Thinkin' About Church
I have had this particular composition on my computer since May or so but I want to spit it out here and start kicking it around a little. I admit this is pretty rough, but it is first draft . . .
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How about a revolution? Are we bold enough to accept the responsibility of a new paradigm for church? If so, march toward the sound of the guns.
Community is best in small body. But a small body cannot equal the resources present in a larger body. With that in mind, it is time to be bluntly honest about what church is and is not.
Church is not a large assembly once a week. Church is not about having a pastor, teacher, deacons and elders present in every single “body.” Church is not about what is accomplished by sheer mass.
Church is about following Christ not only as an individual, but in a committed and communal relationship with others. Assembling together is a key component to church. The size, format and elements of the assembling together are merely tradition and comfort.
So how about this as a model for central Indiana:
1. Effective immediately: you are not expected to be in your church this Sunday (or Saturday or whatever day you typically assimilate at a massive building).
2. Effective immediately: you are expected to find 2 other families of Christ-followers with whom you will begin to interact regularly in order to develop community.
2.a Your assembling together in small community will include the elements, style and format that are fitting for your assembly.
3. Pastors and other church staff are encouraged, if possible, to embrace this change and to see their roles as truly reaching the lost and administering to the needs of the larger assembly (as outlined below).
3.a Pastors and other church staff who desire to reach the lost may need to be re-trained in order to be comfortable with the concept of leaving their buildings in order to find the lost.
3.b Pastors and other church staff are encouraged to follow the scriptural principle of seeking vocational employment.
3.c Pastors and other church staff who are not comfortable with this paradigm are free to leave town. Today. By sunset.
4. At a few locations, large church buildings will be converted to administrative centers/fellowship halls/secure havens (let’s call these Anchor Centers, for now).
4.a Locations are chosen according to geographic centrality.
4.b All other assets of the church shall be converted to cash in order to assist in ministry or utilized as shelters or food pantries or the like.
5. Anchor Centers
5.a . . . shall serve as places where small assemblies occasionally gather together into larger assemblies for the purpose of encouragement, Q&A, concerts, etc.
5.b . . . shall be open 24/7 as a haven for any person.
5.c . . . shall contain staff that will administer the offerings of the small assemblies for the good of the larger body.
5.d . . . thus more fully leveraging the resources of the smaller assemblies for the needs of the body or ministry or to assist Christ-followers with needs that cannot be met by the small assembly.
5.e . . . shall provide a place for “regional” elders, deacons, pastors and apostles to meet.
6. Elders and Deacons shall be chosen to serve their “region” of small assemblies.
6.a They shall meet together as needed
6.b They shall be involved in their own small assemblies
6.c They shall be available to other small assemblies in order to assist with questions, discipline and administrative issues
7. Pastors and apostles shall be few in number, shall travel among the small assemblies and shall be primarily concerned with answering the call for education and teaching.
8. Small assemblies are expected to reach out to the lost in practical acts of love.
9. Any individual who feels withdrawal from the traditional corporate church to be uncomfortable shall be referred to any of several radio stations or any of several thousand internet sites where exists an extensive archive of traditional corporate church services and sermons on any topic imaginable.
Viva la Revolution
________________________________________
How about a revolution? Are we bold enough to accept the responsibility of a new paradigm for church? If so, march toward the sound of the guns.
Community is best in small body. But a small body cannot equal the resources present in a larger body. With that in mind, it is time to be bluntly honest about what church is and is not.
Church is not a large assembly once a week. Church is not about having a pastor, teacher, deacons and elders present in every single “body.” Church is not about what is accomplished by sheer mass.
Church is about following Christ not only as an individual, but in a committed and communal relationship with others. Assembling together is a key component to church. The size, format and elements of the assembling together are merely tradition and comfort.
So how about this as a model for central Indiana:
1. Effective immediately: you are not expected to be in your church this Sunday (or Saturday or whatever day you typically assimilate at a massive building).
2. Effective immediately: you are expected to find 2 other families of Christ-followers with whom you will begin to interact regularly in order to develop community.
2.a Your assembling together in small community will include the elements, style and format that are fitting for your assembly.
3. Pastors and other church staff are encouraged, if possible, to embrace this change and to see their roles as truly reaching the lost and administering to the needs of the larger assembly (as outlined below).
3.a Pastors and other church staff who desire to reach the lost may need to be re-trained in order to be comfortable with the concept of leaving their buildings in order to find the lost.
3.b Pastors and other church staff are encouraged to follow the scriptural principle of seeking vocational employment.
3.c Pastors and other church staff who are not comfortable with this paradigm are free to leave town. Today. By sunset.
4. At a few locations, large church buildings will be converted to administrative centers/fellowship halls/secure havens (let’s call these Anchor Centers, for now).
4.a Locations are chosen according to geographic centrality.
4.b All other assets of the church shall be converted to cash in order to assist in ministry or utilized as shelters or food pantries or the like.
5