A philosophy of ministry answers the question:
How will this particular church fulfill the Biblical commitments in its mission statement?
Conditions
A philosophy of ministry should be:
Contextual: makes sense in the context of the local community;
Intentional: is not a reaction against (defining itself in terms of what we are not) but a mission for (self-consciously fulfilling Biblical mandates);
Flexible: is subject to review and evaluation for its practical effectiveness (the elders should plan to do this annually);
Achievable: trusts that because God raised up the church He will supply the gifts necessary to implement the vision;
Corporate: the vision of the ministry should be owned by the congregation;
Repeated: it is necessary for the leadership to keep the purpose of the church before the congregation, pleading in prayer for God to be glorified in its fulfillment.
Observations
Weak churches in America typically exhibit many of the following:
- discipleship (serious accountability) isn’t happening
- as a result, people stagnate spiritually and lose the adventure of faith
- therefore, the church itself is in-grown and stale
- resulting in lifeless, boring worship services
- reflected in prayer that is more survival than kingdom-centered
- leading to quarrels over worship styles rather than concerns for outreach
- while neglecting the responsibility to train future leaders for the church
Obviously, we want to work hard to not reproduce a church with these errors!
Although Lynchburg is a heavily churched area, there is still a great opportunity to advance the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus.
-Newer neighborhoods tend to be populated by folks who do not go to church; roughly 65% of Bedford County is un-churched!
-Many Charismatics burn out on excessive emotionalism/subjectivism and need a more truth-oriented approach to life and worship.
-Many Baptists sense a need to move beyond the fundamentals of the faith and to grow doctrinally and in the depth of the scriptures.
-Many in nominal or liberal churches either “don’t know what they’re missing” or hunger for deeper spiritual vitality, but don’t know where to go.
-Many in fundamentalist churches find no joy or power in legalistic Christianity.
-Many moral conservatives in Catholic and Episcopal churches will be turning to other denominations in reaction to current events.
-Many in good churches simply aren’t being discipled.
These, along with the un-churched, are the kinds of people we want to reach with the refreshing message of grace. Admittedly, this looks like a diverse group. What this target population has in common, however, is the need (not necessarily felt) to be rescued from an American-autonomous-affluence induced spiritual complacency by grace-driven and Christ-centered worship, Biblical exposition, community and discipleship.
It is important to stress that this church is not in competition with any other church in town! In fact, we may find ourselves referring visitors to like-minded fellowships, if we believe those churches can minister to them better than we can. We will never publicly criticize other churches in the community. Our real competition is with the Devil, and Jesus has promised that the gates of hell can not prevail against His church.
Convictions
We want to plant a church that will grow and reproduce itself. Saints tend to get lost in mega churches, feel unneeded, and forfeit the blessings of community. Church plants tend to produce vital communities, and vital communities grow to plant churches. Therefore, we want to grow in order to plant churches.
That raises an important question: Why do churches grow?
Churches grow for various reasons:
(Some churches grow for poor reasons: they jump on cultural bandwagons, simply seek to meet felt needs, or tickle ears by watering down the message. We are not interested in such growth.)
- Healthy growth is a gift of God. He alone makes a church grow the way it should. Like healthy garden plants, vitality in a church body will produce growth.
- The essence of that vitality is the Holy Spirit using God’s Word to revive hearts.
- Revived people worship with contagious, serious joy, and they share their faith in a winsome way. They want God to receive from sinners the glory He deserves.
- Vital churches grow from the top down, that is, in response to pace-setting leadership. If, for example, the leaders don’t pray or practice lifestyle evangelism or live transparently with each other, neither will those they lead. Paradoxically, when leadership takes seriously the call to model the Christian life, ministry will spring up organically, from the grassroots, among those being led.
What about the PCA?
- Historically, PCA churches grow mostly from transfers rather than conversions. I call this PREFERENCE growth. People come to the church because they prefer our theology, form of government, or our worship style. They feel at home; it is their familiar, ecclesiastical ethos. That’s fine, of course; we’re here for them. (Would that every city in America have a thriving PCA church waiting for any of us who needed to move there!) This type of growth requires very little from the congregation; after all, we’re all basically on the same page. The main task is to assimilate these saints into the life of the church by plugging them in to places of service and in to discipling relationships. Healthy churches will strive to avoid “majoring on the minor” differences which exist in our denomination.
- We ought also to expect RENEWAL growth from people who were dying on the vine in another church and find our fellowship “a breath of fresh air” for its joyful worship and emphasis on grace. Some will be those who are tired and badly needing “sabbatical” to regroup spiritually; others, experiencing gospel revival, will bring energy to the church quickly.
