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The Anglican Church in Tasmania Search |
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a healthy church...transformingLIFE |
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June 2005 |
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Church healthChurch health, of course, is not an end in itself
but a means to fulfilling the church's mission. When Bishop John released his vision document, A healthychurch - transforminglife, he captured this principle perfectly. If we are healthy, we'll be able to do the things we are created to do - bring transforming life in Christ to our communities. All of us are keen to keep our own health. (My neighbour is recovering from a stroke; it's sad to see him struggle with poor health.) It makes sense that the biblical idea of the church as a living organism - more like a human body than a machine, leads us to consider the health of a church. If you've ever seen an unhealthy church you'll know how sad that can be. 'Church health is our expression for the normal functioning of church life as God has designed it.' There have been many attempts to describe the key attributes of God's design. I really like the ten key indicators of health developed by the Evangelical Free Church Movement. These are: Centrality of God's Word, Passionate Spirituality, Fruitful Evangelism, High Impact Worship, 'Therefore go...' (Matt. 28:19-20), Church Planting, Financial Stewardship, Intentional Disciplemaking, Loving Relationships My vision is that every one of our parishes, organisations and schools would apply themselves to making these ten indicators a reality. I highly recommend the evangelical free church web based resource on church health.
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