{"id":21750,"date":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/1997\/07\/01\/church-health\/"},"modified":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","slug":"church-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/church-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Church Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

We often ask readers, “What topic could Leadership<\/em> devote an issue to that would help you in your ministry?” Recently, the overwhelming response has been: “Church health.” We liked the idea and searched for answers to two foundational questions:<\/p>

WHAT IS CHURCH HEALTH?<\/h2>

(Understanding It)Comprehensive Health Plan (p. 22)<\/a> Rick Warren writes in The Purpose-Driven Church<\/em> that “the key issue for churches in the twenty-first century is church health, not church growth.” We asked Warren, pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Southern California, probing questions about the signs of a healthy church and healthy pastor.<\/p>

What Does a Healthy Church Look Like? (p. 34)<\/a> We put this question to a variety of pastors and also scoured published works on the subject. The result: not one answer, but ten.<\/p>

Is Your Church Fiscally Fit? (p. 57)<\/a> We’d never read a practical, simple answer to this question—until this one from Leadership contributing editor Jim Berkley.<\/p>

HOW CAN MY CHURCH BECOME MORE HEALTHY?<\/h2>

(Developing It)Outbreak! (p. 46)<\/a> How can you stop a virus from spreading in your church? Peter Steinke, a Lutheran minister and counselor, uses systems thinking to explain how a church can become sick—and well again.<\/p>

Traditional vs. Contemporary (p. 50)<\/a> A Leadership case study of how a church had to rediscover its identity when styles of worship began to compete.<\/p>

Shading the Truth? (p. 30)<\/a> Subtle ways dishonesty may linger in a church, and how to overcome them.<\/p>

Evangelism for the Ordinary Church (p. 43)<\/a> Just because your people don’t like to evangelize doesn’t mean they can’t share their faith.<\/p>

1997 by the author or Christianity Today\/Leadership<\/em> Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or contact us<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We often ask readers, “What topic could Leadership devote an issue to that would help you in your ministry?” Recently, the overwhelming response has been: “Church health.” We liked the idea and searched for answers to two foundational questions:WHAT IS CHURCH HEALTH? (Understanding It)Comprehensive Health Plan (p. 22) Rick Warren writes in The Purpose-Driven Church Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[160],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[653,156,656],"tax_ctp_tags":[3557,3609,3610,3645,4033,4708,5226,5242],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-21750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_publications-1997-leadership-journal","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_publications-summer_1997-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-change","tax_ctp_tags-church-growth","tax_ctp_tags-church-health","tax_ctp_tags-community-impact","tax_ctp_tags-future","tax_ctp_tags-priorities","tax_ctp_tags-values","tax_ctp_tags-vision"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nChurch Health - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We often ask readers, "What topic could Leadership devote an issue to that would help you in your ministry?" 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