Good evening all! I was quite sick last night (the night before that, I was out extremely late), but no matter - now I'm back on deck, and so we'll have a look at chapter 13.
This chapter is a shortish one, but it's also an important concept (and a little controversial).
Many times when we run events designed to attract the unbeliever (remembering from the last chapter that attractional concepts of evangelism aren't necessarily wrong), we don't include worship. The rationale is that worship is primarily aimed at people who are already Christians. But Warren here introduces the radical idea that worship can actually be a witness.
He lists 12 convictions about worship.
1) Only believers can truly worship God. No problem there so far. After all, it's impossible to tell someone what they're worth if you don't believe they exist, and that's essentially what worship is.
2) You don't need a building to worship God. Again, no questions so far. If you needed a special building, the church I have really been involved in since 1982 would be problematic!
3) There is no "correct" style of worship. No hassles here. The last 20 years has shown me so much in the way of variation of worship style that I'd accept this one as axiomatic[1].
4) Unbelievers can watch believers worship. Well, yes. They can see us, how we value God, how we respond to God's word, how the Bible answers the problems and questions of life. Interesting - a difficult question would be "What would people see if they watched us when we didn't realise they were there?
5) Worship is a powerful witness to unbelievers if God's presence is felt and the message is understandable. I wrestle with this concept - thinking of the day of Pentecost, for example! - but I can see the truth in it. If someone came to church and saw God doing God's thing, unbelief would become problematic. Warren goes on to point out that at Pentecost, one of the key things that made the difference was people hearing the Gospel in their own language; we must communicate in the normal ways people communicate truth to reach them.
6) God expects us to be sensitive to the fears, hang-ups and needs of unbelievers when they are present in our worship services. That makes sense too. Warren talks about the concept of "Seeker sensitive" services.
7) A worship service doesn't have to be shallow to be seeker-sensitive. The message doesn't have to be compromised to be understandable. I think I have always seen the truth in this intellectually; however, I realise that at some level I don't believe it. I keep thinking that when we do things to be seeker sensitive we have to "dumb it down" so to speak. This is easily seen to be a bad idea.
8) The needs of believers and unbelievers often overlap. They are very different in some areas but very similar in many areas. I guess this makes sense, but it goes against my gut feelings. Here's where some humility is necessary - it's important that I don't give gut feeling more importance than someone who has demonstrated that he understands how to build a church! In any case, he's right - everyone needs to know what God is like, to understand the purpose of life, to know how and why to forgive others and [especially] everyone needs help in strengthening marriage and family.
9) It is best to specialize your services according to their purpose. I guess this is fairly self-evident too. Here's where the difference between a "seeker sensitive" service and a "seeker service" comes in - not all services should be seeker services, but all services should be seeker-sensitive.
10) A service geared towards seekers is meant to supplement personal evangelism, not replace it. A hearty AMEN! to this one. Remember that the amazing movement of God we experienced at the Billy Graham Crusades was actually the result of years of work before Billy Graham came to Australia, not just something that happened there and then.
11) There is no standard way to design a seeker service. Unbelievers are not all alike! Added to that, We're not all alike either. The non-negotiables are: 1) Treat unbelievers with love and respect; 2) Relate the service to their needs, and 3) Share the message in a practical, understandable manner. Remember that what really attracts large numbers of unchurched to a church is changed lives!
12) It takes unselfish, mature believers to offer a seeker-sensitive service. That's another axiom, right there. Remember, our attitude should be the same as Christ's!
[1] Science language, sorry - but this is a great word. It just means "Self-evident truth."
Showing posts with label Purpose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Purpose. Show all posts
27 January 2012
17 January 2012
Purpose Driven Church Ch8b - Applying your Purposes
And on we go. Hopefully the next few points won't be marathons like the first two. But let's see.
3) Educate your people on purpose.
This is thought provoking for me. Often I tend to see the teaching of the Bible as an end unto itself - that people should come out of the Sunday service with a better academic understanding of the part of scripture that was preached on.
This, however, is challenging - "You only believe the part of the Bible that you DO."
t work here. He uses a baseball metaphor, unfortunately, but it is in a fairly simple diagram, which I reproduce here:
People are consciously moved from "1st base" to "3rd base", and then to "home", which is repeating the process and helping to reach others for Christ.
What this demonstrates is a really clear understanding of how training in Spiritual things actually works - and although I know my Bible backwards, I wonder if this just shows how little I really know. This really is about "turning an audience into an army".
4) Start small groups on purpose.
Since there are people at different points in the circles, it makes sense to specialise. Small groups are set up for seekers, for team members, for specific needs and for growth.
In our situation, we currently have growth groups operational, which is appropriate for our people. But if (as I hope!) that we really get into a serious effort to reach our local area, one of the first things we'll need to set up is a small group specifically aimed at helping people become Christians and developing good habits of maturity.
5) Add staff on purpose.
This is something we've actually been doing in our search for a staff member for the church. It's not enough to find someone who has a good personality and competence; it's important that their passion is about one of the purposes of the church (and clearly, it needs to be a purpose that your church is actually working on!).
One interesting thought - if he were starting a new church today, Rick Warren would recruit five volunteers for unpaid staff positions - a music/magnification director (worship), a membership director (fellowship), a maturity director (discipleship), a ministry director (ministry) and a missions director (evangelism). He would aim to eventually make these people part time and then full time.
6) Structure on purpose.
Once again, Warren talks about putting people into teams based around the purposes of the church rather than traditional departments. This is interesting precisely because it is both so counter-cultural and yet so logical. The reason I say this is logical is because each team will know exactly what it is aiming to accomplish, its boundaries and its goals.
7) Preach on purpose.
