Characteristics of A Healthy Church

This week our church begins a series and emphasis on BECOMING A HEALTHY CHURCH.  We are not alone in this arena.  I read over the weekend where 82% of the churches in America are plateaued or declining and are in need of some close inspection as to "why" the church isn't thriving.

I suspect that we'll find over the course of the 12-15 weeks we'll spend on this that most of it is a spiritual condition, but human events and fingerprints on our condition will be noticed and evidenced.  It can't be helped because the church is made up of people.

We're taking a survey of leadership and the congregation at healthychurch.net and it's grading us in the areas of 10 Characteristics.  These characteristics were noted in a group of healthy churches; regardless of size, style, preference or locale.  All of them were thriving healthy churches.  Just think of it like a baseline exam that you get from your Doctor.  It tells you where you are now (not necessarily what got you there--although you probably have a pretty good idea already) and it tells you where you need to go to become healthy.

Here are the characteristics listed:

Characteristic 1-God's Empowering Presence 

Characteristic 2-God‐Exalting Worship
Characteristic 3-Spiritual Disciplines
Characteristic 4-Learning and Growing in Community
Characteristic 5-A Commitment to Loving and Caring Relationships
Characteristic 6-Servant‐Leadership Development
Characteristic 7-An Outward Focus
Characteristic 8-Wise Administration and Accountability
Characteristic 9-Networking with the Body of Christ
Characteristic 10-Stewardship and Generosity

Over the next few months you'll see lots of posts about this effort.  I hope you'll share your experiences in becoming healthy and also in helping the church become "what she was created to be--the BRIDE OF CHRIST--given to show HIS GLORY!"

You can also read a portion of the book that formed the basis of this survey here.

What Is A Healthy Church?

Macchia's book is an excellent starting point on church health. It's so practical and I love that each chapter ends with a prayer embodying the essence of that chapter in a couple of sentences.

Our focus this summer will be on "BECOMING A HEALTHY CHURCH" which begs the question "What is a healthy church?" It's a question that not only faces FBC Snyder, but the larger church in general.

This year I finish up my 23rd year in ministry and to be honest with you every church that I have served has had issues with church health. They varied in degrees, but all struggled with manifestations of poor health (lack of vitality, growth, discipline, vision, etc)but often they were masked by circumstances and events that somehow pointed in another direction.

I'm excited that we're going to tackle these issues. No, it won't be easy but it will be necessary to look under the hood and understand our church and THE CHURCH and do our part of being a healthy body. We've got many things planned to help us in these areas. I'll be blogging about a lot of this so get ready.

What do you think makes a healthy church?