Mark Dever and Paul Alexander's How to build a healthy Church

 This is a reflection on the book How to Build a Healthy Church by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander. The book is broadly divided into four parts. Parts 1 and 2 discuss gathering the church and when the church gathers, respectively. Parts 3 and 4 focus on gathering elders and when the elders gather. This book has both challenged and convinced me to pastor a church differently from the way I have done in the past. At the same time, I have also raised several questions as I reflected on certain sections.

Reflection on Chapter 1: The Four P’s

In Chapter 1, the four P’s: preaching, prayer, personal discipling, and patience, are all good and convincing. But two of the P’s stood out to me because these are the ones I missed in my past ministry. They challenge my approach to ministry and help me refine my practice in accordance with the Bible. The first P: the authors say, “Members need to know that spiritual maturity is not simply about their quiet times, but about their love for other believers, and their concrete expressions of that love.” Personal discipling is one of the crucial ways of loving one another as covenanted brothers and sisters of Grace City Church. This is what I lacked in my past pastoral ministry. I counseled many people, but never really did personal discipling. Moving forward, starting from my stay in Grace City Church, with full conviction, I would focus more on personal discipling, along with internship readings and writing papers. I have already started meeting four people (one person is on a break), and two more are on the way. It would have been very helpful if the authors had mentioned a time frame through their God-given wisdom. As for me, I feel that meeting with a particular person for 2–3 months should be fine, after which I can change the person. I also remember Pastor Ben sharing about discipling people for a certain amount of time and changing the person. Meeting this many people during the internship may be a huge task, but I feel I need to push myself and work hard on personal discipling because that is the crucial part of what pastoral ministry is about. On top of that, I want this practice to become my lifestyle.

Second P: The authors say that when Mark Dever arrived at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, he voluntarily waited three months before preaching his first sermon. In this way, he showed the people that he was not in a hurry. I remember when my church asked me to become a pastor, I rejected it at first, saying it was too early for me to enter pastoral ministry. But they pushed me, and I later accepted their request. You know what? After becoming a pastor, I was so impatient to preach my first sermon. I think this illustration of Mark Dever has humbled me and convinced me to be patient in the ministry. More importantly, Dever gave wonderful wisdom to aspiring pastors like me. I wholeheartedly accept his wisdom (as you know, I am a crazy follower of his writings and works). He writes that an aspiring pastor should not accept a call from a church if he cannot imagine staying there for at least a few years. He advises that I should go where I can envision contentedly putting down roots for the rest of my life, and commit. This insight is wonderful! It has destroyed my plan for good.  I am eager for church revitalization, not for fame or wealth, but because of my burning passion to build a healthy church. But at home, pastors are given a term system, one term consists of 3, if not 5, years. So now, if I am called to pastor by a church, I am bound by that time frame. This makes it difficult to commit long-term and put down roots for life. This insight from Dever has opened my eyes and helped me think critically about the possibility of church revitalization. It is in God’s hands, and He holds the future.

Entertainment and the Gospel

In Chapter 2, Beginning the Work, the authors shared a thought-provoking view on entertainment. They say that entertainment is a problematic medium for communicating the gospel because it almost always hides the most difficult parts of it, the cost of repentance, the cross of discipleship, and the narrowness of the way. They also add that the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, as well as the transformed lives of our Christian brothers and sisters, speak more clearly of the gospel. Now, I am in a grey area on this, not because I disagree with their view, but because I want to make my position clearer. I used to work for a translation ministry where we also focused on the Jesus Film based on the book of Luke. I used to think that such entertainment is a great platform to spread the gospel, especially because we live in a digital world. I hope this issue will be discussed more during our discussions.

Church Discipline and Questions on Restoring the Excommunicated

In Chapter 5, Doing Church Discipline, the authors explain two kinds of discipline- formative and corrective. This is new to me. I never knew that preaching, teaching, discipling, leading small groups, Bible studies, and corporate worship are considered as discipline. Church discipline, to me, was only corrective discipline. Though this is new, I am very much convinced by the way the authors present it. They give a helpful analogy: formative discipline is like eating right and exercising, while corrective discipline is like surgery. The reason I agree with the authors' view on formative discipline is that through hearing God’s Word from preachers, personal discipling, and Bible study, I am sanctified. I am corrected and becoming healthier in my spiritual life. So, if God permits and I start a church someday, I should focus on both formative and corrective discipline. By doing this, the church will become more attractive to those outside the church. In this book, while discussing church discipline, especially corrective discipline, I like the idea of a care list. It is very practical. Praise God for such wisdom given to the authors! Yes, I have learned this, and God willing, in my future ministry, I will follow it.

