Salt Lake City’s airport is notorious for its long walking distances within and between its two passenger terminals. The distance between gates A2 and A49 and the same in the B concourse is about ¾ of a mile. The tunnel connecting concourses A and B is about ¼ mile. I’ve walked this airport a lot.

Late last April, I arrived at the airport before 5 pm to avoid incurring costs for an additional day of rental car fees and knowing that my flight home did not leave until 11 pm. I had five or six hours to kill, so I figured I would occupy my time by doing a little off-site work, eating dinner, and doing some walking. While engaged in my walk, I felt pain in the left side of my chest that stopped within a minute or so after I stopped walking to make it go away. I had never felt that type of pain or pain in that location before, so I suspected my heart was revolting, but it went away so very quickly that I was not sure. PAIN POINTS

The next morning, I was home and went for my usual brisk morning walk. About ¾ of a mile into it, that pain reappeared and again ended within a minute or so of resting. I knew what it was – angina. My heart was telling me it was unhappy. It had never told me that before.

Fast forward two weeks, and after a battery of tests, visiting three doctors and heeding their advice to do nothing strenuous until they knew what was going on, I awoke in my hospital bed having had a stent placed into my “widow maker” artery which had been 99% blocked. I had avoided a massive heart attack by recognizing the symptoms of ill health and doing something quickly about it.

My doctors (and my friends) have “praised” me for heeding the symptoms of angina and getting help when I first noticed them. But I deserve no praise because some of my own bad habits over my life most probably resulted in the blockage. I recognized the meaning of my symptoms only because I had previously read about them and happened to remember what I had read.

I feel fine now, and the doctors say I am reasonably healthy “for a man my age.” There’s still a journey to go in lowering cholesterol and blood sugar management, but the crisis is over.

I sometimes cannot help myself. I couldn’t help but equate my health scare with the many health issues I have addressed or consulted with church leaders about over the past decade of serving as the director of church health for EFCA West. I knew that I would, in due time, have to write an article based upon my heart experience because recognizing symptoms of disease and doing something quickly to address the underlying cause is something to talk about.

I am frequently saddened by the frequency with which I am contacted to help a church that finds itself in dire straits only to learn that their current problems could have been avoided completely had they recognized the early symptoms of their "disease” and addressed them quickly. As disease is ignored it spreads and gets harder and harder and requires more significant interventions to resolve. Some churches cannot or will not be healed. Some churches require extensive interventions over an extended period to again experience health. And very few church leaders tell me that they frequently pause to thoughtfully examine the health of their churches and their leadership structures and teams – they’re too busy with day-to-day living to reflect upon and address early signs of organizational or relational disease. And, yes, sometimes leaders choose to ignore the symptoms in the vain hope that they will not progress and might even go away without intervention.

I believe it is vital for church leaders to address church health in at least three domains that include spiritual, physical, and emotional health aspects:

1.     Their own personal health.

2.     The health of the leadership team (board and staff).

3.     The health of the church.

The September 2023 Something to Talk About article addressed assessing the health of the church. This month’s article provides ideas for starting your conversation about the health of the leadership team (staff and board) at your church.

• When was the last time we invested quality time together talking about the health of our team (whether staff or board)?
• Is ensuring that our church’s leaders and leadership structures are healthy a priority for us?
• How might we create a system to ensure discussion of this frequently enough to address emerging symptoms of disease before they become entrenched and more difficult to resolve?
• How frequently should we schedule a routine wellness check-up?

Have you ever used the four questions approach to assess team health? I have found this to be a very helpful tool in my work with church leaders.

1) What’s right or working well?

2) What’s confusing?

3) What’s missing?

4) What’s wrong or not working well?

Once you have created your lists, start the work to keep doing what’s working, develop clarity about what’s confusing, add what’s missing, and fix what’s wrong.

Conflict is unhealthy when it becomes personal rather than based upon ideas.

• What are some of the things we might consider in addressing health in our leadership teams?
• Do we have unhealthy conflict among us?

I often say that there should be no place where the fruit of the spirit should be more evident than when the church’s leaders meet to discern the mind of Christ on a matter.

• How do we handle disagreements or make decisions when there are multiple potential options?
• When we meet individually or as a group, do our behaviors reflect the fruit of the spirit?
• Do our interpersonal relationships and relationships with the congregation reflect humility and respect for the other?
• Are we positive examples to the flock that we serve?
• Do our staff and leaders individually live out our church’s mission and values?

A healthy team has healthy structures and systems that enable them to perform their duties effectively.

• Are our meetings productive?
• Do we look forward to meeting together even when the work is difficult, and the decisions are hard? If not, why not?

Avoidance of difficult conversations merely drives those symptoms of disease underground. It was hard but necessary for me to admit that I had coronary heart disease and needed to have it addressed and needed to make the necessary changes in my life to become healthy.

• Do we engage or avoid difficult conversations?
• Do we hold one another accountable for our actions or do we ignore inappropriate or sinful behavior (such as gossip, backbiting, etc.)?
• Are the relationships between ministry staff and the board healthy? 
• Is there mutual respect?
• Do we pray for one another?
• Do we occasionally meet to address church-wide issues or some other important topic?
• How do we demonstrate our care and concern for each other?

You likely have other ideas about what should be included in this list of things to talk about. Using my list is not the important thing. Having an open and honest discussion is the important thing.

Put this conversation on your agenda soon. You may discover some hidden condition that needs to be addressed before your team has its metaphorical unanticipated heart attack. You may find some tweaks that, if made, will enhance your team’s health and effectiveness. You may find that all is well. I’m sure you will find the conversation worth having because the health of your church’s leadership teams is something to talk about.

Let us know if we can help and how your conversation goes. Contact Bob Osborne by e-mail at bob.osborne@efca.org. 

This is one of a series of articles intended to facilitate and guide church leaders’ conversations about significant issues that often are not talked about among pastors, boards, and church leadership teams. Visit the EFCA West website to see prior Something to Talk About articles.