Berlin (ENInews). Does your pastor set a glowing example to his or her flock? Or does the herd tend to drift? A new website launched in Germany allows churchgoers to rate their “shepherd’s” performance on worship, youth work, work with seniors, credibility, and engagement with current issues.
“The idea behind Hirtenbarometer [shepherd barometer] is that pastoral work should be and often is qualitative,” one of the website’s founders, Andreas Hahn, said in an email interview. “We wanted to create … an open platform for dialogue between priests and the members of congregations.”
A snow-white sheep represents top marks on the site. Pope Benedict XVI is awarded sheep with greyer wool. His average score is 3.81 out of 6, with youth work and engagement with current issues judged his weakest areas.
Earlier this year, the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) released a brochure looking at ways to encourage feedback on church services. One of the brochure’s authors, Folkert Fendler, said in a statement, “It is clear that feedback is essential if one wants to improve the quality of a worship service.” He also called the Hirtenbarometer a “positive development.”
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