Healthy churches show common traits
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___GLORIETA, N.M.--Healthy churches are characterized by progressive intimacy with God, genuine relationships among members and compassionate mission and ministry, according to Texas Baptists' church-starting leader.
___E.B. Brooks, director of the Texas Baptist Church Starting Center, led a session titled "What it Takes to Have a Healthy Church" during the Texas Baptist Family Reunion at Glorieta, N.M.
___He drew his definition of a healthy church from recent work completed by a Baptist General Convention of Texas task force.
___While church growth focuses on numbers, church health does not, he explained. "Churches that are numerically growing oftentimes are healthy, but not always. They may be growing not because they're healthy but because there are a lot of people around looking for a church."
___Likewise, churches that aren't experiencing pace-setting growth may be healthy, he added.
___"Church health isn't measured by numbers," he said, drawing on physical health as an illustration. "If health were measured by numbers, we'd keep getting taller and broader until we died."
___Brooks outlined the various approaches to church health advocated by some of the nation's best-known authors, noting the differences between the approaches result mainly from geographical and social contexts.
___These authors' ideas contain large areas of agreement and overlap, he said, explaining that the BGCT has attempted to distill this larger body of advice into a simple list of characteristics of healthy churches:
___
God-centered worship. Healthy churches provide worship experiences that are biblically based, inspiring, dynamic, participatory and transforming, Brooks said. "Healthy churches help people have an encounter with God."
___ Loving relationships. These relationships are based on trust, acceptance, openness, honesty and respect, he said. "Relationships are not built in worship services" but in small groups such as Sunday School classes, Bible study groups and ministry groups.
___ Enabling servant leadership. Effective church leaders will focus on equipping the laity for mission and ministry, Brooks said. "The product of a good leader is another leader, not a bunch of followers."
___ Bible-based discipleship. "The focus of discipleship is not knowing more and more," he explained. "It is knowing and applying ... what God is doing."
___ God-focused vision. This must not be the pastor's alone, but must be shared by pastor and congregation, he advised.
___ Focused prayer. Healthy churches focus on prayer in a way that facilitates a dynamic relationship with God, Brooks said. This requires more than hearing prayer requests for all manner of physical ailments during a Wednesday night prayer meeting, he added. Instead, it requires a church and its members to become dependent upon God in prayer.
___ Intentional evangelism. The church has done a disservice by separating evangelism from the rest of church life, he asserted. Evangelism should permeate every ministry of the church and is "what we all do all the time."
___ Kingdom-based missions. The end-result of a healthy church's missions emphasis is reaching the community and the world for Christ, Brooks said.
___ Needs-based ministries. Healthy churches transform their communities by meeting physical, emotional and spiritual needs, he reported.
___ Joyous stewardship.
___ Participatory decision-making. Healthy churches focus on consensus building and are able to solve problems and deal with conflict, he said.
___Brooks acknowledged this is a daunting list. "No church is going to be strong in all 11 things. We have strengths and weaknesses."
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