Jeff's Journal

What Do You Measure?

In the not so olden days, we used to measure some pretty easy things. Primarily, that would include just “number” things; budget numbers, people in a worship service, people in Bible Studies and well, you get the picture. It was what some folks called nickels and noses.

But then we started asking some questions about how the investment of time and money into UBC was making change in the community and the world. This question began to ask if what we counted really helped us approach our mission in the world. We still struggle with metrics (what to measure) and I think it is good to wrestle with these things. As a matter of fact, that was part of the conversation around the staff table as I was leaving for sabbatical.

One of the first things I did while on sabbatical was to attend a couple of conferences. The invitation to one of the conferences this summer came through another conference I was invited to attend last year. Last year’s conference was with the White House’s Faith Based Initiatives office. That conference was in Austin last year and I went. I did not know a soul in the room. It was a large convention center filled with people, so maybe the people I knew were across the room, but I doubt it.


The conference a couple of weeks ago was with the One Star Foundation, the Texas equivalent of the White House conference. Again, I walked in the room and did not recognize anyone. The conference started with the usual icebreaker around the table where you introduce yourself to the others at your table and then a person from the table introduces your table to the rest of the room.




As we got going, there were people from various state organizations at my table. One person was with the Texas Department of Youth Corrections and when I introduced myself, she turned to me and said, “I love your church.”


She had never been to UBC before, I had never seen her before, but she loved our church because of what we had been doing in the community. She worked for the boys home in Crockett, Texas, and she had heard from one of her colleagues who was bragging about what UBC was doing at the Youth Village on Clear Lake mentoring the students in that correctional unit.


As we talked, I was amazed. I had no clue about this woman and she had no clue about me, but she loved UBC because we cared beyond our campus. She then began to ask me if UBC would want to expand the ministry to her area. I told her I did not know at the moment and it would be a couple of months before I could get back with her, but I did know a former UBC family living in her area that might be interested in helping their church get involved. (I don’t know the outcome of that conversation, but the former UBC family expressed interest.)

After that exchange, it was on to introductions around the room. (FYI, this was like a karaoke gone bad. Some people took to the mic for WAY too long and the facilitator realized it was out of control!) I was elected to introduce our table, so I got up and introduced the people at our table and myself. After that exercise, it was break time.


At the beginning of the break, another woman that I did not know came up to me and expressed how happy she was that UBC had become involved at Whitcomb Elementary. She worked for one of the after school agencies at Whitcomb and went on and on about how much good UBC has done for the school.


I was pretty amazed. Here I was, again, in a room of people (although much smaller than the Austin meeting) that I did not know and out of the blue two strangers came to talk to me about UBC’s presence in the community. After that conversation, I headed out to the snack table like a good Baptist.


Upon returning to the conference room with snacky breath, another lady I did not know came up to speak to me. She was from an agency in Houston’s Third Ward and she expressed her pleasure of UBC. As I got her information, her agency works with the children from the Third Ward that UBC has hosted in Vacation Bible School for the last two years. She spoke of how it was a good experience for her children and she expressed her gladness that UBC opened the doors to the children as there had been other churches that “passed” on the opportunity.


Three conversations in one morning out of a room full of people I did not know. Back to the question of what to measure. I don’t know exactly what to measure, but I think these conversations are worth weighing. Most of our staff can attend religious meetings and UBC is a known entity, be it a Baptist or a non-Baptist meeting. However, to attend a non-religious meeting and have people come up and say “thank you” is something worth paying attention to, IMHO. As I think about it, I cannot recall thank you statements at the religious meetings, so maybe there is something else to pay attention to.


Thank you UBC for caring for the community. The light is being shown.

posted by Jeff Waldo @ 10:46 AM