone
- A 90-day action plan assigning owners, dates and success measures to the highest-priority missions gaps
Objectives
- Distinguish outreach events from an impact strategy
- Ground priorities in community voice and data
- Design partnerships and a balanced portfolio
- Measure and communicate impact with dignity
4 weeks · about 6 hours of leadership time
Lesson 1: From Activity to Community Impact
What you will learn: Distinguish isolated outreach events from a mission-aligned impact strategy.
75 minutes · Missions team, pastoral staff, finance liaison
Scripture lens — Matthew 25:35-40
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
King James Version (KJV) · Public domain
Draft proposal for Pastor Lee Jenkins' review: this passage's picture of Christ identified with the hungry, the stranger and the imprisoned can frame missions not as programming but as encounter with real, named need.
Materials and evidence you will use
- Prior-year outreach and missions calendar
- Financial reports for missions and benevolence line items
- Any existing partner agreements or memoranda of understanding
- Financial records or calendar entries supporting at least 80 percent of listed activities
- Notes from at least one coordinator interview for a flagged activity
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to
- Leadership can name the difference between an outreach event and a mission-aligned commitment
- A complete Outreach and Missions Inventory exists for the current year
- Each inventory entry states purpose, audience and intended result rather than just activity
- Leadership identifies at least three activities with unclear purpose or unmeasured result
Study reading
Understand the concept
Your work in this lesson focuses on this outcome: Distinguish isolated outreach events from a mission-aligned impact strategy.
A church cannot build a mission-aligned strategy on top of an inventory it has never honestly examined; naming what is actually happening, and why, is the necessary first step.
Why it matters for your church
Without an honest inventory, leadership cannot tell the difference between fruitful commitments and inherited habits.
Naming intended results, even retroactively, creates accountability that did not exist before.
Patterns in the inventory often reveal an imbalance between local and global investment that no one had noticed.
Examine the evidence
Use Prior-year outreach and missions calendar, Financial reports for missions and benevolence line items, and Any existing partner agreements or memoranda of understanding to compare your church's present practice with its stated intentions. Look for documented patterns, missing information, and differences between what people assume and what the evidence supports.
Your completed work should be supported by Financial records or calendar entries supporting at least 80 percent of listed activities, and Notes from at least one coordinator interview for a flagged activity. Record uncertainty honestly so your team knows what still needs to be verified.
Prepare for the shared exercise
Create a complete, honest record of current outreach, evangelism and mission-giving activity as the factual baseline for the module. The Build the Outreach and Missions Inventory produces the Outreach and Missions Inventory, which contributes to the module's principal deliverable.
Before working with your team, consider this reflection: Which activity on our inventory would we most regret continuing without ever asking whether it truly serves the people we say it serves?
Key terms
- Outreach activity: A discrete action the church takes to serve, evangelize or partner beyond its membership, such as an event, trip or disbursement.
- Mission-aligned strategy: A reasoned set of decisions about which needs a church will address and why, from which specific activities follow.
- Intended result: The specific, statable change an activity is designed to produce for the people or partner it serves.
Failure patterns to avoid
- Treating the inventory as a public-relations document rather than an honest internal record
- Skipping small or low-cost activities because they seem too minor to matter
- Letting one strong personality's favorite ministry go unexamined out of deference
Ministry case — Northgate Community Church Finds Its Blind Spot
Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) had run a fall coat drive for eleven years and considered it a signature ministry. When the missions team built its first honest inventory, they discovered the coat drive's actual audience was largely families already connected to the church rather than the surrounding neighborhood, and no one could say how many coats went to people outside the congregation.
Rather than canceling the drive, leadership used the finding to ask a better question in Lesson 2: who in the surrounding community actually needs winter clothing, and how would the church know? The inventory did not deliver the answer, but it delivered the honest question, which is exactly what this lesson is designed to produce.
Lesson takeaway: A church cannot build a mission-aligned strategy on top of an inventory it has never honestly examined; naming what is actually happening, and why, is the necessary first step.
Exercise — Build the Outreach and Missions Inventory (produces: Outreach and Missions Inventory)
Create a complete, honest record of current outreach, evangelism and mission-giving activity as the factual baseline for the module.
- List every outreach, evangelism, benevolence and partner activity from the past 12 months.
