To invite people into a deepening relationship with God so as to raise up disciples of Jesus Christ who make a difference in the world.

Uplifted by God’s Love

Nurtured through worship

Inspired through Scripture

Transformed through Prayer

Empowered through Spiritual Friendships

Developed through Service

Click here for a complete list of the Six U.N.I.T.E.D. Spiritual Practices descriptions.

We understand healthy congregations to exhibit:²

Empowering Leadership

Leaders of healthy churches understand that one of their primary roles is to equip, support, motivate and mentor individuals to become all that God wants them to be.

Empowering leaders adopt mantras like, “Replace yourself. Learn to hand off what you do.” Or, ”Everything someone else can do, I find someone else to do it.”

Gift-oriented Ministry

Ministry of all Christians is best performed when in line with a person’s life gifts, spiritual gifts, personality type, values and passions.³ The role of church leadership is to help its members identify their gifts and integrate them with ministries that match their gifts.

Passionate Spirituality

Spirituality is seen as passionate when a person’s faith is actually lived out with commitment, fire and enthusiasm. Healthy churches find ways to develop a congregational culture where spiritual passion is displayed openly and without embarrassment.

Functional Structures

All forms and structures of the church, from governance to worship times, must be evaluated as to whether or not they fulfill their purpose. Those that do not are laid aside or changed. Functional structures should also be designed to free up time for doing ministry rather than used up talking about doing ministry.

Inspiring Worship Service

Worship in healthy churches is an inspiring experience for those who attend, regardless of worship style. It is often described as “moving” or ”meaningful.”

Holistic Small Groups

Healthy churches develop a system of small groups where individual Christians can find intimate community, practical help and intensive spiritual interaction. These groups aim at the whole of the person and provide one of the only modes for practicing authentic Christian community.

Need-oriented Evangelism

Healthy churches practice the process of sharing the gospel with respect and honour for the other, and in a way that meets the questions and needs of non-Christians.

Loving Relationships

Healthy churches are marked by strong, loving relationships among their members. For instance, they like to spend time together outside of church events, they invite one another over for meals or for a cup of coffee, they generously dole out compliments, and they laugh together a lot.

All forms and structures of the church, from governance to worship times, must be evaluated as to whether or not they fulfill their purpose. Those that do not are laid aside or changed. Functional structures should also be designed to free up time for doing ministry rather than used up talking about doing ministry.

1 LifeKeys by Jane Kise, David Stark & Sandra Krebs

2 Adapted from Power Surge by Michael Foss

3 Adapted from The ABC’s of Natural Church Development by Christian Schwarz