As the church declines and grows increasingly anxious about its own future, the dominant dialogue has become one of managerialism. We hear a lot about strategic plans, mission, vision statements, the business model (whatever that is), and leadership. These may not be bad things in and of themselves, but they are no substitute for an active spiritual life within a healthy parish. So that we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, I have compiled six fresh characteristics to help us think about church health. It is something realistic and within our grasp. It is something we won’t fail at, unless we ignore it.
PURPOSE. The primary purpose of any church is faith in God. To establish and develop faith within community is ‘the’ core value. Exactly what that means may vary from one church to another, but if faith is not the core purpose then what are we doing? Imagine if the fire brigade was more caught up in paperwork than in putting out fires. Your house might burn down, but it would be beautifully documented. Just as we need the fire department to turn up and put out a fire, so too do we need churches to focus on their core purpose, which is faith in God. Secondary issues around administration, management, leadership, strategic planning and mission are just that - secondary, but they are sometimes the things that take over. Does your parish have an active spiritual life, and is it the thing that gets the most attention and priority? This is a critical question.
CULTURE can be defined as the manifestation of human achievement. It is also the ‘feel’ and ‘habits’ of a community, its relationship style, and the way it functions. In a church community, culture is paramount to good organisational health. It is much harder to work with culture than it is to work with structure. It is erroneous to implement structural change without a supportive culture around it. Working with culture takes time and effort, sometimes the rewards seem minimal, but good culture is absolutely essential. Indicators of a good culture are; open to change (provided there is good reason), relationships that are not exclusive but welcome new people easily, a desire for learning, clear grievance procedures are in place, diversity is accepted, people feel safe, there is joy, humour and respect amongst the community.
OPTIMISM is a key domain for resilience. Optimism makes people stronger, mainly because they have hope in a future. Without optimism, culture becomes depressed. One of the key places where optimism is highjacked is when there are unrealistic expectations which can’t be met. If churches are asked to sell a product that the wider community is not interested in, they fail in this task and become depressed. We call it mission, but the act erodes optimism and therefore erodes our inner strength. We’d all love an extra 50 people to boost the singing and help the finances, but realistically churches get further by thinking small. Are we doing the little things well and taking joy in it? For example, was I polite to someone I don't particularly like? Did I undertake a small act of service somewhere, was I kind? Those sort of things are what people can achieve. A church that grows in purpose, culture and optimism is a much better place to be, and may paradoxically be the one to grow a little in numbers. Optimism looks to the future, but how far into the future matters. If we ask; “will our church be here in 20 years,” many would doubt the reality of that. But if we ask ourselves; “am I looking forward to going to church this week, or can I extend kindness to someone and make a difference in their life,” then we are more likely to get to “yes.” Short term thinking promotes optimism and paradoxically a stronger and more sustainable community.
OPERATIONS: All organisations either manufacture a product, or provide a service. Operations cannot be avoided. Churches have a liturgy of some sort, staff and finances, maintenance, music, governance, programs or events. All operations need to be organised and administered effectively. It is of great importance that none of these operations be self serving. Operations exist to support the core purpose of the organisation, not the other way around. We cannot afford to become dissatisfied with one another over trivial matters.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR SELF, EXCEEDS BLAME OF OTHERS. If blame is present in too great a proportion it erodes an organisation. It can be overt, or it can be the work of white anting (formation of factions based on blame). Blame fractures relationships and hurts people. It effectively places the responsibility for mistakes (or perceived mistakes), onto another person. Blame can also be a juvenile expression of dissatisfaction. Blame is also an energy thief - who wants to do something for someone else if they hate you? Blame can also be a dysfunctional sort of unifying agent; i.e. two people join together because of their common dislike for another. Whatever the reason, the most destructive thing about blame is that we don't grow up ourselves. The only way into maturity is through the acceptance of personal responsibility. When we accept responsibility for our own part, for the way we understand things, for our behaviours, we are empowered to change that which we can - ourselves. When the majority in a community buy into this way of thinking, new people are automatically and easily integrated. They are also more likely to adapt to the behaviour being modelled. It is more pleasant for everyone. It is a more mature group.
RELEVANCE. This was an overused word in the 1980’s, especially by the evangelical movement, which was booming at the time. It has been a contentious word ever since, especially amongst clergy. It is true that in the pursuit of relevance, churches have sometimes relinquished integrity to their theological tradition, or to truth. Clergy have been the main culprits in promoting a “greater numbers at any cost” approach to furnishing churches with hoards of people. The pastors of large churches have sat back and claimed ‘numbers = success,’ but the fact is that there have been as many people leaving through the back door, damaged, as there are people coming through the front. Restricting people’s faith journey, or turning them off religion forever is not success. Yet we should not stigmatise the word relevance because what we do, and the way we do it, needs to connect to the wider community. Churches do need to be relevant, but in a way that does no harm. To be relevant means there is an awareness of what is going on inside the church community, and also an awareness of what is going on in the local demographic. Programs and events can then be tailored to meet those needs. It comes through hermeneutical preaching, musical style, events that address need, operations that the community find ….err, relevant. Relevance contributes to church health because people are thinking not only of themselves, but also of others.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said that a church that excessively focuses on mission / acquiring numbers tends to be saying; “please join us and help us not to die.” The reality in our time is that not too many outsiders actually want to join us, so obsession with mission is bound to fail. It is not healthy or realistic to expect that to happen. It is a recipe for disappointment and failure. Besides, what we have done in the past has not worked - the current decline tells us so.
A far better approach is to be a healthy organisation that is focused on that which is “life giving,” and which we can achieve. Jesus said; “I have come that you may have life.” The great paradox at play here is that this appeals to almost everyone. Is church meaningful, authentic, fun, life giving? Is it really? Is the task before us achievable?
No one is stopping us being a healthy organisation. This is very much in our own hands. We can take up the challenge, or we can ignore it. Organisational health, or the lack thereof, can be gauged by how far an organisation has wandered from it's core purpose. Is the fire department putting out fires? Is the church transforming peoples lives, bridging the gap between the temporal and eternal, and breathing hope into humanity?
Organisational health is not only the most important thing we can do, it is the main thing parishes can achieve. Controlling what we can, and leaving the rest to God seems wise. Everyone can contribute. It is not out of anyone’s reach, and we cant afford to ignore it.
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