Church Health

This is a great blog post about church health.  You can find it and many others at www.thomrainer.com. 

By Chuck Lawless

In the 1990s, Peter Wagner published The Healthy Church, a book describing several diseases that churches sometimes exhibit. Some of his descriptions are quite helpful (e.g., koinonitis = excessive, inward fellowship), and the list itself challenges readers to come up with their own descriptions.

Here are ten diseases I see as I consult with unhealthy churches around the country:

1.            Community Disconnect Disease. Churches with this disease meet within a given community, but they do not know that community. Often, church members drive to the church building, meet as “church,” and then drive home—without ever taking note of a changing community around them. In fact, I’ve seen church members with this disease lock their doors as they drive through the community where their congregation gathers.

2.            Methodological Arthritis. I give credit to my former student, Kevin Minchey, for naming this condition. The name says it all: this church is stuck in doing things the way they’ve always done them. Change (that is, movement) is painful, and it’s seemingly easier not to take a step forward. What these churches often don’t recognize is that standing still is also risky. Eventually, they will not move at all.

3.            The “Grass is Greener” Syndrome. This syndrome is a malady of leaders who are always looking for the next church leadership position. They establish no roots, and their current congregation is only a stepping-stone to the next place. Because they are always looking elsewhere, they miss the present tense blessings of their ministry. And, though leaders think otherwise, a church often recognizes when its leader has this syndrome.

4.            Professional Wrestling Sickness. I grew up watching professional wrestling (with my Church of God grandma, no less). Professional wrestling is hero vs. villain, right vs. wrong, good vs. evil—but it’s all fake. The church with PWS talks a good game in standing for righteousness, but hypocrisy is everywhere. And, as in professional wrestling, most spectators watching the show know it’s fake, too.

5.            Program Nausea. Churches with Program Nausea try a program, toss it soon, and then quickly try the next one. They never have a settled “organizational stomach” and direction. Members of this kind of diseased church are so accustomed to change that they seldom invest in any program. Why should they invest in what will soon be spit out, too?

6.            Baby Believer Malady. This congregation is doing evangelism well, but they have no strategy to grow new believers. Their unwritten, and wrong, assumption is, “As long as you show up for our small groups and worship service, you’ll grow.”  This church disciples poorly and often elevates leaders on the basis of attendance rather than spiritual maturity.

7.            Theological Self-Deception Ailment. I am cautious here, lest I leave the impression that theology does not matter. No church with an unbiblical theology can be healthy. TSDA, on the other hand, is characterized by a belief that teaching theology is all that is required to be a healthy church. Teaching theology is critical, but a theology that does not lead to intentional evangelism, disciplemaking, and global missions is not biblical. Indeed, TSDA congregations tend to be classrooms more than New Testament churches.

8.            “Unrecoverable Void” Syndrome.  Church leaders and laypersons alike suffer from this syndrome, characterized by statements like, “This church will close its doors after I’m gone.” Symptoms include spiritual arrogance and self-righteous anger, though they may also include hyper-spiritual speech  (“This is God’s church, and we’ll see what He does when I shake the dust off my feet”). Church members with UVS fail to realize that God’s church will go on without any of us.

9.              Talking in Your Sleep Disease. You may recognize this church. They go through the motions, but the motions lack energy. They meet for worship, yet the singing is lifeless. Even the preaching is lackluster, as if the speaker is monotonously only meeting his obligation. Here is one way to recognize the church with TIYSD: many of the attenders really ARE sleeping!

10.        Congregational Myopia. The congregation with this condition is nearsighted, focusing on themselves only. They have no vision for the future, and they fail to see that their current direction will likely lead to further disease and decline. Ask the leaders what their hope is for the church five years from now, and their description will sound strangely like the church in its current state.

What's A Core Group?

