Archive for Church Assessment

The Congregation as Patient

By Greg Anderson (Ed.D.) Many years ago, Dr. John Savage posed the following question during a seminar I was attending, “If your congregation were a patient and you were her primary physician, what is your diagnosis when evaluating her health?” I love the analogy and think it provides a framework for church leaders to examine […]

On Practicing Civility

by Grady King – Civility is in short supply: no aspect of life is unscathed from a lack of civility—social, political, economic, family, and certainly religious. Civil conversations are a rarity. Fear and anger is the air we breathe. The media and social media exacerbate the milieu of hostility.  When we do not strive for […]

Characteristics of an Aligned Team

by Greg Anderson –  Have you ever been part of a team that is rowing in the same direction? It is a wonderful thing to experience. Everyone has embraced a specific vision and aligned head and heart with it. They have articulated a mission to help them get there. Enthusiasm is potent, all things seems […]

Is Your Church Life-Giving?

by Grady King – A good friend, deeply committed to Christ and serving others visited a church where his parents worship. As he spoke about his experience, I said, “Doesn’t sound like it was very life-giving.”  He said, “Exactly, that’s it.” How is it that a church who teaches the Bible, believes in Jesus Christ—his […]

Digging in the Dirt with Leaders & Churches Part III – Followship in a Consumer Culture

by Grady King People want leadership. People don’t want leadership.  As long as leaders are doing what I think they ought to do, I will follow. If not, I will be present to some degree, but not necessarily support or follow.[1] It’s certainly not God’s idea of leading or following. Churches are in need of […]

Digging in the Dirt with Leaders & Churches

by Grady King –   It’s my life to be helpful to leaders and churches. It’s both blessing and burden.  Prayerful, humble listening, observing, and analyzing goes with the territory. So does “speaking the truth in love” (Eph 4.15)—passage about relationships, character, maturity—of growing up in Christ. It’s not always comfortable and there is plenty of […]

Every Church Has a Story: Walking on Sacred Ground

by Grady King –   I went to high school with friends who were Creek Indian. Their burial grounds were sacred. They were no mere cemeteries—simply holes in the ground.  These sacred burial sites were a blend of Indian traditions, fused with Christianity and the spirits of the “old ones” were respected in this sacred […]

From Quick Fix to Healthly Assessment (part 4: Managing Assessment – continued)

by Evertt Huffard – In the last article, we discussed four interacting factors that every healthy church needs: spirituality, mission, organization, and relationships. Figure 2 expands the model. The wisdom of the spirit gives the spiritual basis for mission while good works flow through organization and relationships. This system approach also illustrates the responsibility of elders to […]

From Quick Fix to Healthy Assessment (part 3: Elements of a Healthy Assessment)

by Evertt Huffard – In the last article in this series, we talked about how when leaders have the ability to walk by faith in tough times, the potential for a healthy assessment of the crisis will be more likely. Today we will discuss the elements of a healthy assessment. Elements of a Healthy Assessment When invited […]

From Quick Fix to Healthy Assessment (part 1)

by Evertt Huffard – It happens to leaders all the time. When leaders in a church face a crisis, all attention and energy goes into “solving” the problem as quickly as possible–only to discover that the quick fix led to even greater problems. I was an elder long enough to understand why any church leader wants […]

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