- For each, record its purpose in one honest sentence, even if that sentence is 'unclear.'
- Record the primary audience served and estimate how many people it reached.
- Record total cost, including staff time if it can be reasonably estimated.
- Record how many members participated and whether it relied on a small recurring group.
- Name the partner organization involved, if any, and the nature of that relationship.
- State the intended result the activity was meant to produce, or mark it as undefined.
- Circle any entries where purpose, audience or intended result could not be clearly stated.
Worksheet columns: Activity · Purpose · Audience · Cost · Participation · Partner · Intended result
Saves as you typeOutreach and Missions Inventory
Complete the Outreach and Missions Inventory here. Your answers are kept under your name and are waiting for you when you return.
Outreach and Missions Inventory # Activity Purpose Audience Cost Participation Partner Intended result 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Saving keeps it private to you; submitting shares it with your coach and church panel.Worked sample — Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) (illustrative, scored 18/20)
Northgate's missions team built its first full inventory ahead of its annual missions budget review, expecting a short list and discovering fourteen distinct activities.
Of fourteen active missions and outreach activities reviewed, only three stated a measurable intended result at the outset. Two activities relied on the same small group of volunteers for four or more consecutive years. This inventory will be tested against community-verified need in the next phase of planning.
- Flag the coat drive and food pantry shift for community-needs verification in Lesson 2 rather than assuming their value.
- Use the Guatemala partnership's reporting requirement as a model for defining intended results across all major commitments.
- Bring the volunteer-rotation pattern to the participation planning work in Lesson 3.
The inventory is complete and unusually candid about gaps, directly setting up the needs-verification work to follow; it loses one point for not yet estimating staff time consistently across entries.
Discussion prompts
- Which activity on our inventory would be hardest to explain to a first-time visitor, and why?
- Where did we write down 'we've always done it' as the purpose, and what does that tell us?
- Are we more confident about our local activities or our global partnerships? Why might that be?
- What would change if every activity had to state its intended result in advance next year?
Reflection: Which activity on our inventory would we most regret continuing without ever asking whether it truly serves the people we say it serves?
Use these prompts to prepare your own response before the group discussion. Honest differences help the church identify where further work is needed.
Lesson 2: Listening to the Community
What you will learn: Ground outreach priorities in community voice, credible data and existing assets.
75 minutes · Missions team, pastoral staff, invited community contacts
Scripture lens — Jeremiah 29:7
7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
King James Version (KJV) · Public domain
Draft proposal for Pastor Lee Jenkins' review: this call to seek the welfare of the city where God has placed his people can frame community listening as a form of obedience rather than merely a planning technique.
Materials and evidence you will use
- Notes or recordings from listening conversations
- Publicly available community demographic or needs data
- The Outreach and Missions Inventory from Lesson 1
- Notes or recordings from at least three listening conversations
- At least one piece of external data supporting a stated priority
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to
- Listening sessions or interviews are completed with at least three distinct community stakeholder types
- A Community Needs and Assets Map documents priorities with supporting evidence
- Existing community assets are identified rather than only deficits
- Leadership can name at least two assumptions from Lesson 1 that were confirmed or corrected by listening
Study reading
Understand the concept
Your work in this lesson focuses on this outcome: Ground outreach priorities in community voice, credible data and existing assets.
A church that listens before it plans replaces guesswork with evidence and replaces a posture of rescue with a posture of partnership.
Why it matters for your church
Priorities set without listening often duplicate what other organizations already do well nearby.
Asset mapping changes the tone of outreach from rescue to partnership, which affects both strategy and communication.
A documented needs assessment gives the missions team language to say no to well-intentioned but misaligned ideas.
Examine the evidence
Use Notes or recordings from listening conversations, Publicly available community demographic or needs data, and The Outreach and Missions Inventory from Lesson 1 to compare your church's present practice with its stated intentions. Look for documented patterns, missing information, and differences between what people assume and what the evidence supports.
Your completed work should be supported by Notes or recordings from at least three listening conversations, and At least one piece of external data supporting a stated priority. Record uncertainty honestly so your team knows what still needs to be verified.
Prepare for the shared exercise
Document community priorities and existing strengths using direct listening and credible data across multiple stakeholder types. The Build the Community Needs and Assets Map produces the Community Needs and Assets Map, which contributes to the module's principal deliverable.
