Congregations seeking to become more vital should focus less on correcting what’s wrong with their churches and more intently on developing their particular strengths, a noted church leadership expert said during a seminar Sept. 24.

"Our agendas too often become a collection of weaknesses," the Rev. Lovett H. Weems Jr., told 180 local church leaders during the seminar on "Congregational Vitality: Building on Your Strengths." The event was held at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington and sponsored by the seminary’s Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

Weems, an author and former president of St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo., warned those present not to look upon growing membership, worship attendance and congregational giving as sources of strength. These are outcomes of vitality, he said, that result from the things a congregation does right. But he also quoted John Wesley, founder of Methodism, that, "Too often people want the ends of grace, without practicing the means of grace."

Weems identified from a recent study of U.S. congregations 10 strengths that are indicators of vitality:

• Spiritual growth;
• Meaningful worship;
• Broad participation in ministries;
• A strong sense of belonging;
• Care for children and youth;
• Outreach to the local community;
• Active faith-sharing;
• A welcoming environment for newcomers;
• Empowered leadership;
• A focus on looking to the future.

Church leaders should focus their time and resources on developing these strengths and on their assets rather than their liabilities, Weems said. They should view uncooperative choir directors, passive-aggressive trustees, mistakes in the bulletin and dozens of other weekly problems as lesser concerns that can be simply ignored or managed somehow.

In fact, according to the study, churches might want to focus their energies on the top three predictors of growth: caring ministries for youth and children, intentional efforts to welcome new people and broad participation in ministries by the congregation.

The daylong seminar included workshops on those same three topics, led by local church practitioners, plus another workshop on "Hope for the Small Church," led by the Rev. Lewis Parks, a Wesley professor. Each session provided an exchange and discussion of ideas among leaders and participants.

The survey, which included 300,000 worshipers from more than 50 denominations, found that only 28 percent of church people are "engaged" in the life of their church; 55 percent are not engaged and 17 percent are actively disengaged. People in the last group often oppose ministries and new initiatives.

The key question people ask themselves, Weems said, is "In my church, do I regularly get to do what I do well?" It is the church’s role to help more members answer in the affirmative.

In the survey, Weems reported, one surprising result was that small churches, with 100 or fewer people in attendance on Sunday morning, generally possessed six of the strengths. Larger churches, on average, only had four: caring for youth and children, focusing on the community, welcoming new people and looking to the future.

Another surprise, Weems said, is that only 8 percent of church visitors are coming to church for the first time. Fifty-seven percent are transferring from within the denomination; 18 percent are returning after an absence from church and 17 are changing denominations.

Attracting new people into one’s church is often a matter of personal contact. Nearly half of people visiting a church for the first time report that they were invited to attend or knew someone who attended.

Too often, churches today have an unspoken mission statement "to stay as good as we are." Weems said. Vital churches move past that unspoken message and look at "what is God calling us to do next?"

(used with permission)