What Is the CAT-Vital Signs®?
The Church Assessment Tool® is a flexible, proven tool using benchmarked data to generate an assessment of congregational health in a report called Vital Signs®.
When the vice-president of a very large corporation was asked what worried him the most in his job he responded, "I worry most about what my people don't know that they don't know." Only through self-awareness do we begin to identify the right problems. Until something becomes a problem in the conscious mind, it not only can't be solved, the solution appears nonsensical. Self-awareness in organizations, as well as individuals, is crucial to growth and fruitfulness.
The Vital Signs® report increases the self-awareness of a congregation by engaging members in a church-wide assessment process. Using the Church Assessment Tool®, members are asked to bear witness to their experiences in the Body of Christ ranging from the quality of relationships to the dynamism of worship. When this information is compiled and benchmarked against other churches it offers leaders a comprehensive picture of their church which can help them make better decisions, in less time, with more confidence.
The Vital Signs® report is unique among church surveys in that is has been designed specifically for churches dealing with transitional issues. By customizing the instrument to different church needs, the Vital Signs® report can serve a number of purposes including succession planning, pastoral search, strategic planning, and change management. A customized version of the report called Vital Signs-PMI® dovetails seamlessly into the Ministry by Design search process. This combines the system strength of the CAT-Vital Signs® process with the power of SIMA to help insure the call of the right person with the right fit to the right church.