I am one blessed pastor. I work alongside three pastors who are passionate about Jesus. In fact, I would say that they are obsessed with Jesus. Each one brings unique gifts to the team. Kirk Stewart's passion is discipleship. He loves to see life-change in Jesus Christ through the process of discipleship. He understands that discipleship is not a program, but a life-long process of transformation. He has spent hours studying ways to help people grow in their relationship with the Lord. Below, is an explanation of our new core groups on Sunday Morning. "As you may know we have incorporated a Core Group into the 9am Life Group hour here at FSBC! This is a place where you can call your home Life Group and if you would like to take a Semester-Based group, you can leave your Core Group for a few weeks, take the course and return when its complete. Click here for a video explanation of Core Groups! That said, our sign-ups are underway for this upcoming semester that starts September 8! It's not just Sunday morning groups, it's Tuesday morning ladies' study, Thursday night men's and women's studies, etc! Check it out and sign up ASAP! We need to know you are coming so we can reserve your spot and have your materials purchased! Click here for information or to sign up for our new semester! Discipleship is a life-long commitment. I encourage you to take it seriously! God has a tremendous plan for your life. Discipleship is the way to uncover that plan and find out more about who God is and how to apply that knowledge to your life! Don't miss out!!"

LifeChange in Jesus Christ

Real Life Poise

The Real Good Life Modern Service at FSBC

Constructive Criticism: The Proliferation of Verbiage

I appreciate constructive criticism, especially when it is well thought out. Enjoy!

Brother Patrick,

I hope this correspondence finds you doing well today. I am writing because I desire to follow where I am led by the spirit (though I would find it easier to not do this ☺). I hope that as you read this you will view this positively as constructive feedback. If you are not in the mood or mindset to deal with this by all means toss it away. This is not intended to make you feel bad.

First the good stuff: You have a wife that supports you passionately and children that look up to you. That is a good indication that you are truly a good man and not just putting on a show. I know you are proud of them.

You have excellent speaking qualities, specifically you have good tonal quality (I’ve always wanted to sound like James Earl Jones myself but alas it is not so ☺) which means you are easy to hear, you have good pronunciation, enunciation and inflection and you articulate well. Feel good about this as well, not all public speakers have these qualities. In your sermons you also have good points with a clear understanding of those points you want to drive home.

Now for the constructive feedback... Patrick you seem to have a proliferation of verbiage surrounding those good points you want to drive home resulting in an excess of supporting conversation. Please let me say this is not a complaint of time or duration (though this can sometimes be received back as time complaints). And I know you have sometimes joked about your sermon lengths in a self-deprecating way (There is always some truth in humor and it is good to laugh at ourselves sometimes).

Let me put it this way, think about your sermon as a cake, the meat of the sermon are the key points and your supporting conversation is the icing. You have really good cake ☺. I believe you have really thick icing. While some folks love the icing, too much tends to hide the cake itself. The cake is what you want them to remember.

Scientifically it is known that people process only a set amount of incoming information in a given time period. If you want them to remember the meat of the subject try not to overwhelm them with supplemental extraneous speech to process least they remember the icing and not the cake. An alternative response is seen as a person becoming bored or inattentive if they already get the point which runs the risk of them not being pulled back in when you get back on point leaving them saying later now what did he say ☺.

A good historical example of this is the Gettysburg address. The main speaker was Edward Everett who spoke eloquently for 2 hrs, Lincoln spoke for only 2 minutes, we remember everything of what Lincoln said but nothing of what Everett said. I want people to remember your words.

That is it, like I said to begin with, feel free to react to this in any way you deem fit. If I am truly being led by the Lord you will react appropriately. Now if you do act on this it will takes weeks, more probably months and potentially years for you to realize the far-reaching effects. I pray that God gives you the patience that I sometimes don’t have.

Patrick, I love you as a brother and (since I have a real brother in the ministry) I know that the leadership role you have taken on is extremely taxing at times and I respect you immensely for taking on this role. Please continue to do good and know you are making a difference.

Life Group Semester Begins June 9

We are in our break from the Spring semester to the Summer semester. If you are attending our 10:30 worship service, we invite you to join us for some open groups that will be meeting in the Red Building at 9:00. Join us! June 9 begins our new semester! I'm really excited about what God is going to do in our adult Life Groups over the summer! We have a variety of courses to choose from. Some on Sundays at 9:00am and others throughout the week! Studies include the basics of church, the books study of Zephaniah, marriage study, time management, dealing with finding freedom in your life and others. We have groups for ladies, men, couples and groups for anyone/everyone! It's a short, 9-week semester. Please click here to see all of the courses offered and to sign up! You can also sign up through that page as well! Our 10:30 courses are not listed and signups are not required. Sunday morning you'll also get a print out of our course offerings. You can sign up then by completing the perforated section and putting it in the offering plate or getting it to your Life Group leader. Each week of our break, you'll see a new testimonial of what God is doing in our Life Groups. Click here to view last weeks'! This is a great time for you to get involved!