Cell Reporting

by Joel Comiskey

During the month of March, we’ll be talking about holding cell groups accountable through regular statistical reporting. Some of the questions we’ll be looking at are:

• Why do most cell churches ask for weekly reports?
• What do cell groups report on?
• How do they gather those statistics?
• What are the best reporting tools/software to use?

Let’s start  by looking at the why of statistical reporting.

The main reason to keep and review weekly small group statistics is quality control—to know the reality of the small group situation. Statistics reveal what’s happening in the small group, whether the group is growing, and what the coach needs to focus on in making the cell more effective.

For a long time, I thought keeping small group statistics was a good thing—but not necessary. “After all,”  I thought. ” We were asking a lot of our small group leaders. Why burden them with another chore?”  In all honesty, I didn’t know how to successfully obtain weekly reports, so I acted like it wasn’t important.

The black hole of fuzzy statistics hit hard when we launched new groups based on faulty data. As the year progressed we discovered too many “ghost groups” that existed only in the minds of the small group coaches. We launched lofty goals based on inaccurate data, not realizing that the small group system was far weaker than we thought.

Our failure stirred us to change and showed us the importance of small group statistics and the need to review them continually. Most cell churches do the same thing. But what about you? Do you believe in keeping cell statistics? Why or why not?

Joel