- We should also pray for SECONDARY growth, that is, growth from people (influenced by the lives of those in the church) who are receiving clarity on the gospel. They aren’t hostile to Christianity, often go to church, may even say they love Jesus, but still need to be converted. The glory of the gospel hasn’t yet gripped their hearts.
- Finally, we should ask God to use us in the lives of unbelievers, thereby seeing growth from those with their INITIAL contact with the gospel. This kind of growth invigorates a church; our faith is encouraged hearing testimonies of the saving/transforming power of the gospel. It is also very time-consuming, because Christianity needs to be translated in the context of on-going personal relationship. When our focus is on the unthinkable plight of the lost, we tend to quarrel less about matters which amount to preferences.
In summary, we can picture, on this continuum, types of growth relative to one’s contact with the Gospel:
< Consciously PCA>— Preference—Renewal—Secondary—Initial < Gospel Contact >
Therefore…
….think of this church first NOT as a place you go (for good preaching, worship or fellowship), but as a community Jesus is transforming and using to transform others.
Community is what happens when:
people believe God is working;
the Word of God is prevailing;
and saints value their mutual dependence upon one another.
Spiritual transformation is accomplished by the Spirit using the Word at three levels:
Celebration: corporate worship and proclamation of the Word of God
Community: ministry teams and events
Accountability: prayer-based discipleship.
If spiritual vitality depends on the saints being:
-prayerfully connected to each other;
-urgently on a sense of mission, using their gifts;
-accountable as disciples
how will that be accomplished?
Answer: The essential mission of the church will be fulfilled through small groups.
We envision three types of small groups, corresponding generally (not “hard and fast”) to the three phases of involvement in the church:
|
SEARCHING ———» (Visitor) |
SETTLING ———» (Attender) |
SERVING (Member) |
|---|---|---|
|
What is it like here?
|
Do I want to commit?
|
How do I help the family thrive?
|
|
Home Fellowships
|
Discipleship Groups
|
Ministry Teams
|
(Obviously, participation in these groups is fluid, eg., members and will be in home fellowships and discipleship groups.)
Definitions:
Home Fellowships: Small groups which meet in homes to assimilate visitors into the life of the church, and for members to invite neighbors to experience the fellowship of the church apart from Sunday morning. These groups could focus on Bible study or present material appropriate for those learning about Christianity for the first time. Ideally, we will have various home fellowships hosted throughout the region geographically.
Discipleship Groups: Small groups which meet for the primary purpose of fellowship, accountability, and prayer. These may be women’s or men’s study groups, couples groups, etc.
Ministry Teams: Ideally, all members will be a part of at least one ministry team.
Here’s the logic: Since there are many tasks related to the function of the body (ranging from coordinating assimilation events to setting up coffee for Sunday morning to strategizing campus outreach to leading youth ministry to planning church-wide social events to WIC providing meals for a needy family), the best way to implement ministry is by teams of people working together, sharing vision and resources. Cooperative ministry builds fellowship, which creates a natural environment for sharing prayer needs, which creates personal relationships for accountability. Ministry teams should be led by elders (or under-shepherds who report to elders) who assume responsibility for shepherding the souls of those in their care.
Thus, ministry teams are multi-faceted:
– small groups led by a team leader (elder, deacon, qualified layman)
– embracing a particular ministry focus
– gathering minimally every other week
– to encourage one another, experience koinonia (community)
– to pray for each other (a prayer captain records and relays as needed)
– to share a brief portion of God’s word (devotions offered on rotating basis)
– form the basis for one-on-one-on-one accountability/discipleship.
The ministry teams (13 for now) are organized under our five essential Biblical commitments:
| Worship | Teaching | Nurture | Service | Witness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1. Logistics
|
4. Christian Education
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6.Assimilation
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9.Helps/needs
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12.Missions
|
|
2. Music
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5. Children’s Ministry
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7. Social Events
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10.Mercy
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13.Local
|
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3. Facilities
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8. WIC
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11. MIC
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Ministry teams, therefore, are the primary way we do ministry at Redeemer.
Examples:
*What does youth ministry look like? Consult the ministry team leading the youth.
*How can I help plan social events, making sure they are always “seeker” friendly? Work with the Social Events ministry team.
*What do I do with my musical gift? Contact the leader of the Music ministry team.
*Who is coordinating an “adopt-a-student” ministry among our families for students at the local colleges? The Local Outreach ministry team (or whatever we call it!)
And so on…