Honestly, I might seem like an improbable adviser to ministry leaders, but I care deeply for the church and its leaders. As a career executive, I have more than 40 years of experience at businesses such as Blockbuster Video, Angi’s, Boston Market, and Einstein’s Bagels. In the corporate world, I’ve experienced twists and turns, successes and failures. But I wouldn’t change a single thing, because God has faithfully ordered my steps. He has placed me on a most unlikely journey—and here I am, connecting with you.

About 15 years ago as my wife, Theresa, and I were serving various ministries and organizations in our personal time, we noticed that most ministry champions were overworked, disconnected from each other and under-resourced. So we co-founded Gloo, the technology platform that connects the faith ecosystem with scalable solutions. By serving more than 80,000 church leaders across America, we’ve learned important principles that can benefit you and your congregation. And, for us, we get up every day asking how we can unleash the collective might of the church for God’s mission and gospel impact.

In our work, we believe that three shifts in thinking will propel pastors and ministry leaders to more effective ministry and more impactful mission.

1. Measure What Matters With Common Frameworks.

In the mid-1800s, train tracks already existed from New York City to where I grew up in Chicago. The problem was that they did not have the same gauge—so you could go from Chicago to NYC on the railroad, but you had to keep changing trains because the tracks were not the same size. The lack of common standards led to great inefficiency until the Pacific Railroad Acts of 1863 created a common standard, resulting in an explosion of opportunity in the American West. You see, common frameworks unleash new opportunities. 

As a church leader, you work hard, thinking about ways to help your people flourish and your organization thrive. Through our work with Barna, Harvard’s Global Flourishing Project, REVEAL, and others, we’ve learned how deeply pastors yearn to know whether their missional work is impacting lives. It’s their most consistent question. 

Measuring organizational and personal health is difficult, though. It’s easier to track readily observable metrics such as baptisms, attendance, engagement, and volunteerism. And while those types of statistics are important, that’s not what usually keeps leaders up at night. Pastors are less worried about what people are doing than about how they’re doing.

Likewise for congregants, most people long to be seen and known. In fact, that’s essential to every individual’s journey toward flourishing. Being seen and known is beautiful and biblical. Throughout Scripture, we read about being known within the context of trusted relationships.

So, how can you begin to know your people more deeply? Couple your desire to know your people with questions that leverage common frameworks—that is, mutually accepted ways of measuring and communicating. Common frameworks provide a lingua franca—a shared language and clear way of seeing—so we can know what’s happening and serve people more effectively. 

Imagine if doctors measured heart health in hundreds of ways. Think how challenging it would be for practitioners to discern patient health or risk—let alone what steps to take. Thankfully, the medical community did the hard work of pinpointing common frameworks such as body mass index, heart rate, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure. A common mission of better understanding overall health fueled the determination to measure in a common way. 

Today tens of thousands of churches are doing the determined work of measuring what matters in their own ministries. By using the ChurchPulse assessment developed by Barna, Gloo, and the Harvard Global Human Flourishing Project, pastors are discovering how members are doing along seven key dimensions of flourishing: spiritual formation, relationships, purpose, finances, mental and physical health, contentment, and character.

Tapping into decades of research, Barna has taken the ChurchPulse framework even further. Researchers are uncovering common markers of what helps a faith community thrive. Respondents share views about how they as a church are doing in three key areas: nurturing their people, sending people into the community to serve, and equipping them to lead within the church. 

Pastors such as Randy Frazee at Westside Family Church in Kansas City, Kansas—who writes in this very issue—make a regular yearly practice of leveraging these tools to grow their ministry impact. 

In the past, ministry leaders rarely admitted to experiencing stress, panic attacks, or stress-related addictions. Talking about mental health medications or therapy (or both) was taboo. To maintain their public personas, most church leaders kept any “backstage” personal struggles far from the front stage of ministry. 

That has changed significantly. By talking more about mental health, leaders are reversing the stigma. They’re showing by example that unhealthy levels of stress don’t need to become our new normal. We can—and should—find better ways to live. People now assume that leaders bear heavy loads and expect us to work through our own issues so we can serve effectively.

Despite these attitude shifts, many leaders still feel stretched to the breaking point. Burnout is so commonplace it feels inevitable. But it doesn’t have to be.

