Purpose Driven Church- Assign. #4

Chapter 7: Organizing around your purposes

This chapter is full of information! He begins by comparing two great preachers: George Whitefield and John Wesley. They both were amazing evangelists however had two different outcomes. Whitefield would evanglize and leave his converts with no organization. Wesley developed an organization and it became known as the Methodist church. Most churches have the structure, but don’t have it balanced. There are five unbalanced church examples given. The soul winning church. This church’s main focus is simply that, reaching out and saving souls. The experiencing God church. The focus of this church is experiencing and knowing God through worship. The family reunion church has focus on fellowship. This type of church is most common among small churches. The classroom church. The pastor takes the role of a teacher and that’s all he does. The social conscience church is out to change the world (such as in politics). Ask the people at any of these and they are at the most spiritual church out of all of them. There have been movements throughout history that have played a part in reviving some of these purposes. The Lay Renewal Movement gave the church back it’s call for ministry, that every person is to minister. The Discipleship/Spiritual Formations Movement reestablished the idea of developing christians to full maturity. The worship/renewal movement brought back the importance of worship. The church growth movement refocused the church on evangelism and missions. The small group/pastoral care movement brought back small groups and caring for one another. There is no single key to maintaining a healthy balanced church. To make sure you maintain balance, pick a couple concepts to focus around. We also learn in this chapter that there different levels of commitment. The community represents anyone who might come to church 4 times a year. The crowd are the people who attend weekly. The congregation is the group that made a commitment to be a member of the church and take on those responsibilities. The committed are those who who are serious about their faith. They are members who pray, give tithes, and participate in a small group. The core are those people who are involved in ministry teams and actually minister to other members of the church. It’s important that we remember “Jesus started where people were—at their level of commitment—but he never left them there (135).” He built up a relationship with them and brought them to the core commitment level over time.

Chapter 8: Applying your purposes

So now that we have attempted to master all the things mentioned in the previous chapter, it is time to apply our purposes within our church. This is not to be a rushed process, so be prepared to spend time taking it slow. Rick states that there are ten ways to be a purpose driven church. The first suggestion he makes is: assimiliate new members on purpose. This means to grow your church from the outside in. A lot of times if a church is grown from the inside out, the people will become too comfortable and will not want to associate with nonbelievers. Bring your community in and develop them into the different rings of your church. This is demonstrated in how Saddleback was developed (going door to door meeting the community, creating a survey, etc). From there he took year by year discipling his congregation. The second task is program around your purposes. Create programs that fulfill each purpose. Some ideas for these programs are: bridge events (building bridges/relationships between the church and community), seeker services (services geared towards the unsaved through group support), life development institute (holding workshops, or opportunities where people can expand their knowledge, and SALT (this is leadership training). The third suggestion is to educate your people on purpose. Create a way for people to work their way around the life development process. As they learn, they gain responsibility and opportunities. “You don’t get create for people left on base (145).” Fourth, start small groups on purpose. There are several different kinds of small groups your church could start: seeker groups, support groups, service groups, and growth groups. Each of the names are pretty self explanatory. Also, fifth, add staff on purpose. It doesn’t take a large church to be purpose driven, just a focused, purpose driven staff team. Each member should have their own purpose based goals that they are passionate about. Hire for a purpose. Sixth, also structure on purpose. Create teams within the church that have a purpose. For example, the magnification/music teams purpose is to lead worship and their target is the crowd. They are responsible for music in weekend services and events. Preach on purpose. Plan your sermons to where you can preach at least 4 times on each of the five purposes a year. This leaves plenty of time to plan your own sermons. Budget on purpose. This is not about in regards to money, but also time. Spend time and money wisely and where it can benefit the most. If you make something a priority, support it with your time and money. Also calendar on purpose. This relates back to your sermons. Plan your sermons around seasons and months. Lastly, evaluate on purpose. Track your progression. If something isn’t working, change it! Be honest. Take a look at who’s on the different bases in your church.