On Being A Healthy Church

Some thoughts prepared by (The) Reverend Brian Gibbs

Surely members of Christian faith communities would desire that they are a part of a Spiritually authentic, vital and vibrant fellowship. It is important to have a sense that we are part of a movement that is doing good things for God and that in our harmony, commitment, obedience and faithfulness, God is able to bless our good works. That as opposed to being part of a fellowship that is disunified, argumentative, listless and labouring under an almost inescapable air of morbidity

Sadly the world-wide church is disunified and argumentative. Our disunity is a disgrace and none of us can be self-righteously above this matter. We must all accept responsibility for the separation in the church. All divisions of the church contribute to the ungodly spectacle of the church in disunity, disharmony and even enmity. But that we could all fully surrender to God’s spirit of healing and wholeness, share bread at His table, celebrate that which we hold in common and honour that which is part of the rich and wholesome diversity of human nature. The church does not need to be monochrome, nor should it be segmented.

The Anglican Church is not immune to these issues. We are part of a disunified world-wide church and we must accept our role in this disunity whilst acknowledging the legitimacy of diversity. As a Christian denomination we also know internal disunity and experience criticism both from within and beyond our own fellowship. Of course some of the criticism is warranted and timely and as mature communities we need to listen to our critics wisely.

Notwithstanding sustained criticism can distract us from our core business (mission and ministry in the name of our Lord), dissipate our energies, seed unjustified uncertainties, promote disunity and undermine any sense of our worthiness in the sight of God. Healthily we should be prepared to ask questions such as the following 

1. Are our choices, behaviours and ways true to our identity as disciples of Jesus. Are we acting or responding in the abiding context of commitment to Jesus or is some prior agenda at work?

2. Are we maintaining a disciplined life of prayer and worship (centering upon God) and a constant attentiveness to the will of God?

3. Are we clear as to who we are as part of God’s church? Why do we do things the way we do? Are we prepared for self-examination? Are we open to change if we cannot conscientiously reconcile what we are doing with the ways and will of God, as revealed in Scripture, the discernment of God’s dynamic Spirit and the shared wisdom and experience of God’s Spirit-led Church?

4. Do we ensure that whatever we do in God’s name and in His service we do as well as possible? If we give unto God’s glory is it our sacrificial best, whatever that may be?

5. Are we a healthy church? (…by their fruits so they shall be known!)

Are We a Healthy Church ?

‘The Healthy Churches’ Handbook’, is one of a number of studies recently generated from within the Church of England. This text is written by Robert Warren, published by Church House Publishing (London, 2004), and sub-titled …

‘…a process for revitalizing your church.’

It is instructive to note in his preliminary remarks that the author, Robert Warren, draws a distinction between the term ‘growing church’ and ‘healthy church’. He writes …

…“The normal understanding of the words ‘grow’ and ‘growth’ in connection with the life of the church is in terms of numerical growth. However, in the phrase growing healthy churches, ‘growing’ describes our task of nurturing the life of the church as in growing a healthy rose bud.

When it comes to the use of the words ‘health’ and ‘healthy’, we must recognize that we live in a culture that has an unhealthy attitude to health. Our culture sees health as a right that should be ours. It is thought of in terms of freedom from pain and – often - freedom from the ageing process. So to be healthy is thought to be synonymous with being fit, good looking, young and fully in control of our mental faculties.

The particular way in which health is understood in this book is as a translation of the biblical concept of salvation, namely wholeness, balance and harmony with God and all creation. Christ frequently said to people whom he healed, ‘Your faith has saved you’. This is variously translated ‘made you well’, or ‘made you whole’. 

So a healthy church is one that has been touched and energized by the presence of God so that it reflects something of the Good News of the wholeness made possible through the knowledge of God as revealed in Christ, by the Holy Spirit.”

[‘The Healthy Churches’ Handbook’ – op cit p15.]