A Culture of Anxiety

According to recent studies, burnout disproportionately impacts pastors, ministry teams, and nonprofit leaders. Barna research indicates that many church leaders consider quitting due to exhaustion and isolation​. This isn’t just a crisis of logistics, resources, or systems; it’s a crisis of being. Beneath the weariness lies a deeper issue: neglect of the soul.

In “A Failure of Nerve,” Edwin Friedman explains that effective leaders must develop an “unanxious presence”—the ability to remain steady, grounded, and calm amid pressure, uncertainty, and chaos. An unanxious presence isn’t about stoicism or mere grit. It’s about the deep-rooted peace and clarity that flow from tending to one’s soul. This is the future of leadership and, in many ways, the future of work.

When leaders operate from a place of wholeness and peace, they emulate Jesus in ways that words alone cannot. In an age of anxiety, fractured relationships, and constant noise, such leaders offer witness to what is possible when we stay anchored to the unseen. While facing life’s pressures, we can model how to cling to unforced rhythms of grace. We can stand firm, knowing that God is with us and for us. We can move calmly, drawing others to follow not out of obligation but because they sense truth.

The Importance of Soul Care

The urgency of this moment isn’t just about solving external problems. The church needs grounded leaders who operate from peace, not exhaustion or performance. But willpower and clever strategies aren’t the answer. We must be willing to go deeper, slow down, and listen.

That’s where spiritual direction comes in. For centuries, spiritual directors have walked alongside people to discern God’s presence. Their role isn’t to fix but to listen, guide, and help leaders pay attention to the state of their souls. Rooted in the rhythms of silence, reflection, and prayer, this training offers a lifeline for leaders.

Evidence of burnout is everywhere. Despite running on empty, with dry and brittle inner lives, leaders feel compelled to keep producing and showing up. But the costs of that approach—disconnection, cynicism, and eventual collapse—are high.

Thankfully, burnout doesn’t have to be the end of the story. It can be a wake-up call to return to what matters most. The antidote to burnout isn’t working harder or resting temporarily; instead, leaders must embrace rhythms of soul care. They must learn to “lead themselves first,” tending to their own souls so they can sustain the work God calls them to do.

Jesus modeled this, withdrawing to solitary places to pray, listen, and find renewal. He was driven by purpose and peace, not external pressure. Jesus embodied the unanxious presence and invites us to do the same.

Leaders of the Future

Tomorrow’s leaders won’t necessarily be the most charismatic, innovative, or impressive. They will be grounded, resilient, and whole. They will have done the hard, beautiful work of soul-tending.

During a short-lived period of the internet, many people quickly learned not to trust headlines. Clickbait titles that misrepresented the greater story drew in lots of web surfers. Only when we read the full article did we grasp the truth. 

Those days are over—but not because the articles are suddenly trustworthy. On the contrary, now we can’t even trust the article content. Or the video footage. Deep fakes and altered photos show up at every click. And the youngest generation, Gen Alpha, is becoming even more suspicious than Gen Z is about media, government, and other systems that many people once deemed trustworthy. Who can we trust?

Many people have come to rely on short-form videos from unvetted strangers online. As a result, our views about major, life-altering events may be formed in less time than it takes to toast a Pop-Tarts pastry—and by someone whose opinions are likely just as poorly informed. It’s the worst game of Telephone ever, and the world is a different place because of it. 

In a time when artificial intelligence can concoct all manner of convincing mirages, members of Gen Alpha already know to scan to the comments first. Feedback from other people helps viewers evaluate what they’re seeing. Can this video be trusted? Is this a scam? 

Investigating the claims made in a video often takes longer than watching the video itself. This is especially the case as preferred content lengths and attention spans skew shorter each year. And as natural as that may feel to a digital native, it’s still exhausting. 

Old Yet True

According to TechJury.net, an estimated 1.145 trillion megabytes of new data are created every single day throughout the world. As data creation continues to increase exponentially, the church has a unique opportunity to capture the attention and hearts of the next generation. Why? Because what we have isn’t new. Our book is ancient. Christian truths have stood the test of time, after repeated efforts to debunk and dissuade. 

These days, everything new falls under extra layers of suspicion and scrutiny—and rightfully so. The positive side of that? The well-worn truths of God’s heart for humanity hold a rare appeal. When the next generation comes looking for truth, they’re guaranteed to find it in only one place: the Bible. 

