The Healthy Small Church
Diagnosis and Treatment for the Big Issues
by
Dennis Bickers
[your church name here]
Welcome
Prayer
Discussion Guidelines
Throughout these sessions we will be looking at each chapter and
discussing some vital questions about our church as they relate to
the chapter topic. Although we will try to stay on the topic at
hand, please feel free to share your thoughts.
As leaders of the church, my prayer is that this book and our
discussions will help us guide our community to becoming
healthier and more focused in the days and months ahead.
Thanks for coming!
Many churches are in trouble today because they’ve
abandoned their theological and doctrinal roots . . .
(p. 27)
Let’s Talk About Our . . . Theology
What is the theology and doctrine of our church? Biblically,
what are our foundational beliefs?
Is that theology and doctrine presented in a language
that can be understood by the unchurched?
How many adults do we have involved in Bible study and
faith development?
Small churches that want to be healthy have to find a way to
strengthen their Sunday School program or find other ways to involve
[people] in a regular study of the Bible (pp. 30-31).
A church without a clear understanding of God’s vision . . . is
like an octopus on roller skates (p. 32).
Let’s Talk about Our . . . Vision
What is our church’s vision?
How many people in this room or in our congregation can explain
that vision and how we implement that vision on a weekly, monthly,
and yearly basis?
Is the vision and mission simple or complicated?
How much of our church’s ministry and budget is dedicated to
fulfilling that vision?
The purpose of worship is to express our praise
and thankfulness to God ( p. 44).
Let’s Talk about Our . . . Worship
How would you describe our church’s worship service?
What specific aspects of our worship service help people
experience God?
Are we willing to invest in some changes concerning our worship
to become healthier as a church?
What are some changes that need to or could be made in the
worship service?
Let’s Talk About . . . Change
Discuss what comes to your mind when you hear the word
“change.” Are these feelings/thoughts founded on certain fears or
the simple dislike of change?
How did our people (we) respond to the last major change in our
church?
What was the last suggested change that was rejected by the
congregation? Why was it rejected?
Personalities or Principles?
Let’s Talk About . . . Conflict
How would you describe the way our church handles conflict?
What are some ways we could handle conflict better?
If we foresee some inevitable change for our church
happening as a result of this health analysis, how can we as
leaders prepare to handle and respond to any conflict
produced by this change? (see pp. 70-71)
Prayer
God is always more interested in our becoming
than He is in our doing (p. 74).
Let’s Talk About . . . Spiritual Leadership
Do we as leaders exhibit the qualifications Gene Getz described
in chapter 8?
How are we doing as a church in developing future spiritual
leaders in our congregation?
How would you rate the spiritual maturity of your church
leadership?
“The future of the church depends on whether it
develops true community.” –Larry Crabb (p. 83).
Let’s Talk About Our . . . Community
How well do you feel our church greets its guests?
Is there a genuine sense of grace in our church shown toward
others?
How can we continue to strengthen relationships with
those in our community?
People give to a vision . . .
Let’s Talk About . . . Stewardship
Let’s look at our church’s financial-giving patterns for the
last five years. Is the trend up or down? Why?
Should we consider stewardship training? Sunday night?
Wednesday night? A sermon series?
Is our leadership modeling tithing in their giving?
Do you think people understand the biblical principle of
tithing?
How can our leadership promote giving in a positive
way?
Let’s Talk About . . . Missions
Is the primary focus of our church inward or outward?
For whom does this church exist?
How can we begin to achieve a balance of local benevolence and
missional purpose, as well as support world missions and the
greater purpose of the global church?
Let’s Talk About . . . Long Pastoral Tenure
What’s the average pastoral tenure in our church?
What is our pastor and church doing to make a long pastorate
possible?
The average tenure of pastors who effectively reach unchurched people for
Christ is 11.8 years ( p.107).
Let’s Talk About . . . Outreach
Do you see our congregation as a church or mission station?
How is the postmodern era in which we live affecting the ministry
of our church?
Discussion – pastor’s commitment to outreach.
Discussion – lay leaders commitment to outreach.
Are we committed to reaching others?
“People expect excellence from their vehicles, hotels,
telephone service – just about everything. Therefore, they
expect it in the church.” –Leith Anderson ( p. 120)
Let’s Talk About Doing Things with . . . Excellence
Let’s review the structural organization of our church.
Let’s identify the strengths of our church. How can
we improve upon them?
• Physical appearance of our church?
• Program structure? Is it excellent?
• Worship changes for excellence?
“One of the most impressive—and important—elements
of leadership in the highly effective churches is that most
of the leadership comes from the laity.” –George Barna ( p.128)
Let’s Talk About . . . Lay Ministry
How many people are involved in ministry outside committee or
board assignments?
Do our members know their spiritual gifts?
What specific things is our leadership/pastor doing to equip the
people of our church for ministry?
Ephesians 4:11-13
Based on this diagnosis . . .
Where do you think we
should begin to focus our
prayers and energy for
positive change?