Is My Church Healthy? Here’s An Indicator We Don’t Often Think About

Who doesn’t want to be at a healthy church? 

But how should health be determined? 

We often use indicators such as the vitality of small groups, volunteer engagement, leadership culture, or theological literacy to assess church health. 

And while these are absolutely essential, I believe there should be consideration of another indicator we don’t often think of: How a church handles staff departure. 

In the past few months, I’ve had multiple conversations with ministry friends outside of my church who have transitioned out of their church roles.

From these conversations, I’ve found myself connecting a dot between the handling of staff departures and the health of a church. 

This has also led me to connect the opposite dot: Unhealthy church contexts do not seem to handle staff departures well. 

To be sure, staff departures can be messy because they’re emotionally complex. Even very healthy churches can occasionally have an ugly transition. There can also be times when the problem lies predominantly with the unhealthiness of a departing staffer. I’ve witnessed every one of these situations.

But as much as I’ve seen these instances, I can’t help but see the broader correlation between the health or unhealthiness of a church to the handling or mishandling of the staff departure. 

There’s a simple reason why I believe this correlation exists: A church’s truest beliefs show up at inconvenience. 

See, when a staff decides to leave a church, it creates organizational inconveniences for the church. And it is in the context of inconvenience that a church’s true theology, values, and beliefs show up. 

For example, a church may believe that every person is made in the image of God and deserving of love and care. This may be written on the church’s doctrinal statement and championed as a church value. A church may even be vocal about issues of justice. But when a church is inconvenienced due to a departing staff member, how that church treats that staffer at his or her departure will speak most loudly of their Biblical anthropology. 

And so when a church does not treat the departing staff with dignity, it actually reveals a theology of functionality, that human beings are only as good as their contribution. I have seen this on a few occasions. I have seen staffers leave and undergo a crisis from the lack of care and intentionality from the church. This is unfortunate and it is telling of what’s really happening underneath the belly of a church.

But when a church honors a departing individual despite its impact on the organization, it reveals the church really does affirm the Imago Dei. I have seen churches celebrate and affirm departing staff. I have seen churches treat departing staff with respect even though working relationships were strained. These moments reveal something profoundly beautiful and redemptive about the church. 

Conclusion

So you want to know how healthy your church is?

Your answer might be in the experiences of a few former staff.

A singular person’s opinion should not be too loud of course. Proverbs 18:17 says, “The one who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him.” They should all probably be weighed together with wisdom and grace for all parties.

But here’s what I think will happen: You probably won’t be surprised. If you’re engaged at your church, you probably already have a gut sense of the health or unhealthiness of your church.

“So how about your church? Is your church healthy?” 

I’m probably biased, but I have never seen as many former staffers still attending and participating in the life of the church as my current context.

It is refreshing to hear former staffers say how the church is their home. I’ve never seen anything like it.

When I entered my current church context, someone said, “This is the healthiest church I have ever seen.” Two years later, I’m starting to understand what this person meant, even as this person wound up transitioning.