RAISING A HEALTHY CHURCH: Healthy Structure, Healthy Church

George Whitefield and John Wesley were contemporary preachers in their time. Both were fiery and dynamic instruments in the hand of God that drew crowds of people to their meetings. They didn’t agree on every theological point, but they were friends with each person making significant impact on their world for the gospel. But when George Whitefield died, so did his ministry! John Wesley, on the other hand, lived on. What was the difference? They both loved Jesus and they both preached the same gospel, but John Wesley developed a great structure for sending preachers all over the world. That structure became the conduct for a growing movement that still impacts our world today.

To be a healthy church, you must have a biblical structure that is grounded in God’s purposes for the church, and you must also have a smart and flexible structure that never gets in the way of growth.

A. BIBLICAL FOUNDATION – Luke 5: 37; I Cor. 14: 40.

Structure is the skeletal frame work of how things should be done. It may not be physical, but it is hidden and the backbone of things; it is the process of moving from one point to the other. It is the process of moving from one point to the other. It is how things should be done; policy direction and culture.

Every building in the world has a structure to stand upright
Living things have internal structures too
Every church must have a structure to grow and expand
Some churches operate with no discernible structure at all.
Some churches are structured for health and growth
Others are structured are rigid for maintenance and survival
Some structures are rigid, flexible and cannot see growth.

Whichever way, you need healthy, biblical structure for healthy church growth. There is no way your church can grow in a healthy way without you putting good structure in place. You may not start with one, but you cannot be healthy without a biblical one.

B. WHY CHURCHES LACK HEALTHY STRUCTURES.

Over the years, I have come across many dynamic pastors who are doing great things for the lord. But have no good structure on ground. Everything is about them and their ministries don’t outlive them. The following are reasons I have complied on it:

Lack of proper education for ministry
Prejudice and biases against learning
The mindset of ‘power of God’ is everything.
Messiah mentality and personal empire
Short sighted vision
Poor leadership ability.

Plateau growth, confusion among associates, internal conflict, and discouragement among workers will be the outcome when there is no structure, wrong structure and rigid way of doing things.

C. PROPER AND HEALTHY STRUCTURE IN THE CHURCH.

Churches can start powerfully or slowly, yet there must be good structure to undergird the growth. Good structure brings growth, health, balance, sustainability and progress. There must be good structure in these areas:

Administration – proper and with human face.
Associates – who can become an associate and what process?
Money matters – who handles and distributes money?
Discipleship process – what system to move up in spiritual
Membership – who becomes a member, at what rate, pace etc?
Deacon – when do you become a deacon or a leader?
Ministry – who can run ministries and what way?
Outreach – how do we do outreach and send people out?
Groups – who forms groups and in which ways?
Succession – who can succeed the leader and what process?
Welfare – what is our commitment to our staff?

There must be clear process, system and written down policy in these areas. It must not be bugged down in red tape, policies and procedures, but functional was to get things done quickly with justice and fair play.

D. DEVELOPING HEALTHY STRUCTURE IN THE CHURCH.

It is crucial to be proactive, intentional and deliberate in developing a solid structure that will aid the growth and health of our church. Lack of healthy structure will spell doom for any great work.

You must have a clear vision from God.
You must learn and develop yourself
You must seek for advice from church consultant
You must develop workable strategies and systems
You must start with membership and discipleship system.
You must make people to follow laid down procedures.

Prayer Points:

Wisdom to change what is needed, lord give to me.
Every healthy structure hindering the growth of your church, o lord, change them.