Before working with your team, consider this reflection: What might we be assuming about our community right now that we have never actually asked anyone to confirm?
Key terms
- Community voice: Priorities and perspectives gathered directly from residents and stakeholders of the community the church hopes to serve.
- Asset mapping: The practice of identifying existing community strengths, institutions and relationships alongside documented needs.
- Poverty-tourism framing: A pattern in which outreach communication treats beneficiaries as helpless objects of charity rather than neighbors with dignity and agency.
Failure patterns to avoid
- Treating one friendly nonprofit contact's opinion as the whole picture of community need
- Gathering data but never returning to correct assumptions made in the inventory
- Describing the community only in terms of lack, which can unintentionally shame the people the church hopes to serve
Ministry case — Northgate Community Church Listens Before It Assumes
Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) scheduled conversations with a nearby elementary school counselor, two residents of the apartment complex across the street, the county food bank coordinator, and a longtime tenant-association leader. The counselor confirmed food insecurity was real but said the more urgent gap was reliable after-school supervision, since many families work second shifts with no evening childcare.
The tenant-association leader named an asset the team had not considered: an informal parent network already coordinating rides and shared meals two nights a week. Rather than starting a new program from scratch, the missions team began exploring how to resource and extend that existing network, which reshaped the direction they took into the portfolio design work in Lesson 3.
Lesson takeaway: A church that listens before it plans replaces guesswork with evidence and replaces a posture of rescue with a posture of partnership.
Exercise — Build the Community Needs and Assets Map (produces: Community Needs and Assets Map)
Document community priorities and existing strengths using direct listening and credible data across multiple stakeholder types.
- List each listening source consulted and the stakeholder type it represents.
- Record the priority need each source identified in specific, concrete language.
- Record the evidence or reasoning supporting that priority, not just the opinion offered.
- Record an existing community asset connected to each identified need.
- Note which current inventory activities, if any, already address this need.
- Note which needs currently have no corresponding church activity at all.
- Circle any priority confirmed by at least two different stakeholder types.
Worksheet columns: Stakeholder source · Priority need identified · Supporting evidence · Existing asset · Related current activity
Saves as you typeCommunity Needs and Assets Map
Complete the Community Needs and Assets Map here. Your answers are kept under your name and are waiting for you when you return.
Community Needs and Assets Map # Stakeholder source Priority need identified Supporting evidence Existing asset Related current activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Saving keeps it private to you; submitting shares it with your coach and church panel.Worked sample — Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) (illustrative, scored 19/20)
Northgate compiled four listening conversations conducted over two weeks alongside county school-district data on food and childcare access.
Listening across four stakeholder types confirmed after-school supervision as the community's most urgent, least-served need, corroborated by both school data and resident testimony. Two existing community assets, an informal parent network and an active tenant association, are candidates for partnership rather than replacement.
- Carry the after-school supervision need forward as a top candidate for new partnership investment in Lesson 3.
- Reexamine the food pantry shift's timing to see whether shifting it toward weekends better matches documented demand.
- Prioritize a direct conversation with the informal parent network before designing any new program around it.
The map draws on multiple stakeholder types, ties each need to concrete evidence, and pairs every need with a real asset, falling one point short only because civic-leader data beyond the school district was not yet gathered.
Discussion prompts
- Which listening conversation most challenged an assumption we had going in?
- Where did we find an existing community asset we had never noticed before?
- What current activity from our inventory now looks disconnected from documented need?
- How can we describe this community's needs honestly without describing it only by its lack?
Reflection: What might we be assuming about our community right now that we have never actually asked anyone to confirm?
Use these prompts to prepare your own response before the group discussion. Honest differences help the church identify where further work is needed.
Lesson 3: Designing Partnerships and Outreach Portfolios
What you will learn: Select a balanced set of local, regional and global commitments with clear roles and safeguards.
75 minutes · Missions team, pastoral staff, finance liaison, key partner representatives if available
Scripture lens — Philippians 4:15-17
15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. 16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. 17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.
King James Version (KJV) · Public domain
Draft proposal for Pastor Lee Jenkins' review: Paul's description of the Philippian church's ongoing partnership 'in giving and receiving' can frame missions investment as a genuine two-way relationship rather than a one-directional transaction.