Here's a point on which I disagree a little with Warren. He says that a church needs to ensure that preaching focuses on each of the five purposes during the year. I can see the benefits of this, but my own opinion and training is that the preaching should be more based on the Word of God itself than on categories we place it into. That said, maybe it is worth asking the question every time one preaches - "What purposes does this passage impact?"
That said, Rick suggests that this shouldn't take up the entire year. He says "A four week series on each of the five purposes need only take up 20 weeks a year". So maybe there's something to this.
Maybe we could do both. Perhaps we should ensure that during a typical year we got some stuff from the psalms (on worship), some material from Paul (discipleship), some stuff on the Great Commission (evangelism), A pastoral epistle (fellowship) and some teaching on spiritural gifts (ministry).
8) Budget on purpose.
I have never really had too much interest in budgets, but it is interesting to ask what a church's budget says about its priorities. Simply put, you should be spending the majority of money on what you think is most important.
9) Calendar on purpose.
Again, interesting - Warren says you should calendar 2 months of each year to give special emphasis to each purpose. This would be linked to the teams discussed in structure - each team would be given the task of emphasising that purpose church wide during their months. He gives the warning "Don't fool yourself- if you don't schedule your purposes on your calendar, they won't get emphasized".
10) Evaluate on purpose.
This, at least, is simple and understandable. If you wish to remain effective as a church, you HAVE to ask yourself "how are we doing?" every so often. Again, a metaphor I like - Imagine NASA doing a moon shot with no tracking! And evaluation must be involving each of the purposes.
Whew! Made it through all of them. Once again, this is good stuff. Next time we'll be reaching out to the community . . . .
Oh, and just in case stuff happens - I'm taking the kids to the SCG tomorrow night, so there is a distinct chance that we might not make it back till very late. This could mean we don't get to blog then. I'll try, though, because I'm starting to get excited about all this . . . .
3) Educate your people on purpose.
This is thought provoking for me. Often I tend to see the teaching of the Bible as an end unto itself - that people should come out of the Sunday service with a better academic understanding of the part of scripture that was preached on.
This, however, is challenging - "You only believe the part of the Bible that you DO."
The key point here - the objective of Bible teaching (and other Spiritual education) is to influence peoples' behaviour, making them better at the five purposes of the church (which, in case you haven't read any other posts, are Evangelism, Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship and Ministry).
What Warren is saying is that there's a really important process a
t work here. He uses a baseball metaphor, unfortunately, but it is in a fairly simple diagram, which I reproduce here:People are consciously moved from "1st base" to "3rd base", and then to "home", which is repeating the process and helping to reach others for Christ.
What this demonstrates is a really clear understanding of how training in Spiritual things actually works - and although I know my Bible backwards, I wonder if this just shows how little I really know. This really is about "turning an audience into an army".
4) Start small groups on purpose.
Since there are people at different points in the circles, it makes sense to specialise. Small groups are set up for seekers, for team members, for specific needs and for growth.
In our situation, we currently have growth groups operational, which is appropriate for our people. But if (as I hope!) that we really get into a serious effort to reach our local area, one of the first things we'll need to set up is a small group specifically aimed at helping people become Christians and developing good habits of maturity.
5) Add staff on purpose.
This is something we've actually been doing in our search for a staff member for the church. It's not enough to find someone who has a good personality and competence; it's important that their passion is about one of the purposes of the church (and clearly, it needs to be a purpose that your church is actually working on!).
One interesting thought - if he were starting a new church today, Rick Warren would recruit five volunteers for unpaid staff positions - a music/magnification director (worship), a membership director (fellowship), a maturity director (discipleship), a ministry director (ministry) and a missions director (evangelism). He would aim to eventually make these people part time and then full time.
6) Structure on purpose.
Once again, Warren talks about putting people into teams based around the purposes of the church rather than traditional departments. This is interesting precisely because it is both so counter-cultural and yet so logical. The reason I say this is logical is because each team will know exactly what it is aiming to accomplish, its boundaries and its goals.
7) Preach on purpose.
Here's a point on which I disagree a little with Warren. He says that a church needs to ensure that preaching focuses on each of the five purposes during the year. I can see the benefits of this, but my own opinion and training is that the preaching should be more based on the Word of God itself than on categories we place it into. That said, maybe it is worth asking the question every time one preaches - "What purposes does this passage impact?"
That said, Rick suggests that this shouldn't take up the entire year. He says "A four week series on each of the five purposes need only take up 20 weeks a year". So maybe there's something to this.
Maybe we could do both. Perhaps we should ensure that during a typical year we got some stuff from the psalms (on worship), some material from Paul (discipleship), some stuff on the Great Commission (evangelism), A pastoral epistle (fellowship) and some teaching on spiritural gifts (ministry).
8) Budget on purpose.
I have never really had too much interest in budgets, but it is interesting to ask what a church's budget says about its priorities. Simply put, you should be spending the majority of money on what you think is most important.
9) Calendar on purpose.
Again, interesting - Warren says you should calendar 2 months of each year to give special emphasis to each purpose. This would be linked to the teams discussed in structure - each team would be given the task of emphasising that purpose church wide during their months. He gives the warning "Don't fool yourself- if you don't schedule your purposes on your calendar, they won't get emphasized".
10) Evaluate on purpose.
This, at least, is simple and understandable. If you wish to remain effective as a church, you HAVE to ask yourself "how are we doing?" every so often. Again, a metaphor I like - Imagine NASA doing a moon shot with no tracking! And evaluation must be involving each of the purposes.
Whew! Made it through all of them. Once again, this is good stuff. Next time we'll be reaching out to the community . . . .
