Churches, as we know, are much more than institutions with programs, ministries, budgets and events. According to the Bible they are living organisms, part of the larger "body" of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). Like our own bodies, they can be healthy, fit and ready for service, or they can be unhealthy, weak and unfit for service. Healthy churches are growing churches, but numerical, financial or institutional growth does not necessarily equate to health. Is your church healthy?

What we see is really what we see! If I see in the figure on the left a vase, it is a vase to me. If, instead, I see two faces then that is where I focus. You see your church from a certain focus, or point of view, with your background, assumptions, hopes and maybe fears. On the other hand, visitors might see your church from another point of view. Their focus is often different than yours. It is not that one is right and the other is wrong. Healthy churches learn how to see their church from God's point of view and from the point of view of others. Healthy churches refuse to demand a certain way of seeing, just because that is the way with which they are familiar.

This organizational bell curve represents the health timeline of a local church. Every church begins with a few people with a dream that is framed within a certain set of beliefs. Goals, written or unwritten, are formulated, structures are put in place and ministry results. However, many churches are unaware that, like any living organism, this ministry cycle can degenerate into nostalgia ("I remember the good old days!"), or even questioning ("Why don't the leaders do things the way Pastor So-and-So did?" "Why this change?"). If they are not careful, this questioning can become divisive, with factions forming and polarization taking place. The body is no longer healthy, and it can even "drop out " of meaningful ministry. Where is your church on the lifecycle curve? Consultants talk about "intervention points" happening before nostalgia, or worse, sets into a congregation. Is it time for you to take a health diagnostic of your church?! © Carl Shank Consulting, 2009. All rights reserved.

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