Church Insight Report
This is the seventh article in a series about church consulting that we are presenting on our Church Encourager platform. In this article we will be looking at the Church Insight Report which is a report generated when your church completes a church health survey and/or assessment. While the report will be different depending on which church health survey you decide to take, we will use our own Church Insight Report as a template for this article.
The Church Insight Report does not provide a perfect evaluation of the church’s health. It does provide helpful information of the church’s overall health which will greatly increase your ability to plan and strategize on how to fulfill the calling and purposes of God for your church. Our Church Insight Report provides a baseline numeric response in each of ten important areas of church health and life.
10 Areas of a Healthy Church
Presence of God
A healthy church seeks and desires the presence of God realizing that they can not be effective in their own strength.
Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Doing the Next Right Thing
A healthy church encourages believers to live by yielding to the Holy Spirit in every aspect of their lives.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Bible Focus
A healthy church encourages believers to spend time in the Word of God.
2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Outward Focus
A healthy church cares about the lost and looks for opportunities the share the Good News.
Mark 16:15 (NIV)
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
Upward Focus
A healthy church gathers regularly to worship God.
John 4:23 (NIV)
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Spiritual Disciplines
A healthy church encourages believers to develop the spiritual disciplines in their daily lives.
James 3:17 (NIV)
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
Community
A healthy church is intentional on building loving and caring families and communities.
Hebrews 10:24 (NIV)
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Equipping the Saints
A healthy church provides ways for believers to be active in the ministry that God has given them.
Ephesians 4:16 (NIV)
16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Leadership
A healthy church has leaders who are not only leading well but also encouraging and developing future leaders.
John 13:12-15 (NIV)
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Stewardship
A healthy church realizes the necessity of being faithful stewards of their God-given resources and encourages generosity.
2 Corinthians 9:6 (NIV)
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
How Do These Ten Areas Fit Together?
The responses from the church health survey allow us to identify the stronger health factor(s) as well as the minimum health factor(s). The minimum factor(s) are sticking points that are impacting the health and effectiveness of the church. An analogy that is often used in church health is that of a wooden barrel with broken sides. A wooden barrel can only hold water up to the lowest stave in the barrel. If you fix the broken staves, the barrel holds more water. In the same way, as the church goes to work on fixing its minimum factor(s) the overall health of the church increases.
Depending on which church health survey you decide to take, your scores may be interpreted with how other churches are doing in these areas. While knowing that information is interesting, the most important factors are what is going on in your church. As you spend time and effort in engaging with the Lord on how to get healthier in your weakest areas, your church will become healthier.
Steve Lawes is a Certified Church Consultant and a Church Encourager.
