The Fully-Engaged Church podcast is quickly becoming one of my favorites because of the type of guests MAG Bookkeeping president Randy Ongie has on. This week’s guest was Tony Morgan, founder of The Unstuck Group. Tony has helped over 200 church since founding the company in 2009 and is one of America’s leading church consultants.
You can listen to their full interview by clicking HERE.
Tony has observed that as a church’s attendance grows, it takes a while for giving to catch up and really be reflected in the numbers. The same lag happens with declines as well. As a church begins to plateau or decline, the loss in giving lags behind. So churches think they are still doing OK — they can pay the bills, provide salaries and keep the doors open. But the reality is that they are reaching fewer and fewer people, which is a huge reflection on the health and mission of a church.
Whether the financial lag has caught up with a church yet or not, there are five key questions Tony asks to assess the health of a church to help determine if they are stuck.
The following are 5 Questions Pastors Should Ask To Determine If Their Church Is (Un)Healthy:
- Is the church outward focused? Churches that have plateaued or are in decline have often become inward focused. In their heart, they want to keep reaching new people, but they are unintentionally focusing primarily on the people who are already a part of the church.
- Does the church have a clear discipleship cycle strategy? Once people have connected, there should be defined next steps the church can help people take on their discipleship journey. If those steps aren’t defined, it’s a barrier for growth. If someone comes in as a new believer, they should know how they can grow spiritually.
- Is the church too complex? It’s counterintuitive, but larger, healthier churches grows should be more simple about how they provide ministries. A lot of small churches and those who are stuck tend to make things complicated, hard to follow and difficult to execute at the next level.
- Is the leadership strong? Healthy churches have strong lay leadership that helps power pastoral leadership. Problems often arise in smaller churches when lay leaders tries to limit or control pastors.
- Does the church have clarity about the future? It’s important for churches to have missions statements, defined core values and vision statements. But there also needs to be a focus on the next 6-12 months and which priorities to focus on during that time. Everyone needs to agree on where the church is heading and work on tangible items that will help carry out the mission and values and make the vision become a reality.
These are good questions for pastors and church leaders to consider, and for those who suspect they might be stuck, Tony is a great resource. He says: “We’re not about making the church big. We’re about helping the church get healthy so they can reach more people. At the end of the day, that’s really what I’m most passionate about.”
Listen to the full podcast here, and learn more about The Unstuck Group here.
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