But truth—even an ultimate truth—isn’t sufficient to win a heart. Take Lucifer, for example. He was dwelling in heaven, living in the very presence of the Truth. But instead of being swayed by it, Satan chose the lie (Isaiah 14:12; Luke 10:18). See also: the Pharisees (Matthew 11:20-24; 19:20-22). 

To win the hearts (and souls) of the next generation, Christians must go beyond merely speaking the truths of the Bible. Instead, we must savor the beauty of Scripture. We must be personally drawn in by God and his Word. When it comes to loving God and his message to us, we must embody it before we can export it. 

The Source of True Joy

In a sermon titled “One Generation Shall Praise Your Works to Another,” Pastor John Piper examines Psalm 145:4. “Notice the words,” he says. “It does not say, ‘One generation shall merely teach your works to another.’ It says, ‘One generation shall praise your works to another.’ Praise is exultation in God. The education of the next generation must not only aim at exultation; it must involve exultation.”

Exultation means to feel elated, to rejoice. Do you feel that way about God and his Word? If you don’t, you’ll be hard-pressed to convince anyone else to love him. On the other hand, when we see someone else love something—truly and completely—it’s winsome. It’s inspiring. Perhaps you’ve noticed yourself becoming more excited about a certain sports team while attending or watching a game with a lifelong fan. The same is often true of igniting a love for Scripture. That passion is more often caught than taught. 

People all over the world have read through the Bible with me using The Bible Recap plan. In it, I spend zero words telling readers and listeners how worthy or wonderful they are. I don’t try to prove the truth of Scripture either. Instead, I point to the beauty of the person of God. And after pointing it out from that day’s reading, I end each recap with the phrase, “He’s where the joy is!”

How can the church regain influence and achieve more impact? What can the church look like in a time of society-wide anxiety, self-serving ambition, and soul-sucking algorithms? After three decades of work at Barna, I’m increasingly stirred by those questions. Hope bubbles up in the form of spiritual openness. Yet forces of secularization are hard at work to unseat the plausibility of Christianity.

Church leaders cannot become consumed with securing our own legacy; I’ve learned how fleeting life can be. Instead, we must build something enduring, something timeless that serves God’s purpose for generations to come.

During a recent visit to the United Kingdom, I was deeply impressed by a tour of Westminster Abbey. Builders created this structure with a vision so grand it outlived them by centuries. One can’t help but feel awe and wonder inside that great hall. Later that day, I visited a pop-up Gucci exhibit. Though it was a fascinating and interactive celebration of a brand, it was ultimately self-referential and transient. 

These two experiences couldn’t be more different. One is an enduring monument to faith, the other a fleeting glance at fashion. This juxtaposition made me wonder what kind of vision the American church envisions and is working to build. Are we creating Westminster Abbeys or Gucci exhibits…or something else entirely?

The answer lies in the paradoxical truths of embracing innovation and nurturing our roots. I strongly believe we’re in a moment for new thinking, new leaders, new models, and new opportunities. This is a “new wineskins” moment, as Jesus describes in Matthew 9:17. “Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved” (NIV). 

Institutions, leaders, and congregations have opportunities to reinvent. We can reimagine the church in ways that meet the challenges of our secular, tech-driven age while staying rooted in the transforming Gospel of Jesus.

The Need for Perspective 

First, we should assess the challenges as well as the bright spots. Religious affiliation is in decline. The rise of “spiritual nones” and the disaffection of young people from traditional faith structures are sobering. For the first time in more than 30 years of Barna’s social research, young women are increasingly churchless and, surprisingly, more likely than young men to identify as unaffiliated. Historically, women have led the way in propelling church activity and religious affiliation. Now they’re setting the pace in saying the church no longer works for them. This is massive! It’s the first time we’ve seen this kind of disaffection among young women, and Christian leaders must grapple with and respond to this major shift.

Still, signs of life abound. Millennials and members of Gen Z show remarkable openness to spirituality, provided it’s authentic and relevant. These groups even outpace Boomers and Gen-Xers at saying the pandemic opened them to God. The church must meet younger explorers where they are and invite them into the grand epic of following Jesus as the answer to their spiritual quest.

Technological Disruption

Technology, which has changed the world in unimaginable ways, has huge implications for Christian leaders. The same smartphone that connects people can isolate them. Algorithms that link us to the world can replace the Holy Spirit and prayer, seeming to know us better than we know ourselves. 