Warren’s book is the outcome of a research project which began in the Diocese of Durham in England. That project had its origins in the simple observation that a number of parishes in the Diocese were growing, contrarily to the more general downward trends. Of 260 churches in the Diocese, 25 had grown by over 16 percent over the five years of a survey period. This statistic is the more notable given that other churches were experiencing an average 16 percent decline, eventually a 32 percent variance. Such statistics beg the question … why are these relatively few churches growing when the general picture is one of decline? Initially researchers looked for the obvious possible causal factors. Warren writes … were they all the larger churches? Were they all charismatic / evangelical ‘church growth’ enthusiasts? Were they all the comfortable middle-class churches in the leafy suburbs? Were they the parishes generously funded by [vicarious Diocesan means]? Were they all churches led by the youngest, most visionary, enthusiastic and able clergy? 

The answer was ‘no’ in every case…

As a result of the research project, Warren and others developed some criteria that they believe to be descriptive of healthy faith communities. Subsequently the identified the following marks …

Mark 1: energized by faith rather than just keeping things going or trying to survive.

Mark 2: outward looking focus with ‘whole life’ rather than church life concerns

Mark 3: seeks to find out what God wants discerning the Spirit’s leading rather thantrying to please everyone

Mark 4: faces the cost of change and growth rather than resisting change and fearing failure.

Mark 5: operates as a community rather than functioning as a club or religious organization.

Mark 6: makes room for all being inclusive rather exclusive.

Mark 7: does a few things and does them well, focused rather than frenetic.

Robert Warren summarizes the project that generated the 7 Marks of a Healthy Church thus … 

‘At the heart of this whole project has been the conviction and prayer that the Church of Jesus Christ might be just that: a church that gives expression to the life of Christ in all that it is and does. This is the prayer and vision that have sustained and undergirded all that has been done [in the project]. This book is offered with the same prayerful desire of the apostle Paul when he expressed his vision for the church as leading to the time when:‘… all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.’ [p9]

Church Growth and the Type of Church

As quoted above, Robert Warren observes that the factors that are operative in and contribute to a healthy church were not those which might ordinarily be expected. It is not necessarily significant, for example, that a church is Evangelical or Anglo-Catholic; whether large or small; whether led by a younger person or older. As to the matter of churchmanship, Warren’s observations resonate with material in another recent study under the auspices of the Church of England. The text ‘Hope for the Church, contemporary strategies for growth’ is written by Bob Jackson, Research Missioner for Springboard – The Archbishops’ Evangelism Initiative. In chapter five, headed ‘Why should the future be any different?’, Jackson discusses church growth and decline according to churchmanship. He writes…‘Some traditions have been doing better than others. If ‘adopting good practices for growth’ is a euphemism for becoming charismatic-evangelicals, many Anglicans will have a problem. We can’t behave like they behave or believe exactly what they believe. Real hope only comes from the possibility of growth within traditions’.

AND SO …

The recent thoughts and experiences of some in the Church of England surely give us realistic hope and some solid foundations for our own prayerful, Spirit led responses to God’s call upon our parishes. Our identity is the Body of Christ; our destiny is unity and wholeness as known in the fullness of the stature of Christ. Interestingly these thoughts also resonate with some material written by American Rick Warren. To follow are some thoughts from his text. Many thanks to Margaret Johnson from St Paul’s who prepared this summary.

FELLOWSHIP

What is Fellowship? According to Rick Warren in his book ‘The Purpose Driven Life’, (Zondervan: 2002), fellowship is defined as people sharing experiences, being sympathetic to each other, bearing each other’s burdens, being genuinely caring about others, sharing hurts, revealing feelings, confessing failures, disclosing doubts and asking for help and prayer. Life is meant to be shared and we can best do this with genuine, heart-to-heart, sometimes gut-level sharing.

In real fellowship people experience authenticity. Authentic fellowship is not superficial, surface-level chit-chat. It happens when people get honest about who they are and what is happening in their lives. Authenticity is the exact opposite of what you find in some churches. Instead of an atmosphere of honesty and humility, there is pretending, role-playing, politicking, and superficial politeness but shallow conversation. People wear masks, kept their guard up, and act as if everything is rosy in their lives. These attitudes are the death of real fellowship.

