Exploring the systemic health of churches is a relatively new field. (By “systemic health” I mean how a church body (as a whole) has functioned on a spiritual and relational level historically.) We at Blessing Point Ministries have been tilling this soil for the past twenty years – out of the limelight. While twenty years seems like a long time, it is but the length of a sneeze in the history of humankind. There is likely much more to learn in the field of systemic corporate health. We certainly don’t have all the answers. But what we’ve learned so far is that diagnosing a church’s health can be tricky. Here are three reasons why and some helpful tips.
Not all diseases in a church “body” are fully understood.
Like the human body, diseased systems in churches can be complicated and not all of them are fully comprehended.[1] There have been times when identifying the underlying cause of a church’s repetitive experience of pain proved elusive. Sometimes there appeared to be more than one root issue. From such ministries we walked away content that their patterns of dysfunction were markers of a yet undiscovered malady. In such cases, we trusted that the Lord would honor the sincerity of church leaders as they seek to address what they understood to be the root(s) of their illness, even if they could not label it with certainty.
Hidden Elements
In some ministries there are unhealthy aspects of their systems that never come to light. They appear to be undetectable absent of relevant information.[2] David Olsen writes in his book, The American Church in Crisis, that the histories of most churches contain buried stories that never see the light of day. Nevertheless, the Lord knows what’s buried under church carpets. In some cases, it is possible to correctly diagnose a church’s pattern of dysfunction absent key pieces of information. At other times, we must trust that the Lord has brought to light what we need to know, even if we don’t know the whole story.
Contextual variations
The body of Christ is broad and varied. There are something like 9000 Protestant denominations in the world, 350,000 churches in North America alone. Those denominations all have their own histories, distinctives, internal cultures, and degrees of systemic health. The churches within them exist in local cultures that often influence them as much or more so than those churches influence their local culture. This creates a situation where diagnosing a particular church in a unique location within a specific denomination means that many variables go into recognizing the symptoms a church may display.
All this to say, when it comes to seeing a ministry’s symptoms for what they really are, the variables are many. Most church leaders and congregations are unaware of how these variables impact their ministry’s health. You, as a church leader, must do your best to apply a clinical eye to the tendencies, values, attitudes, and behaviors that are unique to your congregation. This should be accompanied by a heavy reliance on the Holy Spirit, asking Him to enable you to see your ministry as He does.
Tips for Correctly Diagnosing Your Church
- Advocate for yourself so that you are in a good place emotionally and spiritually as you assess your ministry’s symptoms.
- Do not assume you know what your church’s problem is.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to help you, and the rest of your leaders, see your ministry that way He sees it.
- Be honest about how past corporate pain has impacted your ministry.
- Take the ChurchScan Inventory at blessingpoint.org and consider a free composite version by contacting us at info@blessingpoint.org
Mark Barnard serves with Blessing Point Ministries, which works to heal churches with painful histories. The above article is an excerpt from Mark’s forthcoming book, Diagnosing the Heart of Your Church – Revised Edition.
[1] Gale MS (September 03, 2022) Diagnosis: Fundamental Principles and Methods. Cureus 14(q9e28730. DOI 10.7759/Cureus.28730 p3.
[2] Ibid