Oh, and just in case stuff happens - I'm taking the kids to the SCG tomorrow night, so there is a distinct chance that we might not make it back till very late. This could mean we don't get to blog then. I'll try, though, because I'm starting to get excited about all this . . . .
16 January 2012
Purpose Driven Church Ch8a - Applying your purposes
Sorry about the delays! Let's get into it.
Chapter 8 is long - very long. It's a chapter with 10 points. Fortunately, we can break them down into small groups of points. Tonight we'll check out the first two.
The overarching idea of the chapter is this - how does the purpose of the church affect the way it does things? The point in business and in other organisational structures where plans tend to go to weeds is in the APPLICATION (or lack thereof). My friends will know that I am fond of the joke "What is the difference between theory and practice?" (the answer being "In theory there IS no difference . . . ").
The ten points of this chapter are 10 areas of application.
10 Ways to be Purpose Driven:
1) Assimilate new members on purpose.
The strategy used by Warren at Saddleback involves the Circles of Commitment diagram (as seen in my last posting). The idea is a continual process of moving unchurched people from community to crowd (for worship), then moving crowd to congregation (for fellowship), then from congregation to committed (for discipleship), then from committed to core (for ministry), then moving the core back out to the community (for evangelism).
Warren suggests growing the church from the outside in. This challenges what I learned at Student Life, though only in order rather than in substance. Tradtionally, you start with a core group, and grow a ministry team, followed by a larger group, yada yada yada.
The problem with this approach? By the time the core has become discipled enough to be of any use, they have often lost contact with the community and may well be afraid of interacting with those outside. He quotes Peter Wagner in calling this condition "Koinonitis". I like that. But I don't actually like the concept, because I recognise it all too well - it's Church as I have experienced it much of my life! Whilst we do have a desire for mission, it is comfortable as we are, and it's hard to stoke the fire. We are very much in a condition where we are all core and nothing else. Everything the church does is done by the same people. Most of us have few unsaved friends, at least that we talk to in an average day.
It's bad fitting so neatly into an illustration, when that illustration is a "do not do" rather than a "do"!
Fortunately, Warren has a potential remedy. "A church with this problem needs to learn how to develop the other four circles."
He discusses the start of Saddleback. I have to admire his chutzpah. They focussed entirely on the community, specifically the unchurched. This involved meeting hundreds of people door to door. He deliberately sought out people who didn't go to church and surveyed their needs. He developed relationships.
The next step was a letter to the community announcing the beginning of the church, sent to 15,000 homes (wow!), and this letter was based carefully on the results of the survey. Advertising was key because they didn't actually know enough people to rely on word of mouth.
Pause here - we could do this! This is where the profile we've built from Carols could come in handy - we could go around to people saying "the people that run Carols at MPPS", and discussing the relaunch of Sanctuary.
Resuming, the next task was to take that crowd and introduce them to Christ. He uses the image of a rocket launching off the pad, and recognises that this took a lot of energy. In the first year of the church proper, most of the sermons were simply "God's plan for your life" and similar gospel messages.
Then in the second year of the church's existence, Warren worked on turning the crowd into a congregation. This year the sermons were on "Why do we have Church anyway?" and similar.
The third year was all about raising the commitment level. Series on growth were the order of the day. Now, this was still present previously; but now it was the focus.
From here on the idea was to give people the opportunity to get involved in ministry. The idea was communicated that a non-ministering Christian was a contradiction in terms.
It was at this stage that there formed a recognisable core, and staff were added to assist him in the other processes needed.
The starting point is ASSIMILATING NEW MEMBERS.
Warren defends the slow speed of growth. I say I'd LOVE to have growth like he had, even at the start! Given that I have laboured for years with little or no obvious growth, I'd be delighted to move slowly but surely and obviously!
2) Program around your purposes.
Choosing or designing programs should reflect each of your purposes. Remember that each circle corresponds to a particular purpose of the church. So far, so good. But here's the scary bit - "Kill any program that doesn't fulfil a purpose. Repace a program when you find one that does a better job than the one you're using."
This is a hard lesson for me because I dislike change. For example, to me it would be natural to have a youth group come hell or high water, regardless. If I were told "Youth group isn't doing anything, kill it," I'd struggle!
But if this is correct, then there's no point in having a program unless it is fulfilling a purpose!
An interesting concept he has here is "bridge events". Our carols would fit this description - community wide events that make the unchurched in the community aware of the existence of the church. These are for the Community.
For the crowd, he has Seeker services.
For the Congregation, it's small groups.
For the Committed he has the Life Development Institute, which is an intensive Bible study program.
For Core is the SALT meeting.
NO SINGLE PROGRAM, no matter how great it is or how well it has worked in the past, can adequately fulfil all the purposes of the church.
Chapter 8 is long - very long. It's a chapter with 10 points. Fortunately, we can break them down into small groups of points. Tonight we'll check out the first two.
The overarching idea of the chapter is this - how does the purpose of the church affect the way it does things? The point in business and in other organisational structures where plans tend to go to weeds is in the APPLICATION (or lack thereof). My friends will know that I am fond of the joke "What is the difference between theory and practice?" (the answer being "In theory there IS no difference . . . ").
The ten points of this chapter are 10 areas of application.
10 Ways to be Purpose Driven:
1) Assimilate new members on purpose.
The strategy used by Warren at Saddleback involves the Circles of Commitment diagram (as seen in my last posting). The idea is a continual process of moving unchurched people from community to crowd (for worship), then moving crowd to congregation (for fellowship), then from congregation to committed (for discipleship), then from committed to core (for ministry), then moving the core back out to the community (for evangelism).
Warren suggests growing the church from the outside in. This challenges what I learned at Student Life, though only in order rather than in substance. Tradtionally, you start with a core group, and grow a ministry team, followed by a larger group, yada yada yada.
