The S.C.O.R.E. Process

1. STARTING POINT OF SELF ASSESSMENT. This assessment is designed to help Christians determine in which of four stages of spiritual development they presently are. The assessment is meant only to be an objective starting point to measure where you are now so that you can identify certain behaviors, attitudes, skills, or thoughts in which to begin growing. Below are listed four stages of spiritual development. Please do not get hung up on labels; use them as a guide to gauge your progress! The length of time beside each stage is a rough approximation of how long it could take to progress to adult maturity in Christ, provided an individual is consistently applying himself toward personal growth. Scoring for the four stages of development is as follows:

0-60                 Infant                 (6 weeks - 6 months)
61-120             Child                  (7 months - 3 years)
121-170           Teen-ager         (3 years - 10 years)
171-240           Adult                  (10 years+)

My present stage of spiritual development (based on total score of ________) is ________________.

2. COMPREHEND YOUR SCORES TO SPECIFIC COMPONENTS. Review your assessment with the Assessment Key to learn the spiritual component tied to each descriptive statement. This will help you match lower scores with a corresponding component so you can identify and begin to prioritize which areas of growth you need to work on first.

3. OBJECTIVE OBSERVATION. Have three (3) other friends who know you well spiritually to assess your growth as they observe you, using the Spiritual Growth Observation Sheet. This is meant to provide some objective feedback for you. Once you have received their results, take some time to compare theirs with yours. Asking yourself the following questions can provide much insight as to your next steps:

• Where did their results agree with mine?
• Where did their results disagree with mine? Did more than one person disagree with me on the same statement? If so, this may be a new area to address in the near future.
• Where did they write “N/O” for “not observed?” Should these close friends be seeing more from me in these areas of my life? If so, this may be alerting me to new areas for growth as well.

4. REFER TO GUIDE AND WRITE YOUR GROWTH PLAN. Now that you have identified areas for growth from a more objective vantage point, refer to the LTC Curriculum Guide (coming soon). It is a compilation/ bibliography of suggested studies, books, skills, and experiences, listed corresponding to the four stages of spiritual development. Use the guide to identify which curricula would be most helpful for your next steps. Write out a spiritual growth plan for the next year, using the Annual Spiritual Growth Plan worksheet.

5. ENLIST ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HELP. Share your growth plan with a trusted Christian leader in the church. A great person to share these observations with would be an adult small group leader, who will be able to connect you with someone who can disciple and journey with you in your next steps of spiritual growth. If you presently are not attending a small group, this would be a great next step as well!