If wielded wisely, technology can enhance community and mission. But it also can detract from the very essence of human connection that God calls the church to foster. As artificial intelligence and other innovations emerge, church leaders must discern how to navigate them. We can view these tools as neither dystopian nor utopian but instead stay grounded and hopeful.

Rising Spiritual Openness

Amid the chaos of modern life, a growing hunger for meaning is emerging. Younger generations crave authenticity and community. They want a faith that addresses life’s deep challenges—loneliness, purpose, and healing. In Barna’s two-year study “Engaging the Spiritually Open,” 72% of U.S. adults said they believe it’s at least possible that life has a spiritual dimension, and they’re curious to explore it. This openness is a call to action. The church must step into its role as a beacon of hope and healing through Jesus.

Lack of Imagination

Perhaps the greatest barrier to a bigger vision for the church is a lack of imagination. Too often, people and churches are content with the status quo. But God calls us to dream bigger, to see beyond the immediate, and to envision faith communities that embody Jesus’ life-changing power.

When I was 9, my parents made a decision that forever changed my life. They chose to migrate our family from Guatemala to North America. At the time, I had no say in the matter. The move left me fearful of the unknown, uncertain about fitting in, and longing for the familiarity of my childhood home. 

Have you ever experienced such a profound shift—losing everything familiar or being placed in a situation completely out of your control? If not, it may be hard to grasp the complex demographic changes that many Latinos in the United States are navigating today.

A Shifting Cultural Landscape

The Latino population is one of America’s fastest-growing demographic groups. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that as of July 2023, approximately 65.2 million Latinos live in America. They make up almost 20% of the country’s total population. This significant growth not only highlights the increasing presence of Latinos. It also points to the profound need for more Spanish-speaking churches that are culturally and linguistically equipped to serve these communities.

At City-to-City Southern California, we’ve witnessed Hispanic leaders rise to meet the spiritual needs of their communities. Across six regional incubators, including Tijuana, we cultivate Christian leaders from diverse denominations and networks. For 2025, we’re preparing to launch 10 new church plants, and we’re slated to revitalize another 42 churches. 

A Shifting Church Landscape

Despite widespread stagnation or decline among many Spanish-speaking churches, first-generation pastors are embracing education and community engagement. Meanwhile, second- and third-generation pastors are stepping up to bridge generational divides. That is evidenced by a Lifeway Research study showing that 69% of U.S. Hispanic Protestant pastors conduct worship services in Spanish, while 18% offer bilingual services.

As America’s cultural landscape evolves, the challenge for non-Hispanic church leaders lies in transitioning from ownership-driven leadership to a stewardship model characterized by humility and inclusivity. Historically, many church movements have been dominated by people who control the resources and hold institutional authority. However, true stewardship requires selflessness, a welcoming attitude, and the willingness to share power and leadership. 

Similarly, Hispanic leaders are shedding outdated church practices imposed on them during the initial spread of the gospel in their countries of origin. For these transformations to succeed, churches need to reimagine our power structures. We must ensure that the Holy Spirit’s work and the kingdom of God are accessible to all, not confined only to people who hold resources or institutional authority.

This cultural shift prompts a critical question: How well do we truly know the people we serve? A guiding principle I often share is that “I cannot take people where I have never been.” This reminder compels faith leaders to step out of their comfort zones so they can cultivate empathy and a deeper understanding of their communities. The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates such compassion vividly, as Jesus demonstrates the importance of seeing, hearing, and acting on other people’s needs.

Empathy is a vital but often underdeveloped skill among modern-day Christian leaders. Many of us are trained to prioritize vision, strategy, and growth. Yes, those areas are undeniably important. But sometimes they can overshadow a community’s spiritual and emotional needs. 

Without empathy, we risk becoming blind to the struggles of our neighbors and deaf to the movement of God in our cities. As God reminded Moses, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress…Yes, I am aware of their suffering” (Exodus 3:7, NLT). If we are to lead as God calls us to, then we must adopt this same posture—one that sees, hears, and acts with compassion.

How To Reach Latinos With the Gospel

In order for Christian churches to respond well to the growing Latino population, denominational structures and assessments must adapt. Current models often overlook the unique cultural contexts of Latino communities, which then creates barriers for Latino church planters. 

