A Healthy Church?
How do you know when a church is healthy? What do you measure when assessing church health? These questions have driven many to write books and blog posts. These questions have spurred the creation of seminars and conferences. So why add to the already well developed conversation? Well, here at Restor(y) we approach these questions from both a theological and a psychological understanding. Due to our work in the field of trauma, we have a unique perspective not only on what makes a church healthy, but also what can restore a church to health. It is this perspective that we want to share with you, and it is one that we hope will give you new eyes as you seek to assess the health of your own faith community.
Here at Restor(y) we believe healthy churches are those that embody the mind of Christ in their relationships. We believe that to properly assess the health of a church, one needs to look at the in-between space of relationships. We place an emphasis on relationships because we recognize that when trauma strikes a faith community, it will be the health of that community’s relationships that determines how well it moves through such trauma. We also fully believe that scripture calls the church to care deeply about relationships. In both his letter to the church in Philippi and his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul makes this clear. The church is to be marked by love above all else and is to have the same mind that was in Christ as they relate to one another. So, how can we seek to look to this relational in-between space for indicators of health? We want to share three ways and hope this provides you with a starting place as you seek to answer the question, ”Is our church healthy?”
Relational Discipleship: The Barna Research Group released a study that shared that 56% of Christians believe their spiritual lives are entirely private (Lopez, 2022). This, combined with popular descriptions of discipleship that emphasize a passing of knowledge from one individual to another, is highly problematic. Healthy churches reject such individualistic approaches to discipleship recognizing what Anglican priest and founder of Methodism John Wesley declared, “there is no holiness without social holiness.” People are not transformed apart from one another. Rather discipleship cannot be boiled down to a transfer of information from one person to the masses such as through preaching and teaching, or an attempt to give individuals more factual knowledge, rather it is the process of individuals living life together in relationships that are marked by healthy attachment (Hendricks & Wilder, 2020, p. 85). This relational approach to discipleship makes way for health to enter a church.
Relational Worship: Regardless of a church’s worship style, all congregations have liturgy. Liturgy can be defined as, “fundamentally about human rituals that help give meaning to human relationship with one another and with the world” (Tran, 2017, p. 72). Recognizing this communal nature of liturgy reminds faith communities that worship too is communal. Worship seeks to provide congregations with ways to honor and encounter God together. This can be done in many ways, most common is communal singing, a powerful way to seek to glorify God through words, and in some traditions even full body movement. Healthy churches will resist making musical worship about individuals and will work to maintain a relational worship space. This is particularly important for paving the way to our third indicator of church health.
Relational Response to Suffering: In the work we do at Restor(y) this is often the key indicator of church health we are assessing. How does a church respond to suffering? Particularly, can they lament? Scripture teaches us to mourn with those who mourn. Healthy churches know the value in doing that well. These churches can enter into pain being experienced, recognize it, and join their voices together in expressing the complaint that this is not as it should be. As they voice such a complaint, they simultaneously acknowledge that newness is coming, that God is doing something new. As their voices grow in strength and as their bodies join their voices in action, they begin to engage in the new work God is doing. This is a sign of a healthy church.
We recognize that this is not an exhaustive list of characteristics certain traditions may claim as essential indicators of church health. Still, we believe that starting by looking at the in-between space not only gives us a strong indicator of the health of a church, but also provides us with a starting place for walking churches who have suffered towards healing. We pray that as you think through the relationships in your church, you would be encouraged to name how the mind of Christ is being embodied. Do your discipleship, worship, and responses to suffering imitate the mind of Christ who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but humbled himself? If they do, you can be sure you are on the road to health and it is beautiful.
