Book on Healthy Congregations

Recently I read Healthy Congregations by Peter Steinke (Alban, 1996). Steinke is part of the Alban Institute, an ecumenical think tank for congregational life.

This book has been around for a while, but it's a classic. Steinke compares the life of a church congregation to a human body. Just as the human body has a circulatory system, a respiratory system, a brain and a nervous system, etc., a congregation has similar systems that work as a whole to keep the body healthy.

Good circulation in the body is like the healthy flow of information through the parish, for instance. And just as the body has immune systems to identify and defend against viruses that attack the body, a healthy church also has immune systems, namely in good leadership.

Steinke says that good parish leadership is not afraid to address conflict and bring it into the open. Mature leaders manage their own anxiety and keep a positive outlook, while always focusing on the longterm mission of the parish.

He warns about four at-risk conditions: overfocusing on clergy; paying too much attention to painful events; adapting to weakness; and taking sides and taking hostages. He points out that anxiety in a church is a like a virus, and he names four viruses: secrets, accusation, lies, and triangulation.

Steinke helps us laugh at ourselves. He talks about the “coconut captivity” of the church: we’re like a monkey that refuses to let go of the grain in the jar in order to escape captivity. In other words, we’re fearful of losing what we already have and we’re unwilling to take the risks that we need to free ourselves.

As I think about our congregation, I wonder how we can be a healthy and vital parish. This book has a lot of helpful wisdom for us.