The Healthy Small Church Diagnosis and Treatment for the Big Issues by Dennis Bickers

1. The Healthy Small Church Diagnosis and Treatment for the Big Issues by Dennis Bickers [your church name here]

2. Welcome Prayer Discussion Guidelines Throughout these sessions we will be looking at each chapter and discussing some vital questions about our church as they relate to the chapter topic. Although we will try to stay on the topic at hand, please feel free to share your thoughts. As leaders of the church, my prayer is that this book and our discussions will help us guide our community to becoming healthier and more focused in the days and months ahead. Thanks for coming!

3. Many churches are in trouble today because they’ve abandoned their theological and doctrinal roots . . . (p. 27) Let’s Talk About Our . . . Theology What is the theology and doctrine of our church? Biblically, what are our foundational beliefs? Is that theology and doctrine presented in a language that can be understood by the unchurched? How many adults do we have involved in Bible study and faith development? Small churches that want to be healthy have to find a way to strengthen their Sunday School program or find other ways to involve [people] in a regular study of the Bible (pp. 30-31).

4. A church without a clear understanding of God’s vision . . . is like an octopus on roller skates(p. 32). Let’s Talk about Our . . . Vision What is our church’s vision? How many people in this room or in our congregation can explain that vision and how we implement that vision on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis? Is the vision and mission simple or complicated? How much of our church’s ministry and budget is dedicated to fulfilling that vision?

5. The purpose of worship is to express our praise and thankfulness to God ( p. 44). Let’s Talk about Our . . . Worship How would you describe our church’s worship service? What specific aspects of our worship service help people experience God? Are we willing to invest in some changes concerning our worship to become healthier as a church? What are some changes that need to or could be made in the worship service?

6. Let’s Talk About . . . Change Discuss what comes to your mind when you hear the word “change.” Are these feelings/thoughts founded on certain fears or the simple dislike of change? How did our people (we) respond to the last major change in our church? What was the last suggested change that was rejected by the congregation? Why was it rejected?

7. Personalities or Principles? Let’s Talk About . . . Conflict How would you describe the way our church handles conflict? What are some ways we could handle conflict better? If we foresee some inevitable change for our church happening as a result of this health analysis, how can we as leaders prepare to handle and respond to any conflict produced by this change? (see pp. 70-71) Prayer

8. God is always more interested in our becoming than He is in our doing(p. 74). Let’s Talk About . . . Spiritual Leadership Do we as leaders exhibit the qualifications Gene Getz described in chapter 8? How are we doing as a church in developing future spiritual leaders in our congregation? How would you rate the spiritual maturity of your church leadership?

9. “The future of the church depends on whether it develops true community.” –Larry Crabb(p. 83). Let’s Talk About Our . . . Community How well do you feel our church greets its guests? Is there a genuine sense of grace in our church shown toward others? How can we continue to strengthen relationships with those in our community?

10. People give to a vision . . . Let’s Talk About . . . Stewardship Let’s look at our church’s financial-giving patterns for the last five years. Is the trend up or down? Why? Should we consider stewardship training? Sunday night? Wednesday night? A sermon series? Is our leadership modeling tithing in their giving? Do you think people understand the biblical principle of tithing? How can our leadership promote giving in a positive way?

11. Let’s Talk About . . . Missions Is the primary focus of our church inward or outward? For whom does this church exist? How can we begin to achieve a balance of local benevolence and missional purpose, as well as support world missions and the greater purpose of the global church?

12. Let’s Talk About . . . Long Pastoral Tenure What’s the average pastoral tenure in our church? What is our pastor and church doing to make a long pastorate possible? The average tenure of pastors who effectively reach unchurched people for Christ is 11.8 years ( p.107).

13. Let’s Talk About . . . Outreach Do you see our congregation as a church or mission station? How is the postmodern era in which we live affecting the ministry of our church? Discussion – pastor’s commitment to outreach. Discussion – lay leaders commitment to outreach. Are we committed to reaching others?

14. “People expect excellence from their vehicles, hotels, telephone service – just about everything. Therefore, they expect it in the church.” –Leith Anderson ( p. 120) Let’s Talk About Doing Things with . . . Excellence Let’s review the structural organization of our church. Let’s identify the strengths of our church. How can we improve upon them? • Physical appearance of our church? • Program structure? Is it excellent? • Worship changes for excellence?

15. “One of the most impressive—and important—elements of leadership in the highly effective churches is that most of the leadership comes from the laity.” –George Barna ( p.128) Let’s Talk About . . . Lay Ministry How many people are involved in ministry outside committee or board assignments? Do our members know their spiritual gifts? What specific things is our leadership/pastor doing to equip the people of our church for ministry? Ephesians 4:11-13

16. Based on this diagnosis . . . Where do you think we should begin to focus our prayers and energy for positive change?