The problem with this approach? By the time the core has become discipled enough to be of any use, they have often lost contact with the community and may well be afraid of interacting with those outside. He quotes Peter Wagner in calling this condition "Koinonitis". I like that. But I don't actually like the concept, because I recognise it all too well - it's Church as I have experienced it much of my life! Whilst we do have a desire for mission, it is comfortable as we are, and it's hard to stoke the fire. We are very much in a condition where we are all core and nothing else. Everything the church does is done by the same people. Most of us have few unsaved friends, at least that we talk to in an average day.
It's bad fitting so neatly into an illustration, when that illustration is a "do not do" rather than a "do"!
Fortunately, Warren has a potential remedy. "A church with this problem needs to learn how to develop the other four circles."
He discusses the start of Saddleback. I have to admire his chutzpah. They focussed entirely on the community, specifically the unchurched. This involved meeting hundreds of people door to door. He deliberately sought out people who didn't go to church and surveyed their needs. He developed relationships.
The next step was a letter to the community announcing the beginning of the church, sent to 15,000 homes (wow!), and this letter was based carefully on the results of the survey. Advertising was key because they didn't actually know enough people to rely on word of mouth.
Pause here - we could do this! This is where the profile we've built from Carols could come in handy - we could go around to people saying "the people that run Carols at MPPS", and discussing the relaunch of Sanctuary.
Resuming, the next task was to take that crowd and introduce them to Christ. He uses the image of a rocket launching off the pad, and recognises that this took a lot of energy. In the first year of the church proper, most of the sermons were simply "God's plan for your life" and similar gospel messages.
Then in the second year of the church's existence, Warren worked on turning the crowd into a congregation. This year the sermons were on "Why do we have Church anyway?" and similar.
The third year was all about raising the commitment level. Series on growth were the order of the day. Now, this was still present previously; but now it was the focus.
From here on the idea was to give people the opportunity to get involved in ministry. The idea was communicated that a non-ministering Christian was a contradiction in terms.
It was at this stage that there formed a recognisable core, and staff were added to assist him in the other processes needed.
The starting point is ASSIMILATING NEW MEMBERS.
Warren defends the slow speed of growth. I say I'd LOVE to have growth like he had, even at the start! Given that I have laboured for years with little or no obvious growth, I'd be delighted to move slowly but surely and obviously!
2) Program around your purposes.
Choosing or designing programs should reflect each of your purposes. Remember that each circle corresponds to a particular purpose of the church. So far, so good. But here's the scary bit - "Kill any program that doesn't fulfil a purpose. Repace a program when you find one that does a better job than the one you're using."
This is a hard lesson for me because I dislike change. For example, to me it would be natural to have a youth group come hell or high water, regardless. If I were told "Youth group isn't doing anything, kill it," I'd struggle!
But if this is correct, then there's no point in having a program unless it is fulfilling a purpose!
An interesting concept he has here is "bridge events". Our carols would fit this description - community wide events that make the unchurched in the community aware of the existence of the church. These are for the Community.
For the crowd, he has Seeker services.
For the Congregation, it's small groups.
For the Committed he has the Life Development Institute, which is an intensive Bible study program.
For Core is the SALT meeting.
NO SINGLE PROGRAM, no matter how great it is or how well it has worked in the past, can adequately fulfil all the purposes of the church.
10 January 2012
Purpose Driven Church Ch7 - Organizing Around Your Purposes
This chapter is seriously going to give me the irrits.
There are two reasons for this. The first is that the word "organizing", along with many other words ending in "izing" or "ize" is something that just doesn't look right to me. I grew up thinking that Australians use "ise" and Americans use "ize". However, I know now that there's serious debate all over the world about which is correct and why. The result of this, therefore, is that these wretched words look wrong no matter HOW they are spelt. Grrrr.
More seriously, though, I am not an organiser[1]. I don't like being organised. I prefer to just let stuff happened. Now, don't try to explain the benefits to me. I understand them, and even submit to organising when I have to. I just don't like it. And I don't think I ever will.
So this chapter is going to be a difficult one for me. Well, it won't get easier if I don't start, so let's go.
The starting point is personally interesting to me because George Whitefield is an ancestor of mine. Warren compares Whitefield and Wesley, noting that Wesley was an organiser as well as a preacher, and noting that his influence has gone on for longer than Whitefield.
Structures must exist if a church is to complete its mission.
Warren notes that there are five kinds of churches, which tend to reflect the gifts of their leaders:
1) Soul winning churches - the leader focuses on evangelism. Such churches are always reaching out to the lost.
2) Experiencing God churches - the leader focuses on worship. Such churches tend to be built around their worship service.
3) Family Reunion churches - the leader focuses on fellowship. These churches are typically small, but almost indestructible. (Sanctuary is easily seen as one of these. . . )
4) Classroom churches - the leader focuses on teaching. Most of the emphasis is on Biblical truth.
5) Social Conscience churches - the leader focuses on ministry. The church organises around injustice and/or moral decline.
The point of recognising all of this is to note that a church needs to be doing ALL FIVE of these things to be a truly effective church. There needs to be a balance.
Similarly parachurch organisations tend to reflect individual purposes. I'm not going to go into as much detail here, because Warren refers to the American context; still, the key movements seen are the Lay Renewal movement (Ministry), the Discipleship movement (Discipleship), the Worship/Renewal movement (Worship), the Church Growth movement (Evangelism) and the Small Groups movement (Fellowship). All of these are useful and have played a role in giving the church a wake-up call.
