Have You Taken Your (Church’s) Temperature Lately?

Bodybuilding: Congregational Wellness

by Rev. Alan Shaw

If you are a regular reader of the SED Church Worker Wellness blogs, you may recognize this title. I borrowed it from my church worker wellness blog in June. Since this is about congregational health, I wanted to offer some characteristics of a healthy church so you can take your church’s temperature. These characteristics are all taken from the book “Interim Ministry in Action” by Norman Bendroth. The book is intended for churches in transition (i.e. going through an extended vacancy or after a significant church conflict or perhaps after the retirement or death of a long-serving pastor) but they can also be a helpful way to check in before considering a trip to “urgent care”.

What do you think of when I say, “healthy church”? Maybe it’s the number of attendees or number of programs and bible studies you offer, but those are not measurements of health. Bendroth suggests healthy churches are: 1) “where people feel safe to be themselves without rejection, criticism, or pressure to conform”. My kids couldn’t be any more different from each other and the same is often true in our church families. Does your church welcome differences with appropriate boundaries, or are there attempts to blame, shame, or attack those with differing ideas and thoughts? 2) Transparent. Meeting minutes and finances are clear and accessible to anyone without using “secret meetings” in the parking lot. 3) People directly communicate with anyone they have an issue or concern, including the pastor, and only speak for themselves, not others. 4) People are not afraid of conflict. Conflict is not a bad thing but pretending it doesn’t exist or trying to get people in “your corner” are symptoms you should address sooner than later. 5) Forgiveness is freely given and received. 6) Emotional systems. Just as our bodies have interdependent systems, so do churches. When tension is introduced into the system, we tend to seek equilibrium, but sometimes we need to live with the tension and see where God leads. 7) Focus on strengths, not weaknesses. Don’t try and be something you’re not. 8) Stewardship is an ongoing process, not a once-a-year campaign. 9) The mission of loving God, sharing Christ, and ministering to people drives every church decision. 10) Act flexibly and creatively instead of a rigid reliance on by-laws and precedent. “New truths require new practices and that takes discernment”. 11) Practice hospitality by welcoming the stranger, newcomer, and outsider instead of favoritism to the likeminded. “People develop caring relationships and share their lives instead of each living for oneself”.

So, what’s your “temperature”? Are you healthy? Maybe a low-grade fever? Maybe it’s time to call “urgent care”. Just as in our personal wellness, it is not a weakness to ask for help and take care of ourselves. If you are questioning your church’s health, contact the congregational wellness team to learn more about the SIMPLE assessment and further “check your temperature”.

Rev Alan Shaw is an Assistant Pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Cary, NC and a part-time Transitional Interim Minister at Peace Lutheran Church in Goldsboro, NC.  He is a retired Army officer and serves as a resource for the SED and LCMS with Christian Conciliation training, workshops, and reconciliation cases. He can be reached at alan@restoringharmonyllc.com.