Body Building: “How Healthy Is Your Church?”
This year, the Southeastern District introduced the SIMPLE Congregational Well-Being Assessment as a tool to help churches across our district take an honest look at their overall health and wellness as a ministry. Just as a physical check-up gives you insights into your body’s wellness, the SIMPLE assessment reveals how your congregation is doing in the six essential well-being dimensions of church life: Spiritual Vitality, Impact, Managing Emotions, Purpose, Life-Giving Relationships, and Engagement.
This isn’t about passing or failing. It’s about diagnosing, discerning, and designing a way forward to empower the wellness of our congregations here in the SED – because healthy churches build up the body of Christ for mission.
Here’s the reality of the Church today in the U.S.: studies suggest that only 10% of churches are considered healthy. That means about 90% may be dealing with significant wellness challenges. But here’s the good news: you’re not alone, and there’s a path forward. Based on patterns we’re seeing across our district, most congregations in that 90% fall into one of three categories of wellness need: Revision, Renewal, or Rebirth.
Let’s take a deeper look at each and how the SIMPLE tool can help identify where your congregation is, and what to do about it.
REVISION (Symptoms of Sickness – 40% of Churches)
Diagnosis: Maintenance → Strategic Growth
Key SIMPLE Indicators: Purpose | Impact | Engagement
Churches in need of revision are often stuck in “maintenance mode”, doing what they’ve always done, but seeing less and less fruit. You might hear, “We’ve always done it that way,” as the unofficial motto of these congregations. Worship attendance has declined, and ministries tend to cater to insiders rather than reaching the community. There’s likely no intentional disciple-making process and a clutter of unfocused programs.
What To Look For:
- Nostalgia-driven culture
- No clear vision for the future
- Programs for members only
- Slowed or declining growth
- Lack of engagement in mission outreach
How SIMPLE Helps:
The assessment will likely reveal lower scores in Purpose, Impact, and Engagement—pointing to the need to clarify your church’s “why,” “who,” and “how.”
Suggested Next Steps:
- Visioning & Strategic Planning workshops
- Finding Your Community Sweet Spot to rediscover your mission field
- Growing a Strengths-Based Church by leveraging God-given gifts in your people
RENEWAL (Very Sick – 40% of Churches)
Diagnosis: Preservation → Momentum Growth
Key SIMPLE Indicators: Four to Six—especially Spiritual Vitality, Impact, Managing Emotions, and Life-Giving Relationships
Congregations in the renewal phase are in more serious trouble. Over the past 10–20 years, numbers have dropped significantly, energy has waned, and many members feel like they’re just hanging on. The church may feel invisible in its community and disconnected from a sense of purpose. You may have difficulty attracting new members or keeping pastors.
What To Look For:
- Sharp numerical decline
- Long seasons of apathy or burnout
- “The good old days” were decades ago
- Few (if any) new members
- Minimal visibility in the community
How SIMPLE Helps:
Churches in need of renewal often score low across four to six dimensions of the assessment, signaling a widespread need for intervention. These results can be an awakening moment, helping the church confront reality and recommit to its calling.
Next Steps:
- Partner with a Renewal Consultant for hands-on guidance
- Use a multifaceted approach: leadership development, spiritual revitalization, outreach strategies, and healing relationships
- Reignite hope and momentum through focused prayer and renewal retreats
REBIRTH (Dying – 10% of Churches)
Diagnosis: Life Support → Relaunch
Key SIMPLE Indicators: All Six Dimensions Severely Impacted
Rebirth isn’t failure. It’s a grace-filled opportunity for resurrection. Churches at this stage are in crisis: finances and people are scarce, leadership is unstable, and members may be in denial about the gravity of the situation. They’re just trying to keep the lights on, with no clear path forward.
What To Look For:
- All symptoms from the Renewal phase, but worsened
- Ministries are entirely inward-focused
- Long pastoral vacancies
- Deep denial or grief over loss
- No missional presence in the community
How SIMPLE Helps:
For congregations in this phase, the assessment may confirm what many already sense but haven’t named: this ministry, as it is, cannot sustain itself. But that doesn’t mean the story is over.
Next Steps:
- Engage in a Legacy Conversation and discernment process
- Work closely with our Executive Director of Witness, Yared Halche
- Consider a Reboot or Re-Plant of the ministry with new vision, leadership, and structure
Where Do You Start?
If your congregation hasn’t taken the SIMPLE Congregational Well-Being Assessment yet, now is the time. It’s not about comparison – it’s about compassionate clarity, because you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Every congregation has a calling. But every church, like every person, needs a check-up from time to time.
Your next season of ministry depends on what you do with what you learn. So, reach out to Rev. Dr. Travis Guse, the SED Executive Director Of Wellness & Coaching, to schedule for your congregation to take the SIMPLE assessment. Name what’s real. And trust that the One who began a good work in you will carry it to completion. The Spirit is always ready to bring life, even in dry bones.