In recent years, Wheat Ridge Ministries has exemplified a sincere concern for the health of congregations.  John Maxwell's observation that "everything rises and falls on leadership" would suggest that such health is dependent on the leadership of the congregation's ministry team.  Unless the ministry team is healthy, it is doubtful it will be able to lead the congregation toward health.  Without health, a congregation will not be able to help its members develop as healthy, whole people in the name of and service to Jesus Christ.

The Healthy Teams Workshop process helps teams to be more intentional about their own health.

A tourist is New York City was trying to find his way to a certain landmark and inadvertently stopped a famous musician and asked, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"  Without missing a beat, the musician responded, "Practice."  While it did not help the tourist, it is an absolutely true statement.

How do you get a healthy team?  Practice.  Like any other discipline, it takes time and effort to be a healthy team.  Just knowing the characteristics of a healthy team does not do the job.  Attending one, or a dozen, workshops on teaming does not do the job.  While those things are helpful, and indeed essential, unless you put into practice what you know, if offers little help.

And here is another important point:  it does little good if everyone on the team is practicing independently.  Imagine an orchestra conductor saying to the musicians, "I would like all of you to put in three hours of practice each day between now and our concert next month and please be here an hour before the curtain goes up so you can warm up and get in tune."  What sort of performance will that team deliver?  Or a coach saying to a football team, "Between now and our game next weekend, I would like you to do some strength training and some endurance work and if you get a chance, throw the football around with somebody.  You need to be here a couple of hours before the game to warm-up and suit-up."  What sorts of performance will that team turn in?

It is in the team practice that we learn to listen to one another, to blend our performance with that of those next to us.  It is in team practice that we learn the rhythm and pace of our teammates as they do the tasks they have to do as we play the game.  The point?  Teams have to practice.

The Healthy Teams process gives teams a chance to work together, to practice, outside of their day-to-day ministries, in order to learn the rhythm and pace of their teammates, to listen to each other so they can blend their performance with those with whom they work.  Not only will the team get a chance to practice at the workshop, they will have the opportunity to continue that practice back home.