But it would have been very good if the authors had also addressed how to receive an excommunicated person back into the church as a member when he or she repents. After excommunication, should the elders pursue him or her? Should someone go and disciple that particular person to win him or her back? When a person repents and returns, should receiving that person be the same as welcoming a new member? It would have been much more helpful if such questions had been addressed by the authors. And I believe, beyond what I have raised, there could still be more questions on this topic.

Reflection on Multiple Services: Upholding Corporate Singularity

And on multiple services (pages 108–109), the authors say that they, as well as the church they serve, are reluctant to use a multiple-service format for the Sunday morning gathering. They present the case for corporate gathering as corporate singularity, meaning one group of people who are all in the same place at the same time. They also give sound biblical proof for this, which I strongly agree with. But as I read their writing, I noticed that they are not very rigid in their stance, which I am not really excited about. The authors, especially Mark Deve,r are very influential, and I greatly admire them. As for me, I hold a strong position on corporate singularity because it is biblical, and the church is a family. There should be a sense of familialness in the church. In the case of multiple services, that familialness is completely diminished.

Concerns About Hierarchical Eldership Structures

In Chapter 14, under Practicality of Plurality, the authors highlight the strengths of plural eldership in the local church. They present five key reasons: it balances pastoral weaknesses, diffuses congregational criticism, adds pastoral wisdom, enables corrective discipline, and defuses the "us vs. him" dynamic. Having served as a solo pastor for three years, I can wholeheartedly affirm the validity of these points. In my home state, most Baptist churches follow a single-pastor model with multiple deacons. At times, this structure creates tension either between the pastor and the deacons, or between the pastor and the congregation, with the deacons siding with one or the other. I believe that a plurality of elders is not only biblical but, for the reasons stated above, also a wise model to adopt. In my view, it is preferable to have more than just one or two elders in a church.

That said, I am not pessimistic about the concept of eldership plurality. However, having witnessed good pastoral friends part ways due to poorly organized eldership structures, I recognize the potential for serious harm if this model is not implemented carefully. For this reason, I would have appreciated it if the authors had offered more guidance on how plurality should function without adopting a hierarchical system, such as using the title senior pastor among the elders. I understand they may not address this, especially since Mark Dever adheres to a hierarchical approach. From their perspective, the system appears well organized. However, as someone who does not believe in the senior pastor title, I find myself genuinely seeking wisdom: how should the roles among a plurality of elders be distributed?

Rethinking Elder Nomination: A New and Biblical Insight

In the chapter Getting Started, the authors challenged me with their insights on elder nomination, an area that is completely new to me. In my former local church tradition, when a pastor desires to bring in additional pastors, a committee, typically dominated by deacons, is formed from within the congregation. The current pastor is kept uninformed and has no involvement in the process. The sole responsibility of selecting new pastors rests with the committee members. However, as I read this section, I was struck by the authors’ wisdom, which seems far more aligned with the heart of Scripture. They suggest that the nomination of a new pastor should be initiated by the current pastor and seconded by another member (especially if the church has only one pastor). Furthermore, they recommend that the nomination be presented to the congregation for a period of about two months. This delay allows the members sufficient time to prayerfully consider the nominee and to raise any concerns privately and graciously with the pastor or elders. If there are objections, the authors emphasize that they should be expressed discreetly and as early as possible. I find this approach both practical and orderly, and I am convinced that it is a wise and respectful way to bring a new pastor into leadership.

