by Micah Fries
These five simple questions can give you a quick, initial diagnosis of the health of your church.
1. Is the ratio of worship attenders to conversions/baptisms growing or declining? If the ratio of worship attenders to conversions/baptisms is growing higher—meaning, it is taking more members to reach someone new—your church may be unhealthy.
2. Is the percentage of worship attenders who also attend Sunday School/small groups growing or declining? In a healthy church, an increasingly higher percentage of attenders will be seeking community through your small group ministry.
3. Do you have a clear defined disciple-making strategy? And is the average worship attender familiar enough with the strategy to repeat it, if asked? Unhealthy churches lack clarity about their discipleship pathway, and the attenders in the church will struggle to identify it.
4. Are you multiplying leaders? Healthy churches multiply leaders. Unhealthy churches rest on the backs of one leader or only a small group of leaders.
5. Have you become an internally focused church? People are like cars out of alignment. Left to ourselves, we turn inward. Healthy churches intentionally point their people outside the church, to the lost.
MICAH FRIES (@MicahFries) is director of ministry development for Lifeway.
