Church Health
The TSS vision is of 100 healthy churches by 2050. This is part of a broader vision of 1,000 healthy churches across NSW & ACT.
A healthy church is a Christ centred church where every member is:
- learning about Christ
- loving like Christ
- living for Christ
- leaning on Christ
- leading others to Christ.
We catch a glimpse of this in Acts chapter 2, verses 42-47, where the first Christians devoted themselves to “the Apostles’ teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and to prayer”. Consequently, they enjoyed “the favour of all the people” and “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Inspired by Acts chapter 2, TSS values:
- spiritual growth
- Christian unity
- godly living
- prayerfulness
- fruitful Christian service.
We want to see our member churches grow in:
- their love of God’s Word
- their love for one another
- their desire to honour Christ in everything
- their dependence on the Holy Spirit
- their passion for those who are not-yet Christian
If you are one of our member churches, then we would urge you to join us in treasuring these things.
If you not one of our member churches but treasure these things too, then we would invite you to join us.
The above represents some of the key spiritual elements of church health. However, TSS also recognises that church health is impacted by a wide range of practical elements too. These include:
- a clear understanding of the mission of the church
- a widely shared vision for the church
- a prayerfully thought out strategic plan that helps the church towards the fulfilment of its vision
- good governance
- well-thought out policies
- sufficient finance
- good communications
- much more!
TSS can help your church assess its current health, identify areas that could be healthier, and put in place measures to improve health. You can access a simple church health check-up tool below, and can begin a conversation with the TSS Church Health Facilitator via our Contact form.
church health resources
Things all pastors need to know
June Transform Southern Sydney Regional Zoom, Wednesday 24 June
Speaker: Sam Sterland
Sam Sterland spoke to us about ‘Things All Pastors Need To Know’. Some of the topics covered: church health, evaluating your church, and personal sustainability.
Sam, who has served as a pastor and worked as a counsellor, is now a senior researcher with NCLS and had some fascinating insights to share.
Emotional resilience during Covid-19
Tim Dyer speaking at TSS Regional Zoom 27 May 2020
Creating safe spaces
Katie Watkins (NSW Baptist Churches) & Matt Willis (Gymea Baptist Church) provide insight into Creating Safe Spaces policies and how to implement in our local NSW Baptist churches.
Finding rhythm in the pulpit
Marc Rader, Senior Pastor at Gymea Baptist Church, shares his insights and tips on the process of preparing sermons when you need to deliver a message from the (real/virtual) pulpit week-in-week-out, even during a pandemic!
Church health & Vitality indicators
Download this Church Health diagnostic tool (PDF).