When You Work for the Church

How much attention do you pay to your church stats? Do you track worship attendance? New visitors? Giving trends? Budget spending?

As a pastor of a mid-sized church, I made it a point to notice visitors and greet them. I learned later from one young couple that one of the reasons they had become members of the church was that I had met them the first Sunday they had visited, then greeted them by name the following Sunday. So, informally, I was very aware of people in the church, but for the most part, I left more formal tracking of membership, worship attendance, budget, and so on to others.

I’ve tended to do the same thing with this website. Informally, I’m aware of blog views and I’m responsive to comments, but for the most part, I’ve left the more formal tracking to WordPress which manages this site. But once a year, I do like to review the stats to help me plan for the next year, so thought I’d share a few highlights with you today.

Most popular posts

Among posts written in 2025, here are the top five:

• Mental Health Matters – one woman’s story of recovery and healing.
• From Mid-Faith Crisis to Deepening Faith – a review of one of my top reads this year that I keep recommending to people again and again.
• Hope Beyond Our Sorrows for Those Who Grieve – cover reveal of my latest book and the song that inspired the title.
• On Finding a New Church – after 25 years as pastor in the same congregation!
• Effective Leadership and Spiritual Practice – a quick overview of a session I led for new pastors and chaplains in Mennonite Church Canada. I’ve been invited to lead a similar session for another cohort of new ministry leaders in 2026.

My most viewed post in 2025: Prayer Shawl Ministry Like a Wearable Hug, published in 2021, but this ministry of care is ongoing, and this blog post continues to speak to people today.

My most viewed of all time, “evergreen” posts published in previous years:

• The Best Articles on Self-Care in the Church – views increase during the academic year since some professors include the link for ministry students
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – why I started this website
• The Most Hilarious Job Description and How to Update Yours – I plan to use this myself to update my own job description
• Prayer Shawl Ministry Like a Wearable Hug – my most viewed post in 2025
• Healthy Ministry and the Pastor with Mental Illness – mental health concerns persist in 2025 and in my all-time posts.

Reader Profiles

Top Countries:

• United States
• Canada
• U.K.
• Australia
• Philippines

Most popular day to view: Tuesdays – not surprisingly, since new posts appear most often on Tuesdays, but this represents only 26% of views in the week, so readers are clearly choosing to read at their own time and pace.

Subscribers:

• By email through When You Work for the Church – the majority of subscribers have either signed up on this website or attended one of my events, and have received my bonus ebook: Sabbath Rest for the People of God.
• By email through WordPress – most have migrated to my When You Work for the Church subscriber list, while others prefer the simplicity of WordPress and the WordPress reader. The choice is yours, and if you’d also like my ebook, you’re welcome to sign up here.

If you review or track stats as part of your ministry or personal life, I’d love to learn how that helps you. I welcome your comment below.