Materials and evidence you will use
- Outreach and Missions Inventory from Lesson 1
- Community Needs and Assets Map from Lesson 2
- Existing partner agreements or correspondence
- Scores traceable to Lesson 1 inventory data or Lesson 2 needs-map evidence
- A named partner role and safeguarding expectation for each retained or added commitment
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to
- A completed Portfolio Scoring Matrix scores every candidate commitment on shared criteria
- The resulting portfolio includes a deliberate mix of local, regional and global commitments
- Each retained commitment has a named partner role and a documented safeguarding expectation
- At least one current activity is recommended for change or sunset based on scoring
Study reading
Understand the concept
Your work in this lesson focuses on this outcome: Select a balanced set of local, regional and global commitments with clear roles and safeguards.
A mission portfolio earns its place in the budget by demonstrating alignment, need, fit and partner strength, not by tenure or sentiment alone.
Why it matters for your church
Scoring makes tradeoffs visible and defensible rather than personality-driven.
A named partner role prevents ambiguity about who is responsible for safeguarding and reporting.
Sunsetting a low-scoring, well-loved activity requires pastoral care as much as strategic clarity.
Examine the evidence
Use Outreach and Missions Inventory from Lesson 1, Community Needs and Assets Map from Lesson 2, and Existing partner agreements or correspondence to compare your church's present practice with its stated intentions. Look for documented patterns, missing information, and differences between what people assume and what the evidence supports.
Your completed work should be supported by Scores traceable to Lesson 1 inventory data or Lesson 2 needs-map evidence, and A named partner role and safeguarding expectation for each retained or added commitment. Record uncertainty honestly so your team knows what still needs to be verified.
Prepare for the shared exercise
Score current and candidate mission commitments on shared criteria to design a balanced, well-governed portfolio. The Complete the Portfolio Scoring Matrix produces the Portfolio Scoring Matrix, which contributes to the module's principal deliverable.
Before working with your team, consider this reflection: Which commitment are we retaining more out of loyalty than out of evidence, and what would it take to close that gap honestly?
Key terms
- Portfolio balance: A deliberate mix of local, regional and global mission commitments that a church can explain and defend, rather than an accidental accumulation.
- Partner strength: A scored assessment of an external organization's track record, competence and financial and operational transparency.
- Safeguarding expectation: A documented, general standard for protecting the wellbeing and dignity of children, vulnerable adults or beneficiaries involved in an activity.
Failure patterns to avoid
- Scoring every current activity high to avoid difficult conversations
- Adding new global commitments without checking partner strength or reporting history
- Leaving safeguarding as an assumed responsibility rather than a documented expectation
Ministry case — Northgate Community Church Rebalances Its Portfolio
Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) scored its fourteen inventoried activities alongside three new candidates suggested by Lesson 2's needs map, including an after-school partnership with the informal parent network near Lincoln Elementary. The coat drive scored low on documented need and church fit once the team confirmed its audience was mostly member families, while the Guatemala partnership scored strongly across mission alignment, partner strength and expected outcome.
Rather than cutting the coat drive outright, leadership redesigned it, in partnership with the tenant association, to reach the apartment complex identified in Lesson 2, with a named safeguarding expectation for any volunteer working directly with children during distribution. The after-school partnership candidate scored highest overall and was added to the portfolio with a documented partner role for the parent network and a background-screening requirement for any church volunteer serving in a supervisory capacity.
Lesson takeaway: A mission portfolio earns its place in the budget by demonstrating alignment, need, fit and partner strength, not by tenure or sentiment alone.
Exercise — Complete the Portfolio Scoring Matrix (produces: Portfolio Scoring Matrix)
Score current and candidate mission commitments on shared criteria to design a balanced, well-governed portfolio.
- List every current activity from the inventory alongside any new candidate commitments.
- Score each on mission alignment, documented need and church fit using a consistent 1-5 scale.
- Score each on partner strength, noting any missing reporting or transparency history.
- Record estimated cost and a risk rating, including safeguarding and reputational risk.
- Score participation potential and state the expected outcome for each commitment.
- Total the scores and rank all commitments from highest to lowest.
- Recommend retain, expand, adjust or sunset for each commitment based on its rank.
- Name the partner role, church role and safeguarding expectation for every retained or added commitment.
Worksheet columns: Commitment · Mission alignment · Documented need · Church fit · Partner strength · Cost · Risk · Participation potential · Expected outcome
Saves as you typePortfolio Scoring Matrix
Complete the Portfolio Scoring Matrix here. Your answers are kept under your name and are waiting for you when you return.
Portfolio Scoring Matrix # Commitment Mission alignment Documented need Church fit Partner strength Cost Risk Participation potential Expected outcome 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Saving keeps it private to you; submitting shares it with your coach and church panel.Worked sample — Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) (illustrative, scored 18/20)
Northgate scored its full inventory plus three new candidates suggested by the Lesson 2 needs map, using a 1-5 scale for each criterion.
The Portfolio Scoring Matrix ranks the after-school partnership and the Guatemala partnership as the two highest-scoring commitments, and recommends the redesigned coat drive be retained with a new local partner and named safeguarding step. All three carry documented partner roles and expected outcomes for the coming year.
- Retain the redesigned coat drive with the new tenant-association partnership and a documented volunteer safeguarding step.
- Add the after-school partnership to the portfolio contingent on a background-screening policy for all supervising volunteers.
- Expand the Guatemala partnership's reporting model as the template for future partner agreements.
The matrix scores every commitment consistently and ties recommendations directly to Lesson 2 evidence, losing points only because the after-school partnership's safeguarding policy was not yet finalized at the time of scoring.
Discussion prompts
- Which commitment scored lower than we expected, and what does that tell us?
- Where do we currently lack a documented safeguarding expectation, and how urgent is closing that gap?
- Is our current local-to-global balance intentional or accidental?
- What would we say to a long-time volunteer if their favorite activity needed to change based on this scoring?
Reflection: Which commitment are we retaining more out of loyalty than out of evidence, and what would it take to close that gap honestly?
Use these prompts to prepare your own response before the group discussion. Honest differences help the church identify where further work is needed.
Lesson 4: Measuring and Communicating Impact
What you will learn: Track outputs, outcomes, learning, stewardship and stories with dignity.
75 minutes · Missions team, pastoral staff, finance liaison, communications liaison
Scripture lens — Luke 8:38-39
38 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.
King James Version (KJV) · Public domain
Draft proposal for Pastor Lee Jenkins' review: the healed man's own choice to go and tell his story, in his own words and on his own terms, can frame beneficiary storytelling as something offered freely by the person served, not extracted by the one who served them.
Materials and evidence you will use
- Portfolio Scoring Matrix from Lesson 3
- Past newsletters, reports or social media posts describing missions activity
- Any existing consent or release forms used for storytelling
- Outcome data drawn from partner reports, school or community data, or direct testimony
- A signed or documented consent record for any story or image used
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to
- A completed Community Impact Scorecard tracks outputs and outcomes for the portfolio
- Consented-story standards are documented and applied to at least one example
- Leadership can distinguish an output measure from an outcome measure for each commitment
- A gaps list and 90-day action plan are drafted from the scorecard's findings
Study reading
Understand the concept
Your work in this lesson focuses on this outcome: Track outputs, outcomes, learning, stewardship and stories with dignity.
Faithful missions measurement tells the truth about both success and shortfall, and tells beneficiaries' stories only with their consent and full dignity intact.
Why it matters for your church
Outcome measurement, not just output counting, is what allows leadership to know whether a commitment is actually working.
A consented-story standard protects beneficiaries' dignity and protects the church from unintentional harm in its own communication.
Honest learning entries make next year's portfolio review faster and more trustworthy.
Examine the evidence
Use Portfolio Scoring Matrix from Lesson 3, Past newsletters, reports or social media posts describing missions activity, and Any existing consent or release forms used for storytelling to compare your church's present practice with its stated intentions. Look for documented patterns, missing information, and differences between what people assume and what the evidence supports.
Your completed work should be supported by Outcome data drawn from partner reports, school or community data, or direct testimony, and A signed or documented consent record for any story or image used. Record uncertainty honestly so your team knows what still needs to be verified.
Prepare for the shared exercise
Track outputs, outcomes and learning for the mission portfolio and establish consented-story standards for beneficiary communication. The Build the Community Impact Scorecard produces the Community Impact Scorecard, which contributes to the module's principal deliverable.
Before working with your team, consider this reflection: If a beneficiary read exactly how we described them in our next report, would they feel respected, and how do we know?
Key terms
- Output measure: A count of activity performed, such as people served, sessions held or funds distributed.
- Outcome measure: A statement of change produced by an activity in the lives of the people or partners it served.
- Consented-story standard: A documented practice requiring informed, specific and revocable consent before sharing a beneficiary's story, photo or likeness publicly.
Failure patterns to avoid
- Reporting only outputs because they are easier to count and more flattering to share
- Using a beneficiary's photo or story without clear, specific consent for how it will be used
- Treating the scorecard as a one-time report rather than a living tool reviewed through the year
Ministry case — Northgate Community Church Learns to Measure What Matters
Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) built its first Community Impact Scorecard around the three commitments highlighted in Lesson 3. For the after-school partnership, the team initially wanted to report only that twenty-five children were served, but the scorecard exercise pushed them to also track outcome data from the school on attendance and homework completion for participating families, which showed measurable improvement by the second month.
When a parent from the after-school program offered, unprompted, to share her family's story for the church's annual report, the communications liaison walked her through the consented-story standard, confirming exactly which details she was comfortable including and reviewing the final draft with her before publication. The scorecard also honestly recorded a learning entry: the tenant-association coat distribution reached fewer families than hoped because notice went out too close to the event, a finding that directly shaped the 90-day action plan's first action item.
Lesson takeaway: Faithful missions measurement tells the truth about both success and shortfall, and tells beneficiaries' stories only with their consent and full dignity intact.
Exercise — Build the Community Impact Scorecard (produces: Community Impact Scorecard)
Track outputs, outcomes and learning for the mission portfolio and establish consented-story standards for beneficiary communication.
- List each retained or added commitment from the Lesson 3 portfolio.
- Record its output measure using specific, countable language.
- Record its outcome measure, stating the change expected or observed.
- Record one honest learning entry for the commitment, whether positive or corrective.
- Mark a status of on track, needs adjustment or revisit for each commitment.
- Note whether a consented story exists for the commitment and confirm it meets the dignity standard.
- Identify any commitment with a missing outcome measure or reporting gap.
- Draft a 90-day action item for each identified gap with an owner, due date and success measure.
Worksheet columns: Commitment · Output measure · Outcome measure · Learning · Status · Consented story on file
Saves as you typeCommunity Impact Scorecard
Complete the Community Impact Scorecard here. Your answers are kept under your name and are waiting for you when you return.
Community Impact Scorecard # Commitment Output measure Outcome measure Learning Status Consented story on file 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Saving keeps it private to you; submitting shares it with your coach and church panel.Worked sample — Northgate Community Church (illustrative example — not actual church data) (illustrative, scored 18/20)
Northgate built its first scorecard two months after launching the after-school partnership and redesigned coat drive, alongside ongoing reporting from its Guatemala partnership.
The Community Impact Scorecard shows two of three flagship commitments on track with confirmed outcome data, and one commitment, the redesigned coat drive, needing adjustment due to late outreach timing. One consented parent story and one partner-approved photo set are on file, each reviewed against the dignity standard before use.
- Mark the coat drive for adjustment with earlier notice timing as the first 90-day action item.
- Continue the after-school partnership as designed and explore expanding it to a fourth weekly day next term.
- Formalize the Guatemala partnership's quarterly reporting as the model for the tenant association's future involvement.
The scorecard distinguishes outputs from outcomes clearly, records an honest shortfall rather than hiding it, and documents consent properly, losing one point because the Guatemala partnership's outcome data still relies solely on the partner's own report without independent confirmation.
Discussion prompts
- Which commitment currently has no real outcome measure, only an output count?
- What is one honest learning entry we should record this year, even if it is uncomfortable?
- Do we have a clear, documented process for obtaining consent before sharing a beneficiary's story?
- What would change in our communication if every story had to pass the dignity questions taught today?
Reflection: If a beneficiary read exactly how we described them in our next report, would they feel respected, and how do we know?
Use these prompts to prepare your own response before the group discussion. Honest differences help the church identify where further work is needed.
Rate this module
Rate each area from 0 to 4 as the church is today, not as you hope it will be.
- 0 — Not Established: Nothing is in place for this area today.
- 1 — Emerging: Something has been started but it is informal and inconsistent.
- 2 — Developing: It works in parts of the church but is not documented or dependable.
- 3 — Established: It is documented, consistently followed and reviewed.
- 4 — Exemplary: It is a strength others could learn from, with evidence to prove it.
1. Needs Alignment
Weighted 20% of the Missions score.
What this represents: A current, evidence-based needs assessment shapes the majority of outreach and partnership decisions.
Reference points for your rating
- 0 — Not established:
- Outreach choices are based on habit or preference with no reference to documented community need.
- 2 — Developing:
- A needs assessment exists for some priorities but is not yet used consistently to decide what the church funds or staffs.
- 4 — Exemplary:
- Needs assessment is refreshed on a regular cycle, cross-checked against multiple community sources, and visibly drives reallocation of resources.
Use the closest reference point, then select 1 or 3 when your church falls between two descriptions.
2. Strategy and Portfolio
Weighted 20% of the Missions score.
What this represents: A scored, balanced portfolio of local, regional and global commitments is documented and reviewed annually.
Reference points for your rating
- 0 — Not established:
- Activities are a loose collection of one-off events with no shared strategy or intentional balance.
- 2 — Developing:
- A portfolio exists with some local, regional and global commitments, but scoring criteria are applied inconsistently.
- 4 — Exemplary:
- The portfolio is actively rebalanced based on scoring results, with underperforming commitments sunset and emerging needs added deliberately.
Use the closest reference point, then select 1 or 3 when your church falls between two descriptions.
3. Partnership Quality
Weighted 20% of the Missions score.
What this represents: All active partners have documented roles, expectations and safeguarding standards consistently applied.
Reference points for your rating
- 0 — Not established:
- Partners are engaged informally with no vetting, written expectations or safeguarding review.
- 2 — Developing:
- Written expectations exist for major partners, though safeguarding practices are inconsistently applied across the portfolio.
- 4 — Exemplary:
- Partnerships are reviewed on a fixed cycle with mutual feedback, and safeguarding practices are audited and improved over time.
Use the closest reference point, then select 1 or 3 when your church falls between two descriptions.
4. Participation and Stewardship
Weighted 20% of the Missions score.
What this represents: A documented participation plan invites broad involvement, and cost and participation are analyzed against expected outcomes.
Reference points for your rating
- 0 — Not established:
- Member involvement is ad hoc, with no plan for recruiting, training or rotating volunteers, and no cost tracking.
- 2 — Developing:
- A participation plan exists and cost per activity is tracked for some commitments but not analyzed alongside outcomes.
- 4 — Exemplary:
- Participation and investment analysis directly inform portfolio decisions, and the congregation understands how its giving and time convert into impact.
Use the closest reference point, then select 1 or 3 when your church falls between two descriptions.
5. Outcomes and Impact
Weighted 20% of the Missions score.
What this represents: A Community Impact Scorecard tracks outputs, outcomes and learning across the portfolio and is reported to leadership regularly.
Reference points for your rating
- 0 — Not established:
- No outcome measures exist beyond attendance counts or dollars distributed.
- 2 — Developing:
- Some outcome measures exist for priority commitments, though reporting is inconsistent and rarely shared broadly.
- 4 — Exemplary:
- Impact measurement, including consented beneficiary stories told with dignity, is embedded in decision-making and shared transparently with the congregation.
Use the closest reference point, then select 1 or 3 when your church falls between two descriptions.
90-day plan for Missions
Name the first three moves, who owns each one and when it is due.
Completion checklist
- • All four lessons marked complete
- • All four exercises submitted
- • Required evidence uploaded
- • Named principal deliverable generated and approved
- • 90-day action plan created with owners and dates
- • Coach review recorded
0 of 4 exercises written · 0 of 5 areas rated
Pastor Lee Jenkins
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Participant Workbook
Sample contents created by Allan Bell - CPA, CMA, MBA, for illustrative purposes.
What happens to these answers
Approval sits with people, not the software.
- Individual answers are held for the coach. Church reporting, board packs and the printed workbook show compiled scores and themes only.
- Nine M methodology, content, exercises and deliverables by Pastor Lee Jenkins.
- Prototype: responses live in this browser session only. No invitations, emails or text messages are sent, and nothing is written to a server.
A partnership between Pastor Lee Jenkins, the Stewardship Coach, and Allan Bell - CPA, CMA, MBA, Nsites founder and creator.