Step 1: Understand

What does it mean to be data-informed and how does it relate to a thriving church? Join David Kinnaman, President of Barna Group, as he explains this integral dimension.

Discover the Data

In Barna’s research of thriving churches, the data-informed dimension measures how effectively a church uses information to make wise ministry decisions and track the spiritual well-being of their people. (Editor’s note: This question is only asked of churched adults who say they have a leadership position in their church. This could be a wide variety of roles, including deacons, elders, volunteer coordinators, team leaders, committee members, etc.) Across the three key categories of a thriving church—nurturing, sending and leading—this dimension falls into the leading category.