Re How Does Our Garden Grow, May
Of the eight areas identified as essential for a healthy, growing church, I would offer that some of these may be more primary than others. For example, would not passionate spirituality within a congregation—our lowest rated charateristic—be greatly facilitated by the presence of empowering leadership and inspiring worship?
Although inspiring worship is a subjective concept, I do detect a red flag in the summary of the 10 signs of health identified in the 78 congregations studied. The one which reads:
“I do not consider my church overly traditional.” How exactly is overly traditional worship defined? Is it defined by strong biblically-based preaching in our Calvinist tradition? By a reliance on traditional forms of music and great hymns? By the rejection of the use of high-tech multimedia in our services? By the maintenance of a strong, traditional liturgy? Or by all of the above and perhaps more? Let us refrain from assuming there is merit in a one-size-fits-all approach, which one might be tempted to conclude from the article.
Need oriented evangelism (out-reach) scored the second lowest of the eight needs identified for a healthy church. I have long been of the view that empowering leadership, great preaching, great praise (through both hymns and service music) and outreach are the cornerstones for church priorities. If we get the primary needs right, the other essential needs will soon follow. This may require re-tooling both at Wynford Drive and at our theological colleges.
