Signs of a healthy church

In my book The Healthy Small Church: Diagnosis and Treatment for the Big Issues I listed some of the signs of a healthy church. These include

• They have a positive self-image. They don't equate church size with church significance.
• The church shares a common vision that gives it a sense of purpose and unity.
• Although family ties are important, those who visit the church are warmly welcomed and affirmed.
• Church members understand the importance of faithful stewardship and financially support the ministry of the church.
• Ministry is understood to be the responsibility of all the members, not just the pastor and staff.
• People are encouraged to serve according to their spiritual gifts, not by their seniority in the church.

The reason I wrote that book is because I have seen unhealthy churches become healthy again, and I wanted to give churches and their leaders the tools to become healthier. Transforming an unhealthy church into a healthy one is never easy, but it's always worth the effort. It also doesn't happen quickly. As I've told many church leaders, your church did not become unhealthy overnight, and it won't become healthy overnight. Church health, like physical health, isn't permanent. If a person ignores symptoms of disease in the body they can become physically unhealthy very quickly. Likewise, if a church ignores symptoms  of disease it too can become unhealthy. The book was written to help churches diagnose various components of its ministry and structure to see if unhealthy habits were creeping in.

A healthy church will be a growing church. An unhealthy church can sometimes grow as well, but it will grow to become even more unhealthy. When an unhealthy church grows it becomes a hindrance to the Kingdom of God and can bring great harm to its members and to the community around it.

Church health is the responsibility of all the members of a church but especially that of its leaders. These leaders must be willing to ask the hard questions that determine just how healthy a church is and must be intentional about taking the necessary steps to bring healing to the church. Restoring health to a church often requires making significant changes to its structure and ministries, and these changes are seldom easy to make. It will require disciplined, intentional effort from the leaders to make these changes. As difficult as they might be to implement, it will be well worth it.

How would your church be different if all the qualities of a healthy church listed above were evident in your church? Does that sound like a church you would want to attend?