Church leaders tend to see that the area in which they feel the most gifted is "The KEY" to church growth. The truth is that each of these areas are important, but there is no one key. A balanced church will be a healthy church. This is the image projected by Paul's "body" analogy in 1 Cor 12 - like a body needs ALL its parts working, so too a church needs to be meeting all of the purposes God set out to be healthy.
The key is recognising that people are at different levels of commitment - all of us are unique - and the purposes correspond to where we are in that process. Warren uses a diagram (reproduced roughly here) of five concentric circles. As we mature as Christians, we move from the rim through to the hub.
The community is the starting point. It's the pool of lost people living in the church's area. The focus for these people is on EVANGELISM.
The next circle, the crowd, is the people who show up on Sunday. They are regular attenders and may be Christians or non-Christians (most likely Christians in the Australian context). The focus is on WORSHIP.
The next circle are the congregation, baptised church members. The focus is on FELLOWSHIP.
The next circle in is the committed circle, maturing members. Their focus is DISCIPLESHIP.
Finally we have the core group, whose focus is MINISTRY.
[1] I'm using ise. I hope you don't mind. If you do mind, deal with it. :)
09 January 2012
Purpose Driven Church Ch6 - Communicating Your Purpose
So I start this week a little discouraged - reading this book over the last week has told me that putting its lessons into practice will be much more difficult than I have imagined.
But we press on. Time for chapter 6.
Blow me down if Warren doesn't START the chapter addressing just the feelings I am experiencing!
He brings in the Nehemiah principle - that every 26 days a church needs its vision recast.
Now, this is interesting, because I can think of many times when we have created a vision or mission statement. There's been excitement at first; but eventually the excitement has tailed off, and we've ended up just where we were before. So this is definitely a point we need to understand and apply carefully.
This is a short chapter, but it's also important. I wonder if this is the area where churches, schools, businesses and all sorts of other organisations collapse. Certainly, I can see this principle as being something I will need to apply in various aspects of my life this year!
So how do we communicate purpose?
We could just restate it every month. However, if we simply do that, we end up immunizing people against it. For an example of this, remember the last election? How quickly "Moving forward" and "Stop the boats" turned from being serious slogans to targets of ridicule. This wasn't because either of them were bad statements[1]. It was because of the way they were parroted again and again and again by the two leaders, without any attempt to apply or show understanding of them. This is clearly something we wish to avoid!
Warren gives five suggested ways to communicate the purpose. It should be noted that these aren't (nor are they intended to be) exhaustive, but they are a good collection.
1) Scripture.
If you can't communicate your purpose through scripture, it probably shouldn't be your purpose, so this one is fairly logical. Warren says that you should repeatedly show how every part of your church's mission is found in scripture; preach it frequently and passionately. Personally I can remember the "Care, Reach, Worship, Teach" slogan and its scriptures from nearly 20 years ago, so I can attest to its effectiveness. It should also be noted that this is a broad area - Scripture can be used to communicate the mission in lots of ways, such as memorisation, meditation on the Bible, sermons, Bible Studies and more.
2) Symbols.
A teacher understands this one implicitly. Some people are verbal, while others are visual; and visual people will grasp the concept more clearly through images. Hence the use of symbols. This has been done successfully in many places; corporate logos are pervasive, and such political symbols as the Hammer and Sickle (as Rick points out) have affected the very world. So a symbol is a great way to communicate your purpose. It can also be useful in other ways to communicate complicated ideas.
3) Slogans.
I have just slammed political slogans, but that doesn't mean that no slogans are any good. As I previously mentioned, "Care, Reach, Worship, Teach" was effective for many years. A good and carefully thought out slogan can be a way to ensure that the purpose is pervasive. As a little demonstration of this, think about the following slogans - who are they associated with?
"Such is life"[2]; "Well may we say 'God say the Queen', because nothing will save the Governor General!"[3]; "Go for Growth!"[4] Similarly, it is useful to have a particular slogan associated with the church, especially if it is one that encourages action.
4) Stories.
Stories are an oft neglected medium for communication, but let's not forget that they are the traditional way of transferring information from generation to generation! The stories of the Bible are well known to all of us Christians. Rick Warren lists some stories that have become popular in his church. Similarly we should all be able to tell a story or two of how we've involved ourselves in the church's mission and purpose during the week. If not, we're kidding ourselves if we think we're involved.
5) Specifics.
A church needs to have a specific, clear and coordinated plan for achieving its purposes. All its activities must be in line with that purpose. "The more specific your purpose is, the more it will grab attention and attract commitment."
For a purpose to be fully communicated, it needs to be PERSONALISED - that is, it should be a part of everyone's thinking about the church, membership AND leadership.
Warren splits the personal aspect of the church's purpose into two parts - the responsibilities and privileges of being a believer. The responsibilities are to be a member of God's family, to be a model of God's character, to be a minister of God's grace, to be a messenger of God's love and a magnifier of God's name. The privileges of being a believer are found ONLY in the church - worship helps people focus on God, fellowship helps them to face life's problems, discipleship helps them fortify their faith, ministry helps them find their talents and evangelism helps them fulfil their mission.
As can already be seen from ths chapter, the purpose needs to be stated over and over (in different ways). Whilst it must be communicated in different ways, the message itself must never vary (unless for whatever reason you believe it to be necessary to reset your purpose). The ultimate goal is for every member of the church to not only be able to STATE the purpose (we've been able to do that previously), but also to EXPLAIN that purpose.
[1] In my opinion, both were ABYSMAL statements. The first was a hopeless generalization, the second was capitalising on the general ignorance of the Australian populace. But that wasn't the MAIN reason for either statement's failure . . .
[2] Ned Kelly.
[3] Gough Whitlam.
[4] John Howard.
But we press on. Time for chapter 6.
Blow me down if Warren doesn't START the chapter addressing just the feelings I am experiencing!
