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From examining thousands of surveys from 174 congregations, we earlier identified 29 aspects of ministry with strong links to spiritual and emotional wellbeing and increased the number of people coming (Ellsworth & Ellsworth, International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 6(1), 46-60, 2009). This paper explores what happened when church leaders strengthened these aspects. In examining over 12,000 surveys from 37 congregations that surveyed twice, we discovered that 20 of the 29 aspects had a major impact on changing more lives and attracting more people.
This paper identifies and discusses the 20 ministry essentials that actually helped congregations experience higher levels of emotional wellbeing, spiritual growth, and/or attracted more people. We also explore the question; can congregant's emotional wellbeing impact people in the larger community?