‘For many churches, identifying how we are church and how we could be church better is likely to prove the most costly, yet the most fruitful, and creative outcome of engagement with the whole healthy church process.’ Robert Warren

Developed out of the Growing Healthy Churches material, this practical guide helps churches identify their strengths and weaknesses and discover what action to take in order to develop the health of their church. The focus is on the quality of the church’s life rather than just the numbers attending.

While not proposing a '60-minutes to the perfect church' type of solution, Robert Warren offers a realistic and positive process for revitalizing your church.  The material is fully road-tested and has been used in local churches across the UK and beyond.

Churches are helped to assess themselves against seven marks of a healthy church:

• Energized by faith
• Outward looking focus
• Seeks to find out what God wants
• Faces the cost of change and growth
• Operates as a community
• Makes room for all
• Does a few things and does them well

The goal is nothing less than encountering the reality of God’s presence in and through the life of each church.

'The materials here are amazingly adaptable. In the Rochester Diocese, the majority of congregations have begun to be touched by these ideas. The process helps them to ask searching questions about their current life, which, if acted upon, will equip them to become lively churches for their wider neighbourhoods in the years to come.' Carol Kitchener (Parish Development Officer) and Michael Howard (Bishop's Officer for Mission), Diocese of Rochester.

Robert Warren was Team Rector of one of the largest and fastest growing churches in England, St Thomas Crookes. In 1993 he succeeded John Finney as the Church of England's National Officer for Evangelism. In 1998 he joined Springboard, the Initiative for Evangelism of the Archbishops of Conterbury and York. He is the author of a number of books including Building Missionary Congregations and co-author of the Emmas - the way of faith programme.

Sample chapters of this title are available to download as a PDF file. You can also see a review of the book that appeared in the Church Times newspaper on 25 June 2004. Use the link below entitled 'Downloads' to view or download these files.