March 11, 2002
EDITORIAL:
Now is the time to diagnose your church's health
___One of the best investments you can make is time spent in the doctor's office, receiving an annual check-up. A good doctor monitors your vital signs, compares tests to previous results, prescribes treatment and/or remedies before problems get out of hand, and affirms positive behavior.
___Likewise, churches do well to examine their health. A church is a living organism, much like a human body (so said the Apostle Paul). And like a body, a congregation needs to be studied to receive diagnosis, treatment and encouragement.
___Fortunately, the Baptist General Convention of Texas offers a thorough, easy-to-use analysis to help churches determine their health. Beyond that, like any good physician, the BGCT also offers an array of resources to help hurting churches get well and to strengthen healthy churches.
___The BGCT's church health and growth section has developed a ChurchLife Survey for the convention's congregations. The survey asks 72 questions that can help church leaders determine the overall health of their congregation.
___Obviously, not all churches are healthy. Among churches affiliated with the BGCT from 1995 to 2000, 48 percent were classified as declining, 39 percent were growing and 13 percent were plateaued, according to information gathered by Clay Price, the convention's research director. A declining church experienced loss of membership totaling 5 percent or more during a five-year span. A growing church saw a gain of 5 percent or more. And a plateaued church experienced less than a 5 percent gain or loss.
___Of course, numbers are not the only measure of church health. The BGCT's church health and growth section addresses the issue in a booklet titled "A Path Toward Church Health and Growth":
___"Healthy churches are growing, but not all growing churches are healthy. An emphasis on church health enables a congregation, regardless of size, location or ethnicity, to focus on its relationship with God, with one another as fellow members and with its community and the world. A church should not measure vitality simply by a net gain or loss in resident members, but in terms of growth in spiritual maturity, in biblical knowledge, in relational skills and in fulfilling its mission. These forms of church growth should not be to the exclusion of numerical increase where an opportunity to reach people for Christ exists."
___The ChurchLife Survey helps a congregation examine itself against 11 characteristics of a healthy church. The BGCT defines these as:
___"God-centered worship that is biblically based, inspiring, dynamic, participatory and transforming."
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___The ChurchLife Survey and healthy-church characteristics developed from a study that involved 7,200 Texas Baptist laypeople, pastors, directors of missions and members of convention boards and commissions.
___Their reflection and counsel led to a specific definition of a healthy church as one "characterized by a progressive intimacy with God, genuine relationships among its members and compassionate mission/ministry to its community and world."
___Fortunately, the BGCT's church health and growth section wasn't satisfied merely with diagnosis. Section staff members have allocated resources to help local churches customize the help they need to restore health and to build on their strengths.
___By visiting www.ChurchLifeResources.com on the Internet, church leaders and members will discover three ways to find fresh, new ideas for improving the health of their churches--a ChurchLife survey, a keyword search and an advanced user grid. All three paths will lead to BGCT resources specially designed for Texas Baptists. Some churches also have chosen to enter the ChurchLife Plus agreement, which arranges customized support and strategies for the church. It lines up resources from throughout the BGCT Executive Board staff to help the congregation strengthen itself in regard to each characteristic of a healthy church. It provides direct links to at least 21 offices that offer specific, customized resources to churches.
___The path to individual health often begins with the hardest step: You've got to pick up the phone and call your doctor. The path to church health is like that: Someone in your church--maybe even you--must initiate the process.
___You can visit the BGCT church health and growth section's website at www.ChurchLifeResources.com. Or call (866) 886-5824 or write to Church and Membership Resourcing Center, Baptist General Convention of Texas, 333 North Washington Ave., Dallas 75246-1798.
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___ —Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
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