1. What is a healthy church?
Why do we have differing opinions on this? Because it’s a theological (ecclesiological) question. Your theology of the church determines your definition of a healthy church.
Common views from a couple of decades ago: “A healthy church is a church that’s getting along” or “A healthy church is a church that is surviving (even if it’s not thriving).”
Do the definitions above truly reflect the ecclesiology of the New Testament? What is missing?
Here’s a succinct definition: “A church that is doing relationships and making decisions well, giving joy to God and its members while making growing, changing followers of Jesus out of the raw material of lost children, youth and adults.”
Why would we need to mention “…the raw material of lost children, youth and adults”?
More definitions:
“A healthy church is one where members are disciplined whenever necessary, to ensure that the sacraments are administered regularly, and that biblical teachings are consistently taught to feed the flock so that they can grow and mature toward the stature or nature of Christ.” Anonymous search result
“A healthy church is not a church that’s perfect and without sin. It has not figured everything out. Rather, it’s a church that continually strives to take God’s side in the battle against the ungodly desires and deceits of the world, our flesh, and the devil. It’s a church that continually seeks to conform itself to God’s Word.” Mark Dever
“A healthy church is a community of Jesus followers with shared vision, thriving ministry, and trusted leadership.” Anonymous search result
“A healthy church is one made up of all kinds of people from many different backgrounds who join together based on a common faith in Jesus Christ.” Ray Pritchard
“A transformational church is a congregation that joins God’s mission of sharing hew gospel and making disciples. Those disciples become more like Jesus, and he church thus acts as the body of Christ, transforming their communities and the world for the kingdom of God.” Rainer and Stetzer
2. So how about my church? Various methods of evaluation, from simple to not so simple…
Most simply: Compare your church to your favorite definition of a church (such as those above).
What might be the problem(s) with this method?
All too commonly: Compare your church to a favorite “superstar” church that seems to be growing at a rapid rate. What might be the problem(s) with this method?
Compare your church to a favorite verse or passage: The most common passage used for this purpose is Acts 2:42-47
What other verses or passages are most commonly used in this way?
What might be the problem(s) with this method?
The 10% Conversion Growth rate: Where the only criteria for church health is numerical growth, the 10% conversion growth rate is sometimes employed. The idea is that a healthy church should increase its adult attendance by 10% each year as the result of new professions of faith.
What might be the problem(s) with this method?
The formula of Gene Getz (The Measure of a Church, 1975): Getz insists that the simple, New Testament criteria for a healthy church are: Faith – Hope – Love
The process for getting to exemplary faith, hope and love, according to Getz, is found in Acts 2:42ff:
* Vital learning experiences with the Word of God
* Vital relational experiences with each other and God
* Vital witnessing experiences with the unsaved world
The formula of Dann Spader (Growing a Healthy Church; The Everyday Commission). The Great Commission is about: Winning the lost – Building up the believer – Equipping the worker – A healthy church balances winning, building and equipping
Spader’s research led to his conclusion that most of what is done by most evangelical congregations is for the purpose of building up the believer. The result of this imbalance is that churches endlessly educate believers beyond the level of their obedience, puffing them up with knowledge instead of actually building them up with love. People “sit, soak and sour” in congregations that major on the academic teaching of the Bible, because they are not being equipped and they are not winning the lost.
The five purposes of Rick Warren:
Worship
Evangelism
Discipleship
Ministry
Fellowship
The five general functions of Aubrey Malphurs (A New Kind of Church):
Teaching
Fellowship
Worship
Evangelism
Service
The Six Tasks (or pillars) of Chuck Lawless:
Exalt God through worship
Evangelize the world through proclamation and missions
Equip believers through teaching and mentoring
Edify others through ministry and service
Encounter God through prayer
Encourage one another through fellowship
The work of Jim Barber (Church consultant and president of the Christian Consulting Society) – Barber agrees with the six tasks (or Biblical pillars) of Chuck Lawless (above) and also speaks of six characteristics which are seen by observation (rather than derived from Scripture):
Resources – How is the church using its funds, building, equipment, etc.?
Onboarding – How well is this church assimilating new people?
Outreach – Is the church engaged in love-motivated ministry to the lost?
Leaders – Does the church train, equip and empower leaders?
Structure – Does the church have a structure which is conducive to disciple-making?
Strategy – Does the church have a clear, simple strategy for making disciples?
The eight quality characteristics of Christian Schwarz (Natural Church Development):
Empowering leadership
Gift-oriented ministry
Passionate spirituality
Functional structures
Inspiring worship services
Holistic small groups
Need-oriented evangelism
Loving relationships
The nine marks of Mark Dever
Expositional preaching
Biblical Theology
The gospel
A biblical understanding of conversion
A biblical understanding of evangelism
A biblical understanding of church membership
Biblical church discipline
A concern for discipleship and growth
Biblical church leadership
The ten leading indicators of a healthy church (Evangelical Free Church of America, 2003):
The centrality of God’s Word
Passionate spirituality
Fruitful evangelism
High-impact worship
Mission and vision driven
Leadership development
Church planting
Financial stewardship
Intentional disciple-making
Loving relationships
3. Here’s what you can do to measure your church’s health:
- Seek out secret seekers to visit your church and fill out forms regarding what they experience
- Do interviews with your church leaders and/or church members
- Talk through some of the above definitions and lists with your church’s leaders
- Look at your numbers and compare them to the 10% conversion growth rate
- Read books/attend seminars and compare your congregation to what you’re learning
- Use a written (or online) church health inventory – Examples would be the Natural Church Development Survey and the Lawless Group’s Church Healthy Survey, but there are many others. All of them include some questions which are more “cultural” than they are Biblical. Ask your District leadership for their recommendation.
- Bring in some trained, professional fresh eyes – Procure the services of a consultant to help you assess your church’s health.
