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Growing Healthy Churches

Explore the seven marks of a healthy church and learn how to nurture the life of your church. Focus on quality over quantity and build a strong, energized community. Edited by Canon Roger Medley for the Mission Forum 2014.

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Growing Healthy Churches

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  1. toGrowing Healthy ChurchesHow are we as a Church?Edited by Canon Roger Medley Mission Forum 2014 WELCOME

  2. Growing a healthy church Research from many Dioceses Focus on quality rather than quantity • Terms:- Growing = nurturing the life of the church Healthy = wholeness, balance, harmony with God and creation • Goals, characteristics, values and aspirations rather than activities

  3. SEVEN MARKS OF A HEALTHY CHURCH expressing the life of Christ through the local church

  4. HEALTHY CHURCH CHECKLIST 1 low 6 high Mark 2 3 4 5 TOTAL • energised by faith 2. outward-looking focus • seeks to find out what God wants 4. faces cost of change and growth 5. builds community 6. makes room for others 7. does a few things – well

  5. scoring grid √ the number that best describes what you see is happeningin your church 1. weakness and holding us back 2. only a few signs 3. some evidence of this 4. making progress 5. evidence of much of this 6. this is a strength

  6. Let’s go!

  7. 1. Energised by faith rather than just keeping things going or trying to survive • worship and sacramental life move people to experience God’s love • motivation: energy comes from a desire to serve God and one another • engaging with scripture: in creative ways that connect with life • nurturing faith in Christ: helping people grow in, and share, their faith

  8. 2. Outward-looking focus with a ‘whole-life’ rather than a ‘church life’ concern • deeply rooted in the local community, working in partnership with other denominations, faiths, secular groups and networks • passionate and prophetic about justice and peace, locally and globally • making connections between faith and daily living • responding to human need by loving service

  9. Have you ever thought… what Church is?

  10. BAND ONE The Building is the church BAND TWO The Vicar is the church BAND THREE We help the Vicar to be the church BAND FOUR We are the church BAND FIVE We are part of God’s church These five bands represent a common, if not invariable, sequence in the growth or renewal of life in a local congregation

  11. 3. Seeks to find out what God wants rather than letting our own preferences set the church agenda • vocation: open to the Spirit’s leading about what we should be and do • vision: developing and communicating a shared sense of where we are going • mission priorities: consciously setting both immediate and long-term goals • able to call for and make sacrifices, personal and corporate, in bringing about the above and living out the faith

  12. 4. Faces the cost of change and growth rather than resisting change and avoiding failure • while embracing the past, daring to take on new ways of doing things • taking risks: admitting when things are not working, and learning from experience • crises: responding creatively to challenges that face the church and community • positive experiences of change, however small, are affirmed and built on

  13. If you are unhappy with your vicar simply have your church wardens send a copy of this letter to six other churches who are tired of their vicar. Then bundle up your vicar and send him to the church at the top of the list in this letter. Within a week you will receive 16,435 vicars, and one of them should be all right. Have faith in this chain letter for vicars do not break the chain. One church did and got their old vicar back!!

  14. 5. Builds community rather than functioning as a club or religious organisation • relationships are nurtured so people know they are part of a community of faith (often through small groups) with opportunities for service • leadership: lay and ordained works as a team to develop appropriate expressions of all seven marks of a healthy church • lay ministry: the different gifts, experiences and faith- journeys of all are valued and given expression in and beyond the life of the church

  15. 6. Makes room for others being inclusive rather than exclusive • welcome: works to include newcomers into the life of the church • children and young people are helped to belong, contribute and be nurtured in their faith • enquirers are encouraged to explore and experience faith in Christ • diversities: coming from the social and ethnic backgrounds, mental and physical abilities and age differences are seen as a strength and sought after

  16. But 10 are frail and elderly There are 56 members in our church. That leaves 46 to do all the work. But 8 are young people at college That leaves 38 to do all the work. But 15 are tired businessmen So that leaves 23 to do all the work. And 15 are housewives with children And A further 2 have important other interests That leaves 8 to do all the work. But 2 live too far away to come regularly That leaves 6 to do all the work. And 2 say they’ve done their bit So that leaves 4 to do all the work. So that leaves YOU AND ME AND I’M EXHAUSTED GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!!

  17. 7. Does a few things – and does them well focused rather than frenetic • doing the basics well: especially public worship, pastoral care, stewardship and administration • occasional offices: make sense of life and communicate faith • enjoyed what we do and being relaxed about what is not being done

  18. You may wish to keep a record of your scores by writing them on the other half of the Healthy Church Checklist then… Hand your score sheet in After coffee you will create a church profile

  19. To continue…

  20. HEALTHY CHURCH CHECKLIST 1 low 6 high Mark 2 3 4 5 TOTAL • energised by faith 2. outward-looking focus • seeks to find out what God wants 4. faces cost of change and growth 5. builds community 6. makes room for others 7. does a few things – well

  21. Exploring together How did you get on with scoring your church? What strikes you most about your church from doing this Exercise?

  22. Exploring together what is holding us back - and why?

  23. Exploring together Where there is a wide spread of scores - what does this tell us?

  24. Exploring together what needs working on? In your table groups discuss the areas of church life that need working on-using the check list.

  25. Remember today is part of your church life • At sometime in the near future you should revisit all these points as a Church • They are fundamental to you Church Health • May God bless you in your journey of faith and mission together

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