Don Matthews pointed to a white physician’s coat and an old-fashioned medical bag as he began talking about the South Carolina Convention’s Church Health Assessment and Mobilization Planning Strategy (C.H.A.M.P.S.)

Matthews, director, Church Health & Revitalization Office, South Carolina Baptist Convention (SCBC), said, “When a church contacts our office for assistance, we want that to be like the church is going to the doctor.

“We all go to the doctor,” Matthews said. “Sometimes, we go to the doctor because there’s an obvious problem, sometimes things just don’t feel right, and sometimes we just want to make sure that everything is okay. The doctor and patient relationship becomes a partnership for good health. That’s what our C.H.A.M.P.S. process is - the state convention and churches serving as partners.”

By definition from the SCBC Web site, C.H.A.M.P.S. is an “initiative to assist the local church in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission by focusing on the attributes of a biblical, healthy church.” A healthy church is one that is actively pursuing excellence in the six functions of the church as described in Acts 2:42-47. These are: worship, evangelism, discipleship, prayer, ministry, and fellowship. The C.H.A.M.P.S. process is designed to help the local church identify the current level of health (strengths and weakness) in each of the six functions. This process is based on providing customized consulting in the areas of prayer (corporate and personal), encouragement (relevant and practical), resources (customized and reproducible), and coaching (mentoring, training, tracking, and the multiplying of leaders).

“The process includes a consultant-led process (using the SDI – Strength Development Index survey) to determine the attitude, perceptions, and beliefs of the average church member as it relates to the six functions of the church. The Church Health consultant will work with the pastor, staff, and a church appointed Church Health Task Force to initiate, implement, evaluate, and recommend a Church Health strategy that would assist the church to move to the next level.”

Matthews said C.H.A.M.P.S. is normally a two-month process, but “we don’t want the convention calendar to direct the work of the local church. If a church needs six months to complete it, or longer, we want this to be about working with the church’s calendar.” Started in January 2009, 40 SCBC congregations have completed the church health assessment process, and 140 are currently engaged in some way.

“Our goal is to improve the long-term health of a church,” Matthews said. “It’s not necessarily about ‘turning around’ a church for the short-term.” “There are, however, many short-term and immediate applications which can affect the growth of the church.”

Northbridge Church, Charleston, began the C.H.A.M.P.S. process in August 2009 and within nine months saw the benefits.

“Across the board, our church scored pretty well in the different functions; but within the functions, there were some questions that we didn’t answer so well,” said pastor Louis Venable Jr. “In November, we began Friday night discussion sessions; and we’ve averaged 80 of our members at each session, every other month.”

“From those conversations, we’ve looked at the different functions and have created 10 goals for each,” he said. “So far we’ve created goals for worship, discipleship, and fellowship.”

On a Friday night, as the church discussed its discipleship, Venable said there was a roadblock to getting good turnout on Sunday or Wednesday nights.

“Someone suggested that we replace our spring revival with a spring discipleship week,” he said. “It was a great idea. We prayed over the week just like we would for a revival. The first week of May, we brought our people together for eight consecutive nights, and we averaged 158 per night taking seven different courses. I taught a course on “How to Study the Bible” and had 74 attend each night.”

“That’s what this process does for the church - it gets people talking together about specific goals and actions in the church,” Venable said. “This has been great for our church.”

Johnny Rumbough, director of missions, Lexington Association, is a consultant in the C.H.A.M.P.S. process and likes that it works toward long-term goals while accomplishing short-term goals along the way.

“For 30 years, I’ve been involved with a lot of planning processes; and this one is the best at leading churches to their future,” Rumbough said. “From day one, it gets the pastor involved and has a high respect for pastoral leadership. That’s important because the pastor needs to be connected to the process for now and the future. Because of the relationship, I believe pastors are more comfortable stepping into it. The pastor knows he’s not going to be surprised.”

Rumbough said Matthews, of the SCBC staff, has been meeting with small groups of Lexington Association pastors each Monday morning for several weeks.

“I also like that it doesn’t over-focus on strengths and weaknesses, but just presents both as information,” Rumbough said. “A church can then assess several action plans or use those action plans to create their own ideas for their unique situation. The process doesn’t leave a church with an identification of need; the church is left with ideas for moving forward.”

Is it for every church? “It can be for every church,” Rumbough said. “It’s only for the church that is praying about its future and what God wants it to do. Before the process begins, Don (Matthews) will say that it’s imperative the church be engaged in extensive prayer.”

Unlike some planning processes, Rumbough said, “C.H.A.M.P.S. has a built-in follow-up schedule. Going into it, the church knows that there will be follow-up within a year. So, there’s more intentionality to work through it, knowing there’s going to be scheduled time for reflection. And, that follow-up is scheduled at the start of the process.”

Participating churches are also encouraged to study Ken Hemphill’s book Eternal Impact before or during the process. Hemphill is national strategist for Empowering Kingdom Growth, Southern Baptist Convention.

Matthews, a certified church consultant, said South Carolina churches receive the benefit of C.H.A.M.P.S. because of the Cooperative Program. “This is a great example of the Cooperative Program at work. A process like this, working with an independent consultant, could cost a church as much as $10,000. For South Carolina Baptists, this process is provided at no charge because of the Cooperative Program.”