As a young man, new to my relationship with the Lord, I became fascinated by the ways people served him. I saw street outreach teams sharing hope, bus ministries bringing families to church, and food pantries offering meals to hungry neighbors. The creativity and diversity of these ministries captivated me. From those early days, my understanding of the vast expressions of God’s kingdom took shape.

Networks are much like that. They’re collective expressions—leaders, churches, and organizations united by a vision to bring hope, address pain, and spread the Gospel. Each network reflects the heart of God in unique ways, and I’ve grown to love and respect that diversity.

The Story of ARC

ARC (Association of Related Churches) is one such network. At the beginning, our focus was simple: resource couples who dream of planting life-giving churches. We didn’t dictate where people should go. Instead, we listened as they shared what cities God had placed on their hearts. If couples were ready and healthy, we partnered with them. 

In 23 years, God’s grace has been evident in incredible ways. ARC has planted 1,037 churches—each a unique expression of the body Jesus is building. Every one of these self-governing churches carries its own culture and vision while remaining rooted in the broader mission of Jesus.

Churches have come alongside us, investing resources, time, and leadership. Together, we view church planting as a collective movement that is transforming American communities.

We’ve always known, though, that ARC is only one small part of what God is doing globally. The body of Christ is vast, and the mission is shared. In the early days, ARC connected with networks such as Acts 29, Stadia, Nu Thing, Exponential, and NAMB. We gathered regularly to talk shop, share ideas, and build relationships. Sometimes we fished, hunted, or simply sat around a table together. By learning from one another, we’ve grown and improved, leading to increased effectiveness.

Church planting has always been a unique calling. It’s not for the faint of heart. These missionaries uproot their family, move to a new city, and work tirelessly to crack the code of reaching people for Jesus. It’s a labor of love, challenge, and deep faith. Looking across today’s landscape, three trends present opportunities and challenges for outreach.

3 Factors That Shape Church Planting

1. The Need To Navigate Culture 

The unprecedented pace of change in American culture can open doors yet is tricky. While engaging people authentically, we must stay true to core biblical beliefs. Young people are connected online yet desperate for meaningful relationships. They hunger for authenticity, relevance, and encounters with the presence and power of God.

If we embrace this moment, meeting people where they are while offering the unchanging hope of Jesus, the ministry possibilities are limitless.

2. The Need To Leverage Technology 

The modern-day church has access to unparalleled tools. We can connect with people in ways that were unimaginable just a decade ago. Digital platforms expand our reach beyond physical buildings, allowing us to share the good news through innovative avenues. When used well, technology is a valuable bridge to engagement and discipleship.

3. The Need To Prioritize Mental Health for Pastors and Their Families

The pandemic exposed an overlooked reality: Many pastors were struggling emotionally. When the world shut down, pastors carried immense uncertainty, wondering if, when, and how their churches could reopen. Some church planters who launched in early 2020 had to shut their doors weeks later. Others couldn’t even determine who was still part of their congregation.

This crisis revealed cracks in pastoral care, with spiritual leaders feeling overwhelmed, isolated, and ready to quit. At ARC, we recognized this need and responded. For example, Greg Surratt, founding pastor of Seacoast Church in Charleston, South Carolina, launched retreats such as Church Creek. There pastors can take a breath, spend time in nature, and connect with like-minded peers. Through these spaces, hundreds of church leaders have found healing, restoration, and clarity.

In March 1972, NASA launched Pioneer 10, its first mission to our solar system’s outer planets. The excursion, initially designed to last 21 months, ended up spanning three decades. The results far exceeded expectations, notching a series of firsts for an uncrewed spacecraft. By 1983, Pioneer 10 had flown beyond Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune—all firsts. 

Even so, the mission didn’t go perfectly. A litany of unexpected issues required in-flight course corrections. Yet, the mission moved forward until 2003, when Earth received a final signal from Pioneer 10—from 7.6 billion miles away. The progress of that 30-year space initiative changed history, laying the groundwork for the even greater success of Voyager 1.

In 2015, a collection of like-minded churches called the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) formalized its own pioneering mission. Called Send Network, its goal was to accelerate the reach and impact of church planting in North America like never before. In 2025, the effort is marking 10 years of kingdom impact.

