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Most pastors will want to know where they stand and where they need to grow and flourish. A well-chosen, carefully-administered pastoral evaluation can be a great benefit to both a pastor and the church he or she leads.

Evaluations will be less intimidating if they are done regularly, and if it is clearly stated that the evaluation is for the benefit of the pastor. If a Ministerial Director is involved in a pastoral evaluation as a step toward disciplining or terminating a pastor, then anyone receiving an evaluation from you in the future might (unnecessarily) feel they have reason to be concerned. If it is determined that an evaluation for determining possible discipline or termination needs to be done, you would be wise to request that administration apply the evaluation, and that you be allowed to sit with the pastor as their advocate during the process. Being seen as the arm of administration to administer discipline would likely compromise your ability to be their pastor and advocate.

There are a number of good evaluation tools available, including this one from NAD Ministerial.