About AssessME
David A Posthuma Tells the Story…Twenty Years Ago and More!
David A. Posthuma tells the story of AssessME.org, which began more than twenty years ago. He is the founder, owner, and systems designer of AssessME.org and E-Church Essentials, LLC. This organization operates as both a business and a ministry, with a mission to assist churches in making disciples of Jesus Christ since 2002. Their goal is to empower churches with tools to create, equip, and mobilize disciples into mature faith and effective ministry service using high-impact assessment programs.
Early Years
David A. Posthuma started developing assessments for AssessME.org in 1994 while working on discipleship tracking models and participating in a think-tank on disciple-making strategies led by Dan Webster. In 1997, he created and tested the initial spiritual gift assessment, GraceGifts. However, in September 2000, the Twin Towers were destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, leading to the collapse of the Christian tech company where David worked as Director of Product Development and Marketing.
The eChurch Vision
However, in 2001, David could not ignore a vision he had of creating an eChurch platform to assist in various aspects of church ministry. Fortunately, Dan Webster organized a trip for David and his wife Tamara to Oregon, where they spent several days working on the details of David’s eChurch vision with consultant and strategic planner Tom Patterson, author of Living the Life You Were Meant to Live. Notably, Tom had been a leader at IBM for many years and had also been a key consultant for the development of Saddleback Ministries in California.
How Could James Say No?
Following the consultations, David met with James Wiersma to share the vision that God had placed on his heart. They were acquainted from working at a tech company before 9/11. David knew that James was a talented internet programmer with a good job, as well as a devout Christian. So, David explained his eChurch vision, offering one year of full-time work and basic health insurance. James requested time to pray about it. David did not expect to hear back from James. However, when they met again, James accepted, stating that he had been praying for an opportunity to use his skills for God’s work, so when the chance arose, how could he say no.
The Founding of E-Church Essentials, LLC
The founding of E-Church Essentials, LLC began with the development of assessment tools, which were released in beta form by 2002. In 2003, E-Church Essentials, LLC was officially launched, along with the introduction of the E-Church Network, the world’s first multi-module eChurch platform. Among the modules offered by the E-Church Network, the assessment module proved to be the most popular. In response to this success, in 2005, the assessment module was launched as a standalone program called AssessME.org.
Mobile First Shuts Down the E-Church Network, AssessME.org Goes Solo
In 2015, due to the advancements in mobile-first internet technologies, a decision was made to rebuild the E-Church Network. However, after evaluating the significant cost associated with this project, it became apparent that AssessME.org was experiencing faster growth than the E-Church Network. Therefore, in 2015, it was strategically decided to shut down the E-Church Network and focus all resources on enhancing AssessME.org.
COVID Almost Kills AssessME.org
Like many other businesses, AssessME.org almost met its demise due to the impact of COVID. However, we are grateful to our faithful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for helping us survive the storm. Unfortunately, we then faced the harsh reality that many of our church clients had to let go of the individuals managing AssessME within their churches in order to reduce budget expenses during the crisis. With churches not holding services and attendance dwindling, church leadership saw the need for human resource management as unnecessary. As the effects of COVID began to diminish, David realized that the expected residual sales for AssessME.org were no longer feasible. Sales dropped to historic lows, leading to projections that AssessME.org would be forced to close its doors by Fall of 2023. David began preparing for this potential outcome.
A New Partnership Leads to a New AssessME.org
After meeting with several individuals and organizations about the potential purchase of AssessME.org, they all expressed concerns about the impact of the Biden economy on the software service’s relaunch. At this point, my loyal friend and programmer James Wiersma suggested establishing a partnership and developing a plan for his eventual takeover of the company, as David is expected to retire in the future. With our partnership in place, James began the task of rebuilding and fully updating AssessME.org.
The New AssessME.org
In January 2024, AssessME introduced a completely revamped generation of its software. This new version includes enhanced reporting and search functions, as well as full mobile compatibility. Additionally, we transitioned to a membership subscription model, simplifying the onboarding process for churches interested in using AssessME.org.
How We Now Implement Our Mission:
- Equip churches to make-disciples by means of our NextSteps Disciple-Making Program.
- Help churches mobilize volunteers into effective ministry service through a series of assessments offered within our Volunteer Mobilization Program.
AssessME provides churches with both the disciple-making systems and volunteer mobilization processes that they often lack. Our programs incorporate the following five assessments:
AssessME Client Map
Is your church on our map? Locate our thousands of U.S. client ministries. We also support client churches within 36 countries.
The Ministry Support Blog
David A. Posthuma offers training & essential information through his blog. Please subscribe.
Please Contact AssessME
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Meet Our Assessment Designer and Owner of AssessME.org
David’s Mission is to Help Church Leaders Make and Mobilize More Disciples of Jesus Christ.
BIO: David A. Posthuma
David A Posthuma is the author and designer of AssessME.org and its assessments. In addition, David has authored three pastoral resource books: “Made for a Mission”, “eShift- The Internet Influenced Church”, and “Active Discipleship”. Moreso, he has also written numerous published ministry resource magazine articles. In short, David excels in systems design, new ministry development, team building, and church consultation.
David graduated from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI with a B.A. in Education & Religion. Then, he graduated from Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL with an M.Div.. Finally, he earned two post-graduate Clinical Counseling Certifications from Mac Neal Hospital in Chicago.
Since graduating in 1990, David planted two churches. In addition, he revitalized a dying church in Chicago, and also revitalized two declining churches in Michigan. David began his ministry career by launching a large-church College and Career ministry that grew from four young adults to over 125 in one year. However, in 1998, the Lord redirected David’s ministry path calling upon him to design software solutions for the church market. Today, David manages AssessME.org. So, if you email or call AssessME.org, the vast majority of time David will personally respond. In addition, David also serves as an author, speaker, conducts leadership workshops, and serves as a church consultant.