“Top Ten Leading Indicators” of a Healthy Church results

[Reg]

Here's the link to “Top Ten Leading Indicators” of a Healthy Church we ccntributed to....

http://www.christianrecovery.com/vb/showthread.php?p=29068#post29068

Finally got the time to summarize results. Thought you would all like to see what you came up with. 12 are listed here. I'm sure there are more.


“Top Ten Leading Indicators” of a Healthy Church

How about I start with the first one.

The leading pastor must be a servant/leader. He has to realize he has two ears and one mouth. Hint-hint.... Maybe should listen more than he talks. Must be a good listener.

Pastoral Love. The pastor should be the most humble person in the congregation and not trying to lord it over others. He should be more concerned about people's well-being than doctrine. The church is made of people although all of them are focused on God, and by his wishes also
focused on helping one another. Jesus was compassionate and merciful, not legalistic. He said that the sabbath was for man, not man for the sabbath. A church that has that perspective would be healthy in my opinion. It doesn't mean that doctrine is thrown out the window, but that it has healthy and wholesome doctrine.

Acceptance. Everyone is welcome for exactly who they are & what they think...it's not the church's job to change anybody, but to love and serve everybody

Edification of Church. Each person is encouraged to discern their gifts and then perfect and use their gifts.

Accountability. Leadership is shared.

Money is NOT the prime objective.

FREEDOM!!! To me that's the top leading indicator of a healthy church!

Compassionate. Just had another thought...another sign of a healthy church for me is compassion...the people are compassionate and care about the needs of others...(and not just the needs of the "pastor"! I include the "pastor" as one of the people...not above the rest and no double-standards!!!)

Humility / Humble. In an "ideal" healthy church, IMO, people don't put on "airs" of superiority, but accept and value all people.

Authenticity. I think that people don't like to deal with the messy imperfections of life, whether it's in ourselves or in others...so we have to cover-up and pretend. And that's what I see in most churches today...people come with their "church masks" on...everything is great and wonderful...but in reality their lives are falling apart. In that "ideal" healthy church, people
wouldn't have to cover up their struggles...

Christ-Like Example. Nobody/Church does not exist to "sell you" Jesus...but it exists to demonstrate Jesus.

Confidentiality/Privacy. I have another suggestion for "what constitutes a healthy church:" When you can have a private discussion with "pastor," just you and your spouse, on a Fridayevening, and then on Sunday morning, he does not "situate" his wife and adult daughter in the pew directly behind you so they can overhear whatever you say to your own family, if anything...

BTW, does anyone know a church like we have described? :confused:

[Voyager]

Here is a questionnaire to determine just how healthy your local church is. To find out how well your church ranks, answer "yes" or "no" to the following 12 questions:

Does your church tightly control the flow of information within its ranks?

Does your spiritual leader use public shaming as a method to gain the compliance of followers?

Is your spiritual leader intolerant of questions or critical inquiry?

Is your spiritual leader the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation?

Does your spiritual leader have unreasonable fears about the outside world such as evil conspiracies or persecutions?

Are you discouraged to associate with former members, being warned that they are "evil" or "defiling"?

Is leaving your group to join another church equal to leaving God?

Does the surrounding community view your church as a cult?

Does your spiritual leader consider it evil persecution when criticized or questioned?

Do the goals of your spiritual leader seem to supersede any personal goals or individual interests?

Do you fear being rebuked, shunned, or ignored for expressing a different opinion?

Do former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances?

If you answered "no" to all of the above 12 questions, your church is very healthy. If you answered "yes" to three or more, your church is showing signs of being unhealthy. If you answered "yes" to six or more, your church is very unhealthy. If you answered "yes" to eight or more, your church is more than likely a full-blown authoritarian cult.

[ex-shep]

The church I attend in Cleveland passes. We several members with mental illness. They are thriving part of the community The pastor is part of the church not the leader. The church has been exceptionally supportive when my wife went to the shelter.

The church is part of network of evangelical organization in Cleveland. It is one corner. It also networks with other churches in urban mission.