Thanks to God’s grace and the dedication and sacrifices of his people, we can celebrate many blessings. Through Send Network:

• Tens of thousands of congregations have made generous financial contributions and commissioned faithful leaders.
• Thousands of missionaries have said yes to God’s call.
• Thousands of churches have been planted across North America.
• The good news of Jesus’ gospel has changed countless lives, families, and communities.

Lessons From the Field

SBC and Send Network leaders are incredibly grateful for our small role in growing God’s kingdom. Amid all the reasons to celebrate, we’ve also taken time to reflect. During the past decade, we have learned valuable lessons about how to best attain the goal of church multiplication. 

Send Network has identified three guidelines that best position Southern Baptists and other Christians to share in God’s mission:

1. Essentials should drive planter development.

We have homed in on several key characteristics that serve as a framework for faithful, effective church planters. To multiply churches, first you must multiply leaders. That’s why the following nine essentials shape the entire Send Network planting process:

• The Heart: Does the church planter walk with God?
• Relationships: Is the planter cultivating healthy relationships?
• Calling: Is the planter confident in calling?
• Theology: Is the church planter theologically grounded and gospel-centered?
• Mission: Does the planter regularly do the work of evangelism and disciple-making?
• Teaching: Does the planter handle God’s Word faithfully?
• The Church: Does the planter love the church?
• The Nations: Does the planter prioritize global engagement?
• Practical Leadership: Does the planter have the practical leadership skills to plant a church in the desired location?

No planter enters the process fully formed, of course. But these qualifications serve as a biblical target for planter development. The list helps clarify the goal as churches create localized church-planter residencies and growth plans.

These essentials interact in a church planter’s life through Send Network’s Planter Pathway. This path, which plots the first five years of a church-planter’s journey, includes a series of mile markers: Prepare, Assess, Care, Equip.

The Prepare stage guides “sending” churches as they disciple up-and-coming church planters and teams. Assess thoroughly examines the calling and competency of church-planting missionaries, through a process that includes an assessment retreat. Our ongoing Care strategy strives to ensure that every missionary is seen, known, and resourced for health and longevity. Finally, the Equip stage develops church planters in Send Network’s Missionary Task: engaging the city with the gospel, making disciples, and planting a local church.

Let’s say I call to schedule an annual physical, and my doctor says, “Naw, you don’t need to come in. I have a good hunch about what you need. My office will call in some prescriptions to the pharmacy, and I’d like to suggest we take out your gallbladder.” 

How would you respond? You’d probably tell the doctor, “You’ve lost your mind!” Without debate, that type of behavior would be medical malpractice at the highest level.

But are pastors doing the same thing in churches today? Are we approaching the people we serve and minister to with hunches and best guesses about what they need? 

Consider: Pastors and other church leaders offer sermons and a range of programs, often without listening to discover people’s specific needs. We don’t take time to learn their dreams, aspirations, or hurts. We move forward without asking if any gaps exist in church members’ faith or beliefs. Although it may be a bit bold to state it this way, I suggest that approach is a form of spiritual malpractice.

A Medical Analogy

For several years, my primary care physician was Dr. David Player, founder of Health By Design and author of “Health Starts Now: A Backdoor Approach to Treating Faulty Immunity and Chronic Disease.” He never left my health to hunches. Dr. Player drew my blood, conducted bone density and stress tests, performed an ultrasound on my internal organs, and checked my vision, hearing, fingernails, toenails, and a few other things I’m not willing to talk about here. He also asked me a series of questions about not only my physical health but my spiritual health, mental health, relationship health, and vocational satisfaction. A checkup with Dr. Player was an all-day event. 

Two weeks later, I would return to his office. Bringing along my wife, Rozanne, was mandatory. Dr. Player insisted that she stay dialed in on the state of my health. After all, holistic health isn’t a solo sport. At each year’s post-physical meeting, the doc gave me a 68-page hardbound book with my name on it. Page one introduced Dr. Player as “Your Shepherd to Good Health.” Next came the results of all those tests, plus an action plan tailor-made for me.  

Dr. Player, a devoted Christian, shared with me his conviction that the church should take the same approach. He went so far as to say a church shouldn’t seek to grow until it has a plan to attend to everyone who comes under its care. As a pastor, those words pierced my soul. I knew the doctor was speaking truth—God’s truth. Proverbs 27:23 offers these instructions: “Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds” (NKJV).

