Healthy Leaders, Healthy Churches” is the theme for the 2003–2004 church year among Alabama Baptists. The theme expresses the need for all leaders and churches to move toward better health. It also emphasizes the desire and ability to resource the needs of these leaders and churches.
Dale Huff, director of LeaderCare and church administration for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), and Edwin Jenkins, director of leadership/church growth for the SBOM, led the theme presentation. The presentation took place during the Tuesday evening session of the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting in Mobile. Morgan Bailey, pastor of Santuck Baptist Church in Elmore Association, and Ed Cruce, director of missions for Bessemer Association, also participated.
Even though churches are all different, each is very important, the speakers said. Each church needs an instrument, something to help equate success in the eyes of God and its community, that helps them to be all that Jesus Christ intended His church to be.
All churches need a healthy leader. Young leaders must develop good habits from the start of their spiritual growth. Middle-aged leaders must make commitments and follow them to the fullest extent. Older leaders must strive to finish strong in the race, Huff said.
Huff identified four aspects that a healthy Christian leader should possess: spiritual, physical, mental and relational.
The spiritual aspect is the most important because a leader should strive to be holy as Christ Himself is holy. The physical aspect is important because our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit of God, and if a person cannot function in his physical body, then he cannot function as a healthy leader. Huff said to have the mental aspect is to strive to understand or comprehend what it is to be an effective leader for God and in His church.
Finally, in the relational aspect, a healthy leader should have a right relationship with God in order to have a good relationship with family, friends and others.
When discussing healthy leaders for healthy churches, Cruce and Jenkins each mentioned the “Church Health Review,” an assessment manual that was developed for Alabama Baptist churches.
Cruce defined a healthy church as “a biblically functioning community of believers committed to Jesus Christ” and addressed four main concerns that help to develop the character of a healthy church — spiritual growth, ministry involvement, missions advancement and outreach effectiveness.
In a healthy church, spiritual growth is the main priority as it is in a healthy leader. Every member is involved in ministry in the church to make disciples. As a healthy church, it is our responsibility to plant the seed and water it so God can help it grow to be the thing that He intended it to be.
In closing, Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, stated that the theme of “Healthy Leaders, Healthy Churches” needed to be realized as a condition that can be improved throughout Alabama churches today.
Every church in some way has concerns that need to be addressed and, Lance said, “to be considered healthy does not mean perfection and to be confronted with areas of concern which are unhealthy should not bear any shame or stigma.”
He hoped that in the future, all the aspects addressed at this year’s convention will help produce healthy leaders who in turn will produce healthy churches.
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