Purpose Driven Church- Assign. #9

Chapter 19: Turning Members into Ministers

This chapter is about completing the final step of God’s desire for your church; Making people ministers to the world. Some people just don’t feel “lead” to a ministry, others have never been asked. These people haven’t been tapped into yet. So how do we turn members into ministers? Rick explains the system he has set up in his church that helps promote their members for ministry. Teach the biblical basis for every-member ministry. In everything you do, may it have a biblical foundation and remember to instruct people the “why” before the “how.” Pillar #1: Every believer is a minister. Not everyone is called to lead a church, but we are called to spread the gospel. We are to be like Jesus. Pillar #2: Every ministry is important. Some ministries are more evident then others. Some ministries get attention while others don’t. There isn’t one ministry that is more important than the other. They are all vital! Pillar #3: we are all dependent on each other. Every ministry is intertwined with another. There isn’t a single ministry that can meet all the needs of the church, there fore there are many that work together to accomplish this task. Pillar #4: ministry is the expression of my SHAPE. SHAPE stands for spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences. Based on these five things, a person can determine what their ministry should be. We are all different and can use those differences in our ministries. It’s important to understand your SHAPE. Spiritual gifts- God gives us all spiritual gifts that reveal part of God’s will for your ministry but not all of it. A lot of people put too much emphasis on the gifts and in fact grow into what they think should be their gifts. Heart- represents your desires, motivation, interests etc. Another word for heart is passion. Things you are passionate about reflect the expression of your heart. God has purpose in your interests. Abilities- natural talents. God gave us all different talents. Some people excel in sports, others in academics. We all have some kind of talent. A lot of people don’t use their talent for God. Everyone has been gifted with something. Personality- we are all different (in case you haven’t noticed yet). Your personality reflects how and where you will use your ministry. When everything lines up, your will notice fulfillment. Experiences- there are all kinds of different experiences that have shaped our lives. Because God allowed these things to happen, we should never resent them. Next is streamline your organizational structure. Teach the difference between maintenance and ministry. You don’t have to attend every meeting on the agenda. Make a difference between a committee and a ministry. Note that there’s a very big difference in leading and controlling. Maximize ministry and minimize maintenance. Don’t vote on ministry positions. A lot of people fear rejection; this will scare them away from becoming involved. Development is a slow process, don’t rush it. You avoid attracting the wrong kind of people who are only interested in power and position. You don’t have to have a public removal if a person fails and you can respond more quickly to the Holy Spirit’s leading. Establish a ministry placement process. Making members into ministers is a process that includes three essential parts. Have a monthly class about discovering your ministry. Review SHAPE. Have a placement process. Have your members take different steps into order to achieve their goal. Empower them during this time. And have staff to administer the process. Have people who can personally meet with the members and give encouragement, help, etc. Provide on the job training. A lot of times people don’t have questions to ask until they are in the ministry. Never start a ministry without a minister. Always have leadership in a ministry, it can’t run merely off of an idea. Establish minimum standards and guidelines. Keep the standards clear and brief. Allow the people to make their own decisions and movements within the ministry. Don’t allow any fundraising, make sure the ministry follows the church beliefs and don’t rely on the pastors to run the ministry. Allow people to quit and change ministries gracefully. God calls people into different areas. Give people freedom to move and experiment to find their place. Trust people. Give them a sense of ownership. Expect the best from your people and trust them! Provide necessary support and keep communication lines open. Provide materials, and promotional and moral support (these are pretty self explanatory). Never forget to renew the vision regularly. Keep your ministers focused on the goal and watch and see how God moves!

Chapter 20: God’s purpose for your church

In the conclusion Rick encourages us not to worry about the growth of our church but the fulfillment of the purposes of the church. Do not become weary in hard times but fully rely on God and the trust in the things he has given you. Be a purpose driven person. To have a purpose driven church, it must be lead by a purpose driven pastor. Remember David. He served God’s purpose. The main part of this book is finding out what purposes God has for your church. His purposes for the church are also for his people. Love your church. David also served God’s people in his own generation. We can’t serve God in any other generation except for the one we’re in. We must learn from people in the past but adapt to the present culture and meet them on their level. God gave us lessons to learn from, and examples so that we too can reach out to people. Be contemporary without compromising the truth. Be current, but don’t change what God’s word says. Let it speak. Measuring success. How do you do it? You build your church on Godly purposes and you expect great things from God. That’s how you measure success. You stay focused, and do what God has called you to do, and he will complete the rest! Rick says that he has studied churches over the years and one great “common denominator” among every growing church is having a pastor that is not afraid to believe God. Sometimes we may not see what’s going to happen, but to have a faith that goes beyond understand is what he has called of us. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, learned a lot from it, and am glad I had the opportunity to interact with Rick Warren through his book, The Purpose Driven Church.