28 Jul 5 Characteristics of Healthy Churches

Over the last four years the subject of healthy churches has been sharp on my radar. I collected a file full of articles trying to describe the characteristics of a healthy church. I finally compiled all the ideas and want to share them with you.

This is not the result of a research project and is not verifiable in that sense. It is just observations I have gleaned from a number of sources.

So, what are the characteristics of a healthy church? I’ll give you the top 5:

1. Leadership was the top characteristic. (I lumped together a number of things pertaining to leadership under this heading.) This includes leadership in its many varieties–leadership that is biblical, empowering, proficient, fruitful, positive, Great Commission focused, has a God-focused vision, has integirity.
2. Outward-focused mission.
3. (tie)  Inspiring worship and discipleship/spiritual formation.
4. (tie) Relationships/belonging/assimilation and strong biblical focus.
5. In touch with God/prayer/God-empowering presence.

I don’t know that I would have put them in exactly that same order, but I do agree that they are probably the most significant. One that didn’t make the top 5 or so was the functional structure component, which I believe is also very important.

22 Jul 20 Very Happy Years

Today, Pam and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary. Neither of us are anywhere near the United Brethren office. In fact, I wrote this a couple days ago. You don’t think I’m working on my 20th anniversary, do you?

We met at New Hope UB church in Huntington, Ind., when Pam was a student at Huntington University (I graduated in 1979, she in 1984). We were married at Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, just six months after we began attending there. It was the first wedding Denny Miller performed after he became Emmanuel’s pastor. In 1998, we were part of the core group which went out from Emmanuel to “restart” what is now Anchor Community Church. The core group met for the first time in our home.

Dr. DeWitt Baker, former president of Huntington U, used to delight in all the couples who met while in college. I don’t know if Pam and I count, since our college years didn’t overlap, but I suspect Dr. Baker would have claimed us.

Pam and I dated for five years before I realized that my Mom was right when she told me, “You’re in love and you don’t know it.” Anyway, it’s been a wonderful 20 years, and it went faster than I thought it would. I imagine 30 will be here before I know it. But I’m anticipating a lot more than 30.

20 Jul Learning to Lead

My earlier experiences in ministry were not positive. It was okay, and we saw some good things happen, but I struggled a bit. I don’t know why.

My first church, in 1964, was a part-time church near Willshire, Ohio, when I was a student pastor. I was elected to this job in 2005. During those 40 years, I cannot recall a time when I ever called a superintendent or bishop because I had a problem in the church. There were probably times when I should have, and I was too dumb to know I should.When we pastored the UB church in Sacramento, Calif., it took me a number of years before things started to happen, and that’s about the time I left to spend four years at the national office.

When I spent 13 years with Scripture Press. That’s where I got the other side of my ministerial training. I had the Bible and theology and all that stuff, but I didn’t have a clue how to lead. I kept causing problems. There was friction.

Scripture Press invested in men and trained me in leading. They put me in a position where I had to lead to be successful. Without that 13 years, I don’t think I would have been successful at Mainstreet. And without those 12 years at Mainstreet, I wouldn’t have known which end of the tool to pick up as bishop.

In addition, at Scripture Press I had the chance to see churches of other denominations. I was in a wide span of theological perspectives, and saw there was a whole other world beyond the United Brethren church. I saw what was working for churches in other groups.

If I had gone straight from the national office to Mainstreet or any other church, I don’t think I would have been all that successful. So I thank God for those years at Scripture Press and what they taught me about leadership.

17 Jul Our Task Over the Past Four Years

Ron: The majority of our churches have very fine people–good hearts, good intentions. But somewhere we lost the zeal and vision to do anything ourselves, to reach lost people and plant new churches, and have that be a regular part of who we are in our churches. Part of me says that if reproduction isn’t taking place, the body is unhealthy. So we have lots of good people, but basically they are unhealthy. So I believed my task was to be a Johnny One-Note to get our churches focused on outreach again.

I think that, for the most part, it has been fairly well received, at least emotionally. But then comes the volitional step–doing something about it. And I think that’s where we are. Churches will tell you they want to grow and change, but when you tell them what that involves, “No, we don’t want to do that.”

Pat: We have emphasized that we’re here to serve you, not to keep the denomination going. Wherever we went, our influence and reception was based more on relationship than on position. In the past, when the bishop visited a church, that was a big deal. But not anymore. There is a deep respect for this office, but not an obvious respect. For us, it wasn’t about our office but about honestly trying to help churches.

Attitudinally, we know we both have come across kind of loud and straightforward.  We don’t mean to be loud, but that is how we come across.  At the same time, we have sought to show honest caring for people while challenging them in a straightforward manner with the truth of the Scriptures.