Churches in need of revitalization usually want to grow. If your church has been maintaining or declining in attendance, you probably want it to grow. If so, the first question that most people then ask is, “How can we get our church to grow?” However, I believe that’s the wrong question.

The right question is, “How can we get our church to be healthy?” You see, the church is the Body of Christ as it says in 1 Corinthians 12:27 (NLT), “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.” The church is a body, not a business. It’s an organism, not just an organization. It’s the living body of Christ and living things, if healthy, naturally grow. You can’t make a plant grow by telling it to grow; but if you keep a plant healthy, it will naturally grow. Likewise, your local church will grow if you focus on keeping it healthy.

So how can you get your church to be healthy? The answer is by simply doing the things Jesus told the church to do! And, what did he tell the church to do? Although you can find the answers to that question throughout the Bible, Jesus was kind enough to summarize it for us in two key scriptures: The Great Commandment and The Great Commission.

The Great Commandment says,

“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV)

The Great Commission says,

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)

In these two scriptures we find the five vital areas that every church must put into practice if it wants to grow. And not just do them, but do them in a balanced way so that all work together. Just as the human body has multiple systems that each fulfill a different function, we are only healthy when all the systems are working properly and together. If all but one is working as designed, let’s say the circulatory system is clogged but everything else is good, then you are still unhealthy. So it is in the body of Christ. If all five of these vital areas are working together as God designed them to, the church will be healthy and grow.

Here’s some good news: every church already does all five vital areas in some fashion already. Your church is already doing them (or at least knows it is supposed to be). The problem is that often a congregation will focus on one or two of them and neglect the others. This is unhealthy. And unhealthy churches don’t grow. You must do all five well and in a balanced way.

So, what are these five vital areas? Well, in the American Anglican Council’s ReVive Seminar we have put them into the acrostic, VITAL. They are:

Vision for Evangelism – From the Great Commission, “Go…” this means both personal evangelism and the church having a missional strategy to reach non-believers in the community where you live.

Intentional Worship – From the Great Commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God…” this means as you gather to express your love to God in worship, you do so keeping in mind how a non-believer visiting would experience every aspect of before, during, and after your worship service.

Transformation to Christlikeness (Discipleship) – From the Great Commission, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” This means to have a spiritual formation process in place that moves people from unchurched to a fully mature missional follower of Jesus. In other words, have a plan to “make disciples” (The Great Commission).

Authentic Community (Fellowship) – From the Great Commission, “baptizing them…” this means to bring people into a genuine “life on life” community of believers where they can both belong and be loved.

Life of Service (Ministry) – From The Great Commandment, “You shall love your neighbor…” this means having a plan to help every member discover who God made them to be so they can fulfill what God made them to do for him and his Kingdom both in and outside of the church.

As I said, your church already is doing all five of these already (or at least four of them). Your church does these because this is what God designed the church to do. These are what the church has been doing for 2,000 years and will continue to do until Jesus returns. The issue is not what to do, the issue is doing them all well and in a balanced way with the goal of bringing in the lost so they are made disciples.

How is your church doing at all five of these vital areas? Are you doing them all? Are you doing them all well? Do they all work together to see lives being transformed into Christlikeness? If not, what can you do to address this so your church will be healthier and grow?

As always, if you’d like more information about this or would like help in these areas, please contact us at the American Anglican Council to find out more about our Church Revitalization resources.

The Rev. Canon Mark Eldredge is Director of Church Revitalization and Coaching.