He brings in the Nehemiah principle - that every 26 days a church needs its vision recast.
Now, this is interesting, because I can think of many times when we have created a vision or mission statement. There's been excitement at first; but eventually the excitement has tailed off, and we've ended up just where we were before. So this is definitely a point we need to understand and apply carefully.
This is a short chapter, but it's also important. I wonder if this is the area where churches, schools, businesses and all sorts of other organisations collapse. Certainly, I can see this principle as being something I will need to apply in various aspects of my life this year!
So how do we communicate purpose?
We could just restate it every month. However, if we simply do that, we end up immunizing people against it. For an example of this, remember the last election? How quickly "Moving forward" and "Stop the boats" turned from being serious slogans to targets of ridicule. This wasn't because either of them were bad statements[1]. It was because of the way they were parroted again and again and again by the two leaders, without any attempt to apply or show understanding of them. This is clearly something we wish to avoid!
Warren gives five suggested ways to communicate the purpose. It should be noted that these aren't (nor are they intended to be) exhaustive, but they are a good collection.
1) Scripture.
If you can't communicate your purpose through scripture, it probably shouldn't be your purpose, so this one is fairly logical. Warren says that you should repeatedly show how every part of your church's mission is found in scripture; preach it frequently and passionately. Personally I can remember the "Care, Reach, Worship, Teach" slogan and its scriptures from nearly 20 years ago, so I can attest to its effectiveness. It should also be noted that this is a broad area - Scripture can be used to communicate the mission in lots of ways, such as memorisation, meditation on the Bible, sermons, Bible Studies and more.
2) Symbols.
A teacher understands this one implicitly. Some people are verbal, while others are visual; and visual people will grasp the concept more clearly through images. Hence the use of symbols. This has been done successfully in many places; corporate logos are pervasive, and such political symbols as the Hammer and Sickle (as Rick points out) have affected the very world. So a symbol is a great way to communicate your purpose. It can also be useful in other ways to communicate complicated ideas.
3) Slogans.
I have just slammed political slogans, but that doesn't mean that no slogans are any good. As I previously mentioned, "Care, Reach, Worship, Teach" was effective for many years. A good and carefully thought out slogan can be a way to ensure that the purpose is pervasive. As a little demonstration of this, think about the following slogans - who are they associated with?
"Such is life"[2]; "Well may we say 'God say the Queen', because nothing will save the Governor General!"[3]; "Go for Growth!"[4] Similarly, it is useful to have a particular slogan associated with the church, especially if it is one that encourages action.
4) Stories.
Stories are an oft neglected medium for communication, but let's not forget that they are the traditional way of transferring information from generation to generation! The stories of the Bible are well known to all of us Christians. Rick Warren lists some stories that have become popular in his church. Similarly we should all be able to tell a story or two of how we've involved ourselves in the church's mission and purpose during the week. If not, we're kidding ourselves if we think we're involved.
5) Specifics.
A church needs to have a specific, clear and coordinated plan for achieving its purposes. All its activities must be in line with that purpose. "The more specific your purpose is, the more it will grab attention and attract commitment."
For a purpose to be fully communicated, it needs to be PERSONALISED - that is, it should be a part of everyone's thinking about the church, membership AND leadership.
Warren splits the personal aspect of the church's purpose into two parts - the responsibilities and privileges of being a believer. The responsibilities are to be a member of God's family, to be a model of God's character, to be a minister of God's grace, to be a messenger of God's love and a magnifier of God's name. The privileges of being a believer are found ONLY in the church - worship helps people focus on God, fellowship helps them to face life's problems, discipleship helps them fortify their faith, ministry helps them find their talents and evangelism helps them fulfil their mission.
As can already be seen from ths chapter, the purpose needs to be stated over and over (in different ways). Whilst it must be communicated in different ways, the message itself must never vary (unless for whatever reason you believe it to be necessary to reset your purpose). The ultimate goal is for every member of the church to not only be able to STATE the purpose (we've been able to do that previously), but also to EXPLAIN that purpose.
[1] In my opinion, both were ABYSMAL statements. The first was a hopeless generalization, the second was capitalising on the general ignorance of the Australian populace. But that wasn't the MAIN reason for either statement's failure . . .
[2] Ned Kelly.
[3] Gough Whitlam.
[4] John Howard.
05 January 2012
Purpose Driven Church Ch4 - The Foundation of a Healthy Church
There is a temptation in my mind to be very pious, and repeat the oft-sung lines from an old hymn, "the Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord!" I'm going to refrain from this, however, it being entirely self-evident that this will not come as any surprise to Rick Warren. He has absolutely no pretensions otherwise, and it's easy to see that his view of a church is entirely based on a relationship with Christ, and if I were to make that kind of a comment I'd be doing nothing more valuable than being smart. So let's get on with the chapter!
In a personal anecdote Warren discusses the importance of a foundation in a building. In this he doesn't have to convince me at all, because I grew up in a home in which the foundations had not been correctly laid. I can remember vividly one rainy night in which my father had to divert the streams of runoff water away from a couple of piers, and several months of mucking around with rolled steel joists were necessary to rectify the problem. So I understand (as few do) how important it is to have a good foundation on a building.
The size and strength of a building are entirely dependent on the foundation. And Warren holds that the way to build a church's foundation is to spend some time "clarifying in the minds of everyone involved exactly why the church exists and what it is supposed to do."
I can remember a few times in the history of Sanctuary (and BHCF before that) when we all knew its purpose statement off by heart, and I can attest to at least some of the benefit this offers. Warren quantifies this by pointing to five specific benefits of a clear purpose:
1) It builds morale.
