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Growing a Healthy Church - A High Calling
Growing a healthy church is a challenging task, but a high calling. A healthy church is a beacon of light in the community it serves. Growing a healthy church takes prayer, dedication, wisdom, humility, and most importantly, complete reliance on God's leading.
Growing a Healthy Church - A Few Suggestions
Through extensive research, we've developed a list of the ten characteristics of a healthy church that serve as a good starting point for growing a healthy church (click the link at the bottom of the page for more comprehensive information on these traits).
Certainly, these ten characteristics are not completely comprehensive, but should prompt a productive dialogue with your leadership team. As you approach the task of growing a healthy church, here are a few suggestions:
- Take the next 3-4 weeks to discuss each characteristic of church health with the key lay leaders of your congregation.
- Use the ten characteristics as the basis for a leadership retreat sometime within the next 3 months. Devote large blocks of time to prayerfully studying each characteristic before translating it into the context of your ministry.
- Urge the adults of your congregation to study the ten characteristics in small groups or in an adult class setting.
- Encourage the youth and children of your congregation to reflect with you on their experiences in each of the characteristics, and listen carefully to their recommendations for the future design of your church's ministry.
- Ask each major committee of your church to consider in-depth one of the characteristics that is most specifically applicable to their area of responsibility.
- Engage in a church wide assessment process to assimilate feedback on your church's strengths and weaknesses in each of these areas.
- Put together an evaluation team to analyze the results of the assessment process and implement new ideas and make needed adjustments. It's amazing what happens when we are guided by the Spirit, especially when he tells you how to proceed!
Learn more about growing a healthy church.
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