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Becoming a Blessed Church: Forming a Church of Spiritual Purpose, Presence, and Power
Appendix A: Assessing the Church’s Spiritual Openness
Suggested Use
- Invite the leaders of the church to take this assessment home with them and to spend time prayerfully reflecting on the questions and answering them on a separate sheet of paper.
- Gather the leaders together on a Saturday morning or weekday evening to discuss what they have discerned individually in prayer. You are encouraged to add a short time of worship and/or a short Bible study based on Proverbs 3:5-6 (focusing on what that passage is saying about what the emphasis of leadership in the church should be).
- Form discussion triads and set appropriate time for leaders to discuss their answers honestly and humbly. Invite them to formulate new answers to the same questions on a separate sheet of paper.
- Gather the triads together and set an appropriate time for a large-group discussion of their discernings. Have each group present its assessment of the church.
- Invite the whole group to answer the questions again together, and to craft an overall assessment of the state of the church.
- Follow up with another Saturday session to discuss concrete ways to increase prayerfulness, discernment, spiritual vibrancy in the church, and faith.
Discussion Questions
Prayerfulness
- To what extent are people in the church comfortable with prayer? Do they generally make public and private prayer a priority in their lives?
- How comfortable are the lay leaders with prayer, especially in making prayer a priority in their lives during times of confusion and crisis?
- How comfortable is the pastor with prayer, especially in making prayer a priority in her or his ministry?
Discernment
- To what extent do members seem to give priority to prayerfully seeking God’s guidance through prayer and Scripture?
- To what extent do the leaders, pastoral and lay, give priority to seeking God’s guidance through prayer and Scripture in their lives and ministries?
- To what extent do the leaders of the church board and committees encourage the board and committees to spend time in prayer seeking what God wants, instead of simply going with majority rule?
Faith
- To what extent would you say that the members of your church have a strong faith in that they are willing to trust God in all situations and circumstances, especially in times of crisis and turmoil?
- To what extent would you say that the leaders of the church act in faith during times of crisis and trouble, and to what extent do they trust mainly in their own powers and abilities?
Spiritual Vibrancy and Integration
- To what extent would you say that your church seems spiritually vibrant?
- To what extent do you believe people sense God’s purpose, presence, and power working in their lives?
- How strong is the spiritual dimension in the church; that is, to what extent do spiritual concerns lie at the center of all decisions and determinations of the church and the leadership?
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