1 Cor 1:10 shows a link between purpose and harmony. Warren suggests that a clear purpose is really good for ensuring people work in harmony. This actually links really nicely with a story told by Max Lucado, when he and his family were on a fishing trip. The weather was unsuitable for fishing, and after a while the family began to squabble. From this experience Lucado gleans the neat little gem: "When those who are called to fish don't fish, they fight. But when those who are called to fish fish, they flourish!" And if people are to "fish", they need to be certain about what they are doing. "A church without a purpose and a mission eventually becomes a museum piece of yesterday's traditions."
2) It reduces frustration.
A clear purpose both helps you to know what you do and what you don't do. "The secret of effectiveness is to know what really counts, then to do what really counts, then forget the rest." Wow! What a great call! It fits with an americanism I like - "Don't sweat the small stuff. And it's all small stuff!" In yesterday's chapter, we began with a nightmare church meeting, in which everyone has their own idea about what the church should do. A clear purpose would really sort that meeting out - every idea is simply compared against the purpose. If it fits, we do it, and if it doesn't we don't! Decision making is easier.
3) It allows concentration.
A science example here - laser light is actually no different to regular light. It's the same photons, the same wave/particle duality. Same everything. But whereas a 10-Watt light bulb is barely enough to read a book, a 10-Watt laser could burn clean through a book! The difference is concentration - in the light bulb, we have light of all wavelengths travelling in all directions; but in the laser, it's light of a single frequency, all travelling the same way! Similarly, a small church can have an impact beyond its size when it's concentrated. Sanctuary has experienced this many times - when we've run Carols, for example. What if we were to clarify our purpose to the point where everything we did was done with concentration and focus? Warren says most churches do too much, and it's certainly true of Sanctuary. A good phrase which we all say is "Do a few things well". Programs are not intended to last forever, and churches should periodically clean house.
4) It attracts cooperation.
People WANT to join a church that knows where it's going. If a church has a clear understanding of what it's about, this allows people who also believe this purpose to be important to join, knowing exactly what will happen. Equally, it allows you to ensure that negative people don't impact what you're doing; whiners cannot set the agenda. It is important to ensure people know what the purpose of the church is BEFORE they join.
5) It assists evaluation.
If your purpose is clear it becomes much easier (or perhaps even simply becomes POSSIBLE!) to determine how the church is going. One encouraging remark for Sanctuary: A bigger church is not a better church. A church can be big and strong, or it can be big and flabby. A church can be small and strong, or it can be small and wimpy. Bigger is not better. BETTER is better.
Okay, so if we want to be a purpose-driven church, there are four steps to the transition:
* Define your purpose.
* Communicate your purpose.
* Organise your church around your purpose.
* Apply your purpose to everything the church does.
One thing - we're talking about a process that may take months or even years. Don't be discouraged!
In a personal anecdote Warren discusses the importance of a foundation in a building. In this he doesn't have to convince me at all, because I grew up in a home in which the foundations had not been correctly laid. I can remember vividly one rainy night in which my father had to divert the streams of runoff water away from a couple of piers, and several months of mucking around with rolled steel joists were necessary to rectify the problem. So I understand (as few do) how important it is to have a good foundation on a building.
The size and strength of a building are entirely dependent on the foundation. And Warren holds that the way to build a church's foundation is to spend some time "clarifying in the minds of everyone involved exactly why the church exists and what it is supposed to do."
I can remember a few times in the history of Sanctuary (and BHCF before that) when we all knew its purpose statement off by heart, and I can attest to at least some of the benefit this offers. Warren quantifies this by pointing to five specific benefits of a clear purpose:
1) It builds morale.
1 Cor 1:10 shows a link between purpose and harmony. Warren suggests that a clear purpose is really good for ensuring people work in harmony. This actually links really nicely with a story told by Max Lucado, when he and his family were on a fishing trip. The weather was unsuitable for fishing, and after a while the family began to squabble. From this experience Lucado gleans the neat little gem: "When those who are called to fish don't fish, they fight. But when those who are called to fish fish, they flourish!" And if people are to "fish", they need to be certain about what they are doing. "A church without a purpose and a mission eventually becomes a museum piece of yesterday's traditions."
2) It reduces frustration.
A clear purpose both helps you to know what you do and what you don't do. "The secret of effectiveness is to know what really counts, then to do what really counts, then forget the rest." Wow! What a great call! It fits with an americanism I like - "Don't sweat the small stuff. And it's all small stuff!" In yesterday's chapter, we began with a nightmare church meeting, in which everyone has their own idea about what the church should do. A clear purpose would really sort that meeting out - every idea is simply compared against the purpose. If it fits, we do it, and if it doesn't we don't! Decision making is easier.
3) It allows concentration.
A science example here - laser light is actually no different to regular light. It's the same photons, the same wave/particle duality. Same everything. But whereas a 10-Watt light bulb is barely enough to read a book, a 10-Watt laser could burn clean through a book! The difference is concentration - in the light bulb, we have light of all wavelengths travelling in all directions; but in the laser, it's light of a single frequency, all travelling the same way! Similarly, a small church can have an impact beyond its size when it's concentrated. Sanctuary has experienced this many times - when we've run Carols, for example. What if we were to clarify our purpose to the point where everything we did was done with concentration and focus? Warren says most churches do too much, and it's certainly true of Sanctuary. A good phrase which we all say is "Do a few things well". Programs are not intended to last forever, and churches should periodically clean house.
4) It attracts cooperation.
People WANT to join a church that knows where it's going. If a church has a clear understanding of what it's about, this allows people who also believe this purpose to be important to join, knowing exactly what will happen. Equally, it allows you to ensure that negative people don't impact what you're doing; whiners cannot set the agenda. It is important to ensure people know what the purpose of the church is BEFORE they join.
