The Judicatory Vitality Assessment (JVA) is the first and only research-based, online diagnostic tool for assessing judicatory vitality and sustainability.
In the next few days the Judicatory Vitality Assessment will enter the beta testing phase: a kind of “shakedown cruise” by a selected group of dioceses, synods, and other judicatories before we start taking advance orders in June and formally launch the JVA churchwide in September. Those who place orders during the advance order period will receive a significant discount off the typical price.
And now to answer some of the questions we have received so far (feel free to email us with additional questions):
What is the purpose/benefits of the Judicatory Vitality Assessment (JVA)?
The JVA is designed to help a judicatory’s leadership:
- Diagnose the judicatory’s Vitality and Sustainability
- Identify the judicatory’s internal/organizational strengths and weaknesses
- Identify the judicatory’s strengths and weaknesses in how it relates to its congregations.
- Develop and prioritize strategies to improve vitality and sustainability by leverage strengths to engage opportunities.
What elements of judicatory vitality does the JVA measure?
The JVA measures how effectively a judicatory is carrying out 16 vital areas of judicatory functioning:
- Vision, Mission, and Discernment
- Congregational Engagement and Empowerment
- Context Awareness and Inclusion
- Change Readiness
- Dealing with Differences/Conflict
- Spiritual Life and Worship
- Formation, Education, and Training
- Outreach to Congregations
- Leadership and Organization
- Stewardship
- Collaborative Ministry
- Assessment & Evaluation
- Infrastructure
- Judicatory–Congregation Trust
- Providing for Leadership Growth
- Ministry Development and Redevelopment
What kind of questions does the JVA ask?
The JVA asks the user to answer 5-10 questions in each of 16 areas of judicatory functioning: 16 focused on vitality and 1 focused on sustainability (click here for full question set).
Why are there questions about congregations in a vitality and sustainability assessment tool for judicatories?
The reason the JVA asks questions about a judicatory’s congregations is that a judicatory is part of a system, and cannot be said to be fully vital and sustainable unless its relationships with and impacts on its congregations are healthy. A judicatory is more than just its headquarters, organizational structure, rules, processes, ministries, and the people leading it or employed by it. It also includes the congregations it serves and the communities they serve, as well as the ministries the judicatory offers.
Congregation-related questions are included in the JVA because a judicatory, whether it be a diocese, synod, presbytery, or other sub-denominational body, is more than just its headquarters, organizational structure, rules, processes, ministries, and the people leading it or employed by it. It also includes the congregations it serves and the communities they serve. It is for these reasons that the JVA not only focuses on assessing internal functions of judicatories but also their external relationships and impacts.
What will be the cost of the JVA?
We are still in the process of finalizing our cost structure. What we can say is the JVA will be available on a subscription basis and that the cost will be based on the size of the judicatory (number of congregations), and there will be a significant discount for multi-year subscriptions. An additional 10% discount will be available for judicatories that have joined our Partner Judicatory program.
