Vital Signs indicate strengths, weaknesses

Each month the pastor or another staff member furnishes to the annual conference the information found on the Vital Signs Report. This process has existed for a number of years, and we take for granted that noting these statistics is part of the monthly routine in every church and in every district.
In fact, furnishing the Vital Signs information is so routine that I believe the process has lost its impact and is
only perceived as a nuisance.
I have a deep concern about vitality in our congregations. I believe that the information that is found on the Vital Signs Report tells part of the story about vitality or the lack of it in churches that exist, but it is not the whole story. So I’ve been forming my own list of vital signs that include some of the signs on the report as well as others.
Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected from the dead that we might have new life in him. That new life is lived out in our daily lives, and our participation in the corporate (as in body of Christ) life of churches is part of our constant renewal for new life through worship, prayer, study, service and fellowship. We experience new life both as individuals and as the body of Christ.
How can we know that the body of Christ has new life that the body experienced as vitality?

1. Professions of faith are a
crucialsign of vitality in the body.
We are not formed as congregations for our own pleasure of being part of the body but so that together we will have a greater ability to bring others to Christ. If it has been a long time since any adult has professed Christ for the first time, that is a clear cause for concern about vitality.

2. Worship attendance is another crucial sign because it is an indication
of whether or not members of the body are intentionally reaching out in the
community to invite others to participate.

Attendance can also be affected by the fact that services may seem dull and uninspiring to visitors who experience worship as a routine gathering of a social club. Every community has people who are not part of the body of Christ, so if attendance is stable or decreasing, this is a clear cause for concern about vitality.

3. Strong adult Sunday school is crucial because that
is the primary method of drawing people into deeper discipleship.
If a congregation has had the same number of adult classes for ages, or if no one can remember the last time a new class was formed, that is a clear cause for concern about vitality.

4. Any kind of ministry to children and youths is crucial.
The common reason that I hear for starting these ministries is that these age groups “will be the future of this church.” That is a self-serving reason for such ministries and not a biblical one. In a world as dangerous as ours for children and youths, we should be passionate about doing whatever we can in our communities for their sake, not ours. No community is without children and youths in need, and the lack of any ministry to serve these age groups is a clear cause for concern about vitality.

5. Discipling young adults is a crucial or even critical sign of vitality.
Across our district we have a small number of faithful young adults in worship and service through our congregations. However, if any age group is truly neglected, it is young adults. No attention to young adults in our communities is a clear cause for concern about vitality.

6. Stewardship of financial gifts is a crucial sign of vitality, not because of what gifts
do for our churches but because strong stewardship of financial gifts points to strong
and deep spiritual life in our members.
Some churches refuse to hear the “S” word mentioned from the pulpit. Some pastors are timid about discussing this significant spiritual matter with members. Lack of challenge for strong stewardship is a clear cause for concern about vitality.

7. Mission opportunities and community service point to strong and deep spiritual life in our members.
If no such possibility exists in our congregations, that is a clear cause for concern about vitality.

8. Prayer ministry belongs to everyone.
If this ministry belongs only to the pastor, that is a clear cause for concern about vitality.
Some of these vital signs are measured monthly in the Vital Signs Report. Others are not. I don’t think that whether the sign is part of the report is as important as whether our congregations have a deep commitment to new life in Christ and desire vitality as a means of grace that brings others into a new or deeper relationship with Christ.