Discerning Church Structure: Rejecting Departmental Divisions

In the chapter Staffing, the authors affirm and clarify what I have long believed. They discourage departmental divisions within the church, meaning no separate music department, youth department, mission department, or adult ministries. They argue that departments often lead to division, which is ultimately unhelpful for the health of the church. I agree with them, speaking from my own experience. In Northeast Baptist churches, departmental structures are common. The major ones include: Men’s Society, Women’s Society, Youth Fellowship, Sunday School Department, and Mission Department. As the authors observe, these divisions have often led to unhealthy competition within the church I once served. Each department tends to push its own programs to demonstrate superiority or wealth, and at times, members show greater loyalty to their department than to the church as a whole. For this reason, I no longer encourage departmental divisions in the church. They create unnecessary workloads due to their program-oriented focus and foster rivalry rather than unity. I fully agree with the authors’ recommendation to appoint pastoral assistants who are willing to serve as generalists. Additionally, since I do not support a hierarchical structure within the eldership, I would instead prefer appointing more co-pastors to share the responsibilities collaboratively.

Elders’ Meetings as Worship-Centered Gatherings

I deeply appreciate what the authors write: “If we want the unity of our church to be fundamentally built on the word, then the unity of our elders must be built on the word.” As a pastoral intern, I have personally witnessed this during elders’ meetings. Just as the authors describe the Capitol Hill Baptist elders, our GCC elders begin with prayer, followed by a time of reading Scripture together, engaging in a brief discussion, and then praying in light of the passage. They also pray for members of the church. When I first attended the elders' meeting, I was deeply moved by how the meeting was centered on God’s Word and used as a time of worship. I remember thinking, Yes, this is the right way to do it. In contrast, the church I previously pastored operated quite differently. Every meeting was filled with unnecessary issues raised by the staff, with no Scripture reading, no prayer for each other or the members, which means no sense of worship. There was no centering around the Word. I praise God for allowing me to witness a better example and to learn from it. I believe this is a beautiful and God-honoring practice.

Gaining Clarity on Elder Discussions: Principial and Pastoral

In the section titled “The Agenda: What to Talk About,” I gained another meaningful insight regarding elders’ meetings. As interns, we are allowed to observe the elders’ meeting for about two hours, after which we are dismissed. I do not know what the elders discuss after we leave. However, this section helped me understand what kinds of conversations elders should be having beyond reading and reflecting on Scripture and praying. The authors explain that elder discussions typically fall into two categories: principial and pastoral matters. Principial matters involve theological or ethical principles: doctrinal, moral, and ministry-related topics on which elders seek to reach a shared understanding. Pastoral matters, on the other hand, deal with the care of individual members in the congregation. This framework is very convincing to me and provides clarity on what faithful pastoral leadership should look like. As I have mentioned earlier, this is all very new to me, but incredibly helpful. The only question I have for the authors is this: How frequently should elders' meetings be held? This is something I hoped to find more clearly addressed. While the book describes the nature and content of Capitol Hill Baptist’s elders' meetings well, it does not clearly state how often they take place.

A Striking Quote on Authority: Leading with the Word

One quote struck me and caused me to reflect deeply: “Pastoral authority is like a soap- the more you use it, the less you have left.” Although I do not agree with Mark Dever’s hierarchical approach to eldership, especially the use of titles, in reading this book, I came to sense that he is truly a humble man and a godly leader who understands the boundaries of his role. It is clear that he is not a “one-man army” type of leader. He does not chair every elders’ meeting, sometimes chooses not to vote, and does not assert his opinions on every issue. So what, then, is his focus? His statement about his main pastoral goal gave me a clearer picture of what a pastor should be doing, and I wholeheartedly agree with it. He says that the pastor should lead with the Word, primarily through the biblical fidelity of expositional preaching and the biblical content of songs sung during corporate worship. As the Word is placed front and center, he explains, it begins to shape the congregation without the need for the pastor to constantly exercise authority or make every decision. After reading so much about elders’ meetings and their responsibilities toward the congregation, this beautiful statement redirected my attention back to the heart of pastoral ministry. It is not about craving authority or power but about leading faithfully and humbly with the Word.

In conclusion, How to Build a Healthy Church has deeply challenged and shaped my understanding of pastoral ministry and church leadership. From embracing personal discipling and cultivating patience to rethinking structures like eldership plurality and departmental divisions, the book has helped me reevaluate both my convictions and practices. I have come to appreciate the beauty of leading with the Word, centering elders’ meetings around worship. Though I still wrestle with questions, especially around hierarchical titles and the reintegration of excommunicated members, I am grateful for the clarity and wisdom the authors offer. This reflection marks a turning point in my ministry journey, compelling me to lead with greater intentionality, humility, and biblical faithfulness.