The Value of Assessments and Feedback

Seven years ago, I became the lead teaching pastor at Westside Family Church in Kansas City, Kansas. I was determined, in partnership with the wonderful team I serve alongside, to accept Dr. Player’s challenge. Our first task involved locating some tools to measure the health of the flock I serve as an under-shepherd to Jesus. 

We chose two assessment tools that offered useful feedback to help our folks become and stay healthy. The first, Reveal, was created by The Willow Creek Association and is now owned by Gloo. The tool, which is unavailable at this time, asked congregants to identify where they are in their spiritual journey—from “exploring Christ” to being “Christ-centered.” Then it asks a series of questions about beliefs, spiritual practices, and virtues. Finally, people have an opportunity to share what catalyzes their spiritual growth and how their church is doing in assisting them. 

In a typical week, a Black church hosts many activities that nourish the whole person. During choir rehearsal, gospel anthems fill the sanctuary with uplifting melodies. On weekday afternoons, retired teachers tutor students, blending academic support with warm encouragement. A community breakfast on Saturday morning brings neighbors together over a hot meal, addressing both physical and social needs. As Easter approaches, children practice speeches with the help of patient volunteers, building anticipation about cherished traditions.

These moments, experienced in Black churches across America, illustrate a commitment to caring for every aspect of life—not just on Sundays but throughout the week. This holistic approach provides valuable lessons for church leaders and faith communities, demonstrating how ministry can enrich neighborhoods and help the larger society flourish.

Historical Roots

For generations, Black churches have stood as havens of strength and hope in African American life. During slavery and segregation, these faith communities provided refuge, spiritual leadership, and a sense of belonging. Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, Black churches became command centers for justice. In every era, these congregations have inspired creativity, community, and social uplift.

The Black Church isn’t a monolith; these congregations vary in tradition, worship style, and focus. Yet they share a common mission: building faith in Jesus while meeting people’s physical, emotional, and intellectual needs. These purposes, shaped over centuries, challenge all faith communities to restore hope and put love into action.

Authentically Christian, Distinctly Black

The Black Church was born out of necessity. It emerged to meet the spiritual and social needs of people who were excluded from mainstream worship spaces. Both enslaved and free African Americans created sacred communities where they could worship in freedom and fullness. During the Great Awakenings, an emphasis on personal salvation and spiritual equality deeply resonated with African Americans. They were drawn to messages that powerfully affirmed their humanity and dignity.

Yet the Christianity that Black believers encountered was often distorted. Some people misused Scripture to justify oppression and deny worth. In response, African Americans reclaimed the faith, seeking its true message and interpreting the gospel through the lens of their struggles and lived realities. Black believers forged an expression of faith that remained wholly Christian while offering fresh insights into grace, perseverance, and God’s boundless love.

Through Spirit-filled worship, expressive music, and participatory prayer, the Black Church cultivated a worship environment that reflected the fullness of life in Christ. Whether through songs of adoration and thanksgiving or prayers of lament and renewal, these expressions embraced the breadth of human emotion and a deep trust in God’s providence. At the heart of this worship was a strong sense of community, where shared acts of praise brought healing, encouragement, and spiritual rebirth.

This distinct identity, shaped by both faith and cultural heritage, equipped the Black Church to serve as a place of spiritual refuge. Contributions such as discipleship and vibrant expressions of worship continue to inspire believers worldwide. As a result, the Black Church reminds the global Church of faith’s power to transform individual hearts and entire communities.

Spiritual Anchor and Social Catalyst

In America, the Black Church quickly evolved beyond its role as a place of worship. It embraced dual roles: a spiritual anchor and a driving force for social change. By the 20th century, the Black Church had become a command center for movements of equality and justice. It elevated leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a champion of nonviolent resistance, and Fannie Lou Hamer, a voice for grassroots activism. These figures—alongside countless other pastors, community organizers, and congregants—demonstrated how faith communities can inspire movements for justice while nurturing the spiritual strength required to persevere.

These simultaneous roles remain central to the identity of the Black Church. It continues to address members’ holistic needs of body, mind, and soul while challenging and overcoming systemic biases. At the core of the Black Church’s two-pronged purpose lies a commitment to mentorship, ensuring that its mission endures across generations. This dynamic blending of pastoral care and advocacy offers a compelling model for churches of all traditions. It shows how Christians can use the power of the gospel to bring about individual spiritual renewal as well as much-needed social change.