Before I give you the solution to a sick church, I think it will be wise for you to understand the Anatomy of a Sick Church and here are 10 Symptoms to Watch:
NB: There are certain metrics and issues physicians check when we go to the doctor. They want to check our blood pressure and temperature. They do blood tests to see if there are any warning signs. They are looking for symptoms that might indicate real problems exist.
These symptoms are not necessarily the problem; they simply provide warnings or cautions of potential issues.
While there are many potential symptoms of a sick church, these ten are consistently common and they are not listed in any particular order:
1. Declining worship attendance. Surprisingly, the majority of church leaders do not monitor worship attendance. I advise leaders to compare each month’s average worship attendance to the same month of previous years.
2. Decline in frequency of attendance of church members. This symptom is the number one explanation for attendance decline in most churches. Members are not as committed as they once were. Their waning love for their church is reflected in their declining frequency in worship attendance.
3. Lack of joy and vibrancy in the worship service. Obviously, this symptom is subjective. It is still, however, very important. Most people can sense when a worship service is vibrant, lukewarm, or dead.
4. Little evangelistic fruit. As a general rule, a healthy church will reach at least 5 non-Christian for every 20 in worship attendance.
5. Low community impact. This is a serious symptom as the church does not exist for itself alone but also for the community in which she finds herself.
6. More meetings than ministry. A sick church will meet about what they should do rather than do it. Some churches have more committees than conversions.
7. Acrimonious business meetings. Christians can and do disagree. Sick churches have meetings where the disagreements reflect obvious bitterness and anger.
8. Very few guests in worship services. A vibrant church will attract guests. A sick church will not.
9. Worship wars. Yes, they still exist in many churches. Those wars are indicators of an inward focus by the members.
10. Unrealistic expectations of pastoral care. Sick churches view pastors and other staff as hired hands to do all of the work of ministry. Healthy churches view pastors as equippers for the members to do most of the ministry.
None of these symptoms are good, but churches do go through periods where they demonstrate a few of them. The key is to recognize the symptoms and respond early and quickly.
Here is a subjective health analysis according to the number of symptoms:
1 to 2 symptoms. Normal for most churches for a short period of time. Not an indicator of poor health, but the symptoms should be addressed promptly.
3 to 4 symptoms. The church is sick and needs immediate attention.
5 to 6 symptoms. The church is very sick. If significant changes are not made, the congregation is in danger of moving into the phase of terminal illness.
7 to 10 symptoms. The church is in danger of dying in the next 3 to 5 years. While it is possible for a church to recover from this level of sickness, it is rare so Intervention must be quick, intense, and dramatic.
THE SOLUTION.
All these symptoms have one single solution and that is to focus the church outward instead of inward. The implication of this statement is that the church should go back to her original purpose of Evangelism and Missions. (Please note that Evangelism is different from Missions. While Evangelism focuses on only Soul Winning, Missions focuses on both Soul Winning and Church Planting) But what has this got to do with the healing of a sick church you may ask? A church that is focused on evangelism and missions won't have time for anti covenant practices. I don't think it is possible for a Christian that is always in the field winning souls or planting churches to have time to quarrel or talk against a fellow Christian in church.
Having read this, I want you to apply this principle in your church or cell and share it with your fellow leaders and let us heal our churches together.
God Bless You
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