What I like is there is always something to do. There is always somebody to pitch to help.

It is a humble group in a building which has seen better days. I like it.

It is good the topic came up. It is hard after our groups to realize there are good churches and fellowships. The idea was certainly anathema when I came out of my groups. I have been cursed with some winners and blessed with some really neat churches. A couple were even Tammy's former group. Thanks for bring back the topic.

[Hope 98]

I believe the church I've been attending passes on both Reg's & Voyager's criteria.

There are things that are appropriately considered confidential but otherwise information is freely shared.

The pastor is definitely humble, one of the congregation, putting the needs of others often above his own desires. He lives in a modest house next to our current church building which will belong to another congregation in a few weeks.

In the course of the sale of the building, the incoming congregation has been treated as brothers & sisters in Christ, to the point of loaning them a sum of money at no interest because it seemed un-Christ-like to charge interest.

A number of members have left in the time we've been a part of the congregation and all have had the blessing of the pastor and leadership. It has sometimes been really hard for them to see that God indeed had put a call on the lives of those who left. In those cases, the leaders worked through their sense of disappointment and loss toward releasing them with an honest heart.

As we transfer ownership of the building and seek a new place to meet, we have given authority to Church Council to make decisions as necessary. We also have been shown that each person's opinion matters. The most beautiful thing is how everyone has expressed their opinion even when they're unhappy, uncomfortable or scared, and supported what they believed to be God's leading.

I feel very blessed to have found this place and to be a part of it.

[Siobhanne]

confidentiality- You can share something with your pastor and not worry about being the target of next thinly disguised sermon. The pastor won't use what you say to him privately to construct a "straw man" and shoot it down from the pulpit.

acceptance- Your pastor NEVER says, "If you don't like it here, then leave".

other churches -The pastor does not criticize other denominations or churches and does not critcize people who attend them. Healthy churches are not estranged from other churches in the area.



Siobhanne.

[Elisabeth]

confidentiality- You can share something with your pastor and not worry about being the target of next thinly disguised sermon. The pastor won't use what you say to him privately to construct a "straw man" and shoot it down from the pulpit.

acceptance- Your pastor NEVER says, "If you don't like it here, then leave".

other churches -The pastor does not criticize other denominations or churches and does not critcize people who attend them. Healthy churches are not estranged from other churches in the area.



Siobhanne.

Ooooh, I would hate it sooo much when I was the target of a sermon, or a lesson! :mad: :mad:

[Hope 98]

Ooooh, I would hate it sooo much when I was the target of a sermon, or a lesson! :mad: :mad:


I think it all has something to do with HOW a person's personal information is used in a sermon. I've recognized some of my own stories coming from the pulpit, but I've found them used in positive ways. I'm delighted because I feel like I have a little influence that way.

[Anna Marta]

Hope,

I am SO happy for you and that church. If only we weren't going to live over an hour from you, "in the near future"...

Hugs
AM

[mary]

Confidentiality/Privacy. I have another suggestion for "what constitutes a healthy church:" When you can have a private discussion with "pastor," just you and your spouse, on a Friday evening, and then on Sunday morning, he does not "situate" his wife and adult daughter in the pew directly behind you so they can overhear whatever you say to your own family, if anything...

BTW, does anyone know a church like we have described? :confused:

Aha, Reg! You took that one verbatim, blow-by-blow, from what was done to us!!!!

Our son and I communicated that Sunday morning with hand signals. Who knows what they thought we were doing?! :D

The last laugh, though, was mine, on pastor's wife. The nitwit probably had no idea that what we'd been talking about on Friday night was her husband's revolting and relentless harassment of me. Well, she was "used," too. He does terrible things even to his own family. (I hate when that happens...!) What a pyramid of losers that family and that congregation is. And I know there are other pyramids of losers that you all are/were as intimately acquainted with as I was with this one.

mary

[Hope 98]

Hope,

I am SO happy for you and that church. If only we weren't going to live over an hour from you, "in the near future"...

Hugs
AM


Hey - just move closer! :D

At least you could visit once in a while even an hour away!