It is only as we become open about our lives that we experience real fellowship. The Bible says,” If we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves.” ( 1 Jn 1:7-8 ).The world thinks intimacy occurs in the dark, but God says it happens in the light. Darkness is used to hide our hurts, faults, fears, failures, and flaws. But in the light, we bring them all out into the open and admit who we really are.

Of course, being authentic requires both courage and humility. It means facing our fear of exposure, rejection and being hurt again. Why would anyone take such a risk? Because it is the only way to grow spiritually and be emotionally healthy. The Bible says “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.” (James 5:16a). We only grow by taking risks, and the most difficult risk of all is to be honest with ourselves and with others.

In real fellowship people experience mutuality. Mutuality is the art of giving and receiving. It’s depending on each other. The Bible says, “The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part.” (1Cor.12:25).Mutuality is the heart of fellowship: building reciprocal relationships, sharing responsibilities, and helping each other. Paul said, “I want us to help each other with the faith we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you.”(Rom. 1:12). All of us are more consistent in our faith when others walk with us and encourage us. The Bible commands mutual accountability, mutual encouragement, mutual serving, and mutual honouring. You are not responsible for everyone in the Body of Christ, but you are responsible to them. God expects you to do whatever you can to help them.

In real fellowship people experience sympathy. Sympathy is not giving advice or offering quick, cosmetic help; sympathy is entering in and sharing the pain of others. Sympathy says, “I understand what you’re going through, and what you feel is neither strange nor crazy.” Today some call this “empathy”, but the biblical word is “sympathy”. Sympathy meets two fundamental human needs: the need to be understood and the need to have your feelings validated. Every time you understand and affirm someone’s feelings, you build fellowship.

There are different levels of fellowship, and each is appropriate at different times. The simplest levels of fellowship are the fellowship of sharing and the fellowship of studying God’s Word together. A deeper level is the fellowship of serving, as when we minister together on mission trips or mercy projects. The deepest, most intense level is the fellowship of suffering, where we enter into each other’s pain and grief and carry each others’ burdens. Christians who understand this level best are those around the world who are being persecuted, despised and often martyred for their faith.

In real fellowship people experience mercy. Fellowship is a place of grace, where mistakes aren’t rubbed in but rubbed out. Fellowship wins out when mercy wins over justice. We all need mercy, because we all stumble and fall and require help getting back on track. We need to offer mercy to each other and be willing to receive if from each other. God says, “When people sin, you should forgive and comfort them, so they won’t give up in despair.” (2 Cor. 2:7). You can’t have fellowship without forgiveness, because bitterness and resentment always destroy fellowship. Because we’re imperfect, sinful people, we inevitably hurt each other when we’re together for a long enough time. Sometimes we hurt each other intentionally and sometimes unintentionally, but whichever way, it takes massive amounts of mercy and grace to create and maintain fellowship.

God’s mercy to us is the motivation for showing mercy to others. Remember, you will never be asked to forgive someone else more than God has already forgiven you. Whenever you are hurt by someone, you have a choice to make: Will I use my energy and emotions for retaliation or for resolution? You can’t do both. 

[Our energies should be directed to and committed to real fellowship.] It is an essential part of your Christian life that you cannot overlook. For over 2,000 years Christians have regularly gathered in small groups for fellowship.

Remember the story of the man who decided that he didn’t have to go to church, he had his Bible to read and he prayed to God. One day the local minister came to visit and the two sat in companionable silence in front of a glowing coal fire. After awhile, the minister leaned forward and picked up a coal with the tongs and put it to one side. Slowly the coal began to lose its glow and become darker and darker. Before it was quite extinguished, the minister leaned forward and placed the coal back in the centre of the fire where it began to regain its colour and warmth. The man told the minister he would be back in church the next week. THAT is fellowship.”

“…a healthy church is one that has been touched and energized by the presence of God so that it reflects something of the Good News of the wholeness made possible through the knowledge of God as revealed in Christ, by the Holy Spirit.”

[‘The Healthy Churches’ Handbook’ – op cit p15.]