5) It assists evaluation.
If your purpose is clear it becomes much easier (or perhaps even simply becomes POSSIBLE!) to determine how the church is going. One encouraging remark for Sanctuary: A bigger church is not a better church. A church can be big and strong, or it can be big and flabby. A church can be small and strong, or it can be small and wimpy. Bigger is not better. BETTER is better.
Okay, so if we want to be a purpose-driven church, there are four steps to the transition:
* Define your purpose.
* Communicate your purpose.
* Organise your church around your purpose.
* Apply your purpose to everything the church does.
One thing - we're talking about a process that may take months or even years. Don't be discouraged!
04 January 2012
Purpose Driven Church Ch3 - What Drives your Church?
The church that Warren describes at the beginning of this chapter is all too believable. Whilst I don't think it's necessarily descriptive of our church all the time, it's certainly how we have been at times. Conflicting interests, with different ideas of how things should go - and only limited resources, so you simply can't follow through with every idea that gets presented, no matter how worthy it may be.
This is a fairly short chapter, so what we'll do is go through the different drives that Warren sees in various churches.
* Tradition: "We've always done it this way." Change is a negative, and the church seeks stability.
* Personality: "What does the leader want?" The church tends to follow the agenda of a particular person rather than necessarily what God wants, and if that person leaves or dies it may come to a screeching halt.
* Finances: "How much will it cost?" Most heated debate is over the budget. Needs to be reminded that the church doesn't exist to turn a profit.
* Programs: All the church's energy is put into sustaining programs, and there is a temptation to shift from developing people to just filling positions.
* Buildings (This one isn't us, anyway!): A congregation is so anxious to have a nice building that they spend more than they can afford, and resources have to go into paying for/maintaining the building. Tail wagging the dog.
* Events: As soon as one big event is completed, work begins on the next one. Lots of activity, but not necessarily productivity. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE BEHIND OUR EVENTS?
* Seekers: "What do the unchurched want?" Needs of unbelievers are paramount. This is tricky because God's purposes include evangelism - but not to the exclusion of all else! A church should be seeker sensitive rather than seeker driven.
(If pushed to describe where Sanctuary would fall here, I'd say somewhere between program driven and event driven. However, there is some awareness of a need for an overarching purpose).
Warren then goes on to describe what he sees as the Biblical paradigm - Purpose-driven churches (not surprisingly, given that that's the title of his book!).
He says that strong churches are built on purpose. This requires two things:
1) A new perspective. Everything the church does should be looked at through the lens of the five New Testament purposes for churches, which should be in balance with each other.
2) A new process. A process is needed for fulfilling each of these purposes.
The starting point for every church should be the question "Why do we exist?" This is the foundation for your ministry.
Warren adds a paragraph that is relevant to us, and I shall reproduce it verbatim: "If you serve in an existing church that has plateaued, is declining or is simply discouraged, your most important task is to redefine your purpose. Forget everything else until you have established it in the minds of your members. Recapture a clear vision of what God wants you to do in and through your church family. Absolutely nothing will revitalize a discouraged church faster than rediscovering its purpose."
I have a good idea of the purpose for our church. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's a vague idea, and one which I am not sure represents what we're doing. So maybe we need to spend some time on that very issue - deciding does the old statement of purpose still represent us? If not, then what should change; should we realign to that old purpose, or should we construct a new one?
This is a fairly short chapter, so what we'll do is go through the different drives that Warren sees in various churches.
* Tradition: "We've always done it this way." Change is a negative, and the church seeks stability.
* Personality: "What does the leader want?" The church tends to follow the agenda of a particular person rather than necessarily what God wants, and if that person leaves or dies it may come to a screeching halt.
* Finances: "How much will it cost?" Most heated debate is over the budget. Needs to be reminded that the church doesn't exist to turn a profit.
* Programs: All the church's energy is put into sustaining programs, and there is a temptation to shift from developing people to just filling positions.
* Buildings (This one isn't us, anyway!): A congregation is so anxious to have a nice building that they spend more than they can afford, and resources have to go into paying for/maintaining the building. Tail wagging the dog.
* Events: As soon as one big event is completed, work begins on the next one. Lots of activity, but not necessarily productivity. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE BEHIND OUR EVENTS?
* Seekers: "What do the unchurched want?" Needs of unbelievers are paramount. This is tricky because God's purposes include evangelism - but not to the exclusion of all else! A church should be seeker sensitive rather than seeker driven.
(If pushed to describe where Sanctuary would fall here, I'd say somewhere between program driven and event driven. However, there is some awareness of a need for an overarching purpose).
Warren then goes on to describe what he sees as the Biblical paradigm - Purpose-driven churches (not surprisingly, given that that's the title of his book!).
He says that strong churches are built on purpose. This requires two things:
1) A new perspective. Everything the church does should be looked at through the lens of the five New Testament purposes for churches, which should be in balance with each other.
2) A new process. A process is needed for fulfilling each of these purposes.
The starting point for every church should be the question "Why do we exist?" This is the foundation for your ministry.
Warren adds a paragraph that is relevant to us, and I shall reproduce it verbatim: "If you serve in an existing church that has plateaued, is declining or is simply discouraged, your most important task is to redefine your purpose. Forget everything else until you have established it in the minds of your members. Recapture a clear vision of what God wants you to do in and through your church family. Absolutely nothing will revitalize a discouraged church faster than rediscovering its purpose."
I have a good idea of the purpose for our church. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's a vague idea, and one which I am not sure represents what we're doing. So maybe we need to spend some time on that very issue - deciding does the old statement of purpose still represent us? If not, then what should change; should we realign to that old purpose, or should we construct a new one?
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