Gospel Impact Metric methodology
The change in a tract’s Shalom composite between two eras — how the field moved, not where it stands.
GIM = Shalom (latest era) minus Shalom (previous era). For the current U.S. surface that is 2024 minus 2020. Positive means the ground is opening, negative means it is hardening, near zero means the place is holding. It is a subtraction because impact is something that happens over time.
What the metric watches
The two Shalom composites GIM subtracts are each scored across five domains of community life: Provision & Work, Justice & Protection, Life & Health, Household & Generations, and Social Fabric. GIM watches how that composite moved between the two readings.
It does not claim to measure grace, repentance, or the Spirit’s hidden work, and a rising GIM does not prove that any ministry caused it.
GIM is the movement; need pressure is the level
The standing score has its own name. Need pressure is 100 minus the latest Shalom composite: higher means more current hardship. GIM is the change between two composites. They answer different questions and a tract can score high on both — a hard place that is getting better.
Scores alone are not enough either way. GospelGraph turns numeric movement into field language: opening, hardening, holding, patient presence, and high-pressure places where trust may take longer to form.
In the explorer, GIM appears under the layer name Gospel Shift. They are one measurement with two labels, not two reads.
How to use the methodology
Use the metric to compare places, surface questions, and prepare for field verification. Do not use it to label people, bypass local leaders, or pretend that a score is the same thing as wisdom.
Short answers for search, staff, and session rooms.
Keep reading from the same library
These pages share the same methodology frame: definitions, transparent data sources, and ministry-use cases for tract-level decision making.