By Aaron Bryant

When you gather with your staff or leadership team to talk about church health, what questions are you asking?

If we’re honest, most of us start with what’s visible: Sunday attendance, giving trends, volunteer numbers, group participation. Those aren’t bad things—but they don’t always tell the whole story. Especially if your ultimate goal is what Jesus gave us in Matthew 28: to make disciples.

At Brentwood Baptist, we’ve been learning to ask better questions. We’ve tried to move away from a programmatic scorecard and toward a discipleship-centered pathway—one that focuses on formation, not just function.

We call it the 5Gs.

Each “G” represents a key area where spiritual growth and church health can be observed. But more than that, they provide a framework to assess your people, your culture, and your systems. They help us ask: Are we making disciples who look like Jesus and live on mission with Him?

→ Brentwood Baptist 5Gs, or “DxD”

Here’s a closer look at the 5Gs and how you can use them to assess the health of your church.

1. Gospel Conversations — Are We Creating a Culture of Evangelism?

Start here. Because if your church isn’t seeing people come to Christ, it’s time to ask why.

Gospel conversations are one of the clearest indicators of missional health. When people are regularly sharing their faith, it signals that they’re growing in courage, clarity, and compassion—and that your church is outwardly focused.

Ask your team:

• When was the last time someone in our church had a gospel conversation?
• Are we training people to do this well—or just hoping they figure it out?
• Do our sermons, stories, and celebrations model evangelism as a value?

If the answer is silence, that doesn’t mean failure—it just means you’ve identified a growth area. And that’s a win.

2. Group Life — Are People Known, Challenged, and Growing in Biblical Community?

It’s possible to have hundreds in worship and still have a deeply disconnected church.

Group life is where discipleship moves from theory to reality. Whether through LIFE Groups, classes, or mentoring, groups provide the space for accountability, application, and spiritual formation.

Ask your team:

• What percentage of our Sunday attendees are involved in a group?
• Are our groups equipping people to grow, serve, and multiply?
• Do we have a clear on-ramp for new people to find community?

If people aren’t known, they won’t be discipled. If they aren’t in circles, they’ll stay stuck in rows.

3. Going — Are We Mobilizing People for Local and Global Mission?

A disciple is not only a learner—they’re a sent one.

Going doesn’t just mean taking mission trips (though those matter). It means helping your people see their everyday life—work, school, neighborhood, sports field—as a mission field.

Ask your team:

• Where are we actively serving our city, and who’s leading that effort?
• What percentage of our people are engaged in serving beyond Sunday?
• Are we identifying leaders to launch new ministries, groups, or campuses?

If people in your church can go for months without being invited to serve, you may be creating consumers—not contributors. That has to change.

4. Gathering — Are We Forming Disciples Through Worship, Not Just Attracting Crowds?

We believe corporate worship matters. But not just because it fills a room. We gather to be formed—to hear God’s Word, sing His truth, and align our hearts to His mission.

Ask your team:

• Are our worship gatherings producing spiritual fruit in people’s lives?
• Are we intentional about connecting Sunday to the other six days?
• Do we celebrate next steps during worship (salvations, baptisms, service, etc.)?

Worship should shape us—and then send us.

5. Giving — Are We Discipling People Toward Generosity in All of Life?

Generosity is a spiritual issue long before it’s a financial one.

Giving reveals what we trust, what we value, and what we’re willing to release. Healthy churches disciple people to give of their time, talents, and treasures—not just for budget’s sake, but for their formation.

Ask your team:

• How often do we teach biblical generosity as a spiritual discipline?
• Are we making it easy for people to discover and use their gifts?
• Is giving increasing—not just in dollars, but in engagement?

Don’t let giving become transactional. Help your people see it as transformational.

Using the 5Gs as a Church Health Dashboard

One of the best things about the 5Gs framework is that it provides both language and lenses. It gives you shared vocabulary to talk about disciple-making, and a practical grid to evaluate your ministry’s direction.

Here’s how you can start using it with your team:

1. Take Inventory. Print out the 5Gs. Then honestly rate your church’s health in each area on a scale of 1 to 5. Strongest? Weakest? Most neglected?
2. Name a Win in Each Area. Where have you seen God move in each G? A student led a friend to Christ. A group multiplied. A missionary was sent. Celebrate those wins.
3. Identify a Growth Step for Each Area. Where are the gaps? What’s one initiative, training, or story that could help that “G” grow this quarter?
4. Start Asking These Questions Regularly. Let the 5Gs become part of your culture. Talk about them in staff meetings, sermon planning, membership pathways, and leadership development.

Final Thought: The Goal Is Multiplication, Not Maintenance

If we’re not careful, ministry becomes about keeping things running—not about multiplying people into the mission of Jesus.

But what if your staff meetings weren’t about just calendar and logistics? What if you regularly asked:

• Are we forming disciples or just filling programs?
• Are people moving deeper into Christ—and further into the world on mission?
• How are we equipping people in each of the 5Gs?

The beauty of this framework is that it’s simple enough to remember—but deep enough to grow with you. It doesn’t require a full ministry overhaul. It just requires a commitment to start asking better questions.

So take some time this week. Sit down with your team. Walk through the 5Gs. Get honest. Celebrate what’s working. Clarify what’s missing.

Healthy churches multiply disciples. And the 5Gs help you get there—one next step at a time.