Over the last several years, I have been concerned about the overall health of the American church. This is not only because I want a church that I have the opportunity to be a part of to do well but also because of statistics that show that church attendance and the percentage of people that claim to be Christians is declining.
This is resulting in churches closing and even denominations folding. This concern has put me on somewhat of a quest to try to figure out what a “healthy” church actually is.
What I have noticed is that every church that I have been part of (since I became involved in the church in my adolescent years) would probably consider itself as healthy (or at least healthy enough).
But each of those churches had different cultures, environments, worship styles, leadership structures, decision-making policies, discipleship strategies, and doctrinal emphases.
Some of those churches were growing, some were stagnant, and others shriveled up….
