In this episode, Matt Engel, a data expert from Gloo, unpacks the survey data of 1054 Lutheran leaders that recently completed “The State of the LCMS” survey through Red Letter Living. He talks about if the survey is reliable, and what the results mean for the future of our LCMS denomination. To learn more about the podcast or access the show notes, visit www.redletterpodcast.com.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Red Letter Living. We create resources to help the church produce greater disciples. This season, we are launching a series of videos on our YouTube channel called “The Voices of the LCMS.” 

View the playlist here.

In these videos, we are unpacking data from our survey of 1054 Lutheran leaders. In my conversation with Matt, we dive into many different topics, and the weekly YouTube videos are meant to go deeper into specific issues. These videos are opening up questions, conversations, and opportunities to help us walk together in the future.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss a video. 

Resources mentioned in the episode

• Gloo / Church analytics platforms
  
  
• Barna Research
  
  
• LifeWay Research on discipleship metrics
  
  
• Data-Driven Ministry (Matt Engel’s research/work)
  
  
• Red Letter Living resources
  
  
• Voices of the LCMS Videos
  
  

Key insights from the episode: 

• “You could have contracted out with a research firm and spent more than $250,000 and waited two years to get responses that will be within 10% of what you got.” – Matt Engel
  
  
• “I would much rather be accurate than precise with surveys because accuracy gets me in the ballpark while precision takes forever: time, money, energy.” – Matt Engel
  
  
• “If data is only interesting but not actionable, it’s a waste of time. We want to turn interesting into actionable.” – Matt Engel
  
  
• “Data should help you see people, not just numbers.” – Matt Engel
  
  
• “If you measure only attendance, you’ll get only attendance.” – Matt Engel
  
  
• “Technology can’t make disciples, but it can support those who do.” – Matt Engel
  
  
• “Healthy churches don’t just count heads; they count stories.” – Matt Engel
  
  
• “The right metrics clarify your mission, not compete with it.” – Matt Engel
  
• “We are called to be Spirit-led, Christ-centered, and data-informed.” — Matt Engel

Matt Engel’s Challenge: Ask (and answer) three questions: 1) Where did you innovate? 2) What did you learn? 3) Who are you developing?

Are you following Jesus? 

Many want to be greater followers of Jesus but don’t know how. We extensively studied everything Jesus commanded of us and located five key targets to which Jesus invited His followers. The five targets are Being, Forgiving, Serving, Giving, and Going.

In partnership with LifeWay Research, we created a Red Letter Challenge Assessment that will measure you according to these five targets. And the best news of all: it’s free! You will get results back immediately and be presented with the next steps to help you become an even greater follower of Jesus.

You can take the FREE Red Letter Challenge Assessment here.