A diagnostic for pastors and elders
Signs of a Healthy Church A Diagnostic Checklist.
Twelve honest statements to hold up against your congregation. No score to chase — just a clearer picture of where your church is strong and where the strain is landing.
Church health is rarely lost in one decision. It slips quietly, in the areas no one is measuring: a pastor running on empty, a discipleship path that stopped working, conflict everyone has agreed not to name. This checklist is designed to surface those areas before they become a crisis.
The diagnostic checklist
Check every statement that is true of your church today
0
of 12
Work through the statements above. A short read on what your answers suggest will appear here.
How to use this with your leadership team
Answer it alone first
Before any discussion. Honest answers rarely survive a room, so get yours down while no one is watching.
Compare, don't average
Have every elder and senior staff member complete it. The disagreements are the diagnostic, not the totals.
Pick two, not ten
Choose the two unchecked statements that worry you most and name one concrete first step for each.
Common questions about church health checklists
What are the signs of a healthy church?
Clear biblical preaching, a spiritually and emotionally whole pastor, a genuinely shared leadership team, a repeatable mission, a working discipleship pathway, real below-the-surface community, an outward posture, honest conflict, ordinary prayer, and intentional leader development.
How do you use a church health checklist well?
Answer it honestly and alone first, then have each elder and key staff member do the same. The value is not in the score; it's in comparing where your answers differ. Those gaps are usually the most useful conversation your leadership team will have this year.
What score means our church is healthy?
There is no pass mark. A church checking ten statements with a burned-out pastor is less healthy than one checking seven with a leader who is well. Read the pattern, not the number.
Who should complete this diagnostic?
Pastors, elders, and senior staff. Some churches also give it to a handful of long-tenured members, whose answers often surface what leadership can no longer see.
Go deeper than a checklist
Walk through your results with someone who has seen it before.
Anágo has walked with pastors and churches for fifty years. If this checklist surfaced something you can't unsee, we'd be glad to talk it through with you.