It’s Earnings Season

Once a quarter, companies report their earnings to the public.  When they report their earnings this shows the world how well they are doing – are they making a profit or declining, do they have momentum or losing it?  Just last week, Google reported their earnings and yesterday afternoon Apple, Inc reported theirs.  Google reported that they produced over $9 billion in revenue and their profit increased from the previous quarter by 32%!  $9 billion in revenue!!!! Not to be outdone, just yesterday Apple reported that they generated $28.57 billion in revenue this quarter on the strength of selling over 20 million iPhones and over 9 million iPads.

These are phenomenal figures and shows that both Google and Apple is exceeding expectations.  After Apple reported their earnings (in after market trading), the stock rose over 5% to an all-time high as it showed everyone that Apple is performing at a very high level.

So as I look at these numbers from Google and Apple, it made me wonder about our reporting process.  Just as businesses report their earnings quarterly to the public, how often are you reporting your ministry earnings?  I’m not talking about reporting your financial earnings but how often are you reporting how well you are doing as a ministry?  I’m talking about how often are your reporting on the health of your program to your leaders, parents and the other staff?  Do they even know what you are striving for and seeking to do as a ministry?  How do you determine how well your ministry is performing?

I believe in ministry we owe it to the church, our supervisor, our students, leaders and the parents to set goals and standards.  Do all these groups need to know EVERYTHING we are doing as a ministry?  Of course not, but I believe that we owe it to ourselves and everyone else to be held to the goals and standards we set as a way to show that progress is being made and that we are headed in a direction.  Businesses are held to a huge standard and as a ministry we should be held to an even higher standard because lives are at stake.

So, what goals are you setting for this coming fall?  How will you determine if your fall is a success or not?  Right now, TAKE A MINUTE and write down some goals that you would want to have.  Or even set up a meeting with your volunteer leaders to go over some goal setting both individually and as a ministry.

Agree with this?  Disagree with it?  What are your thoughts on goal setting and expectations?  Post a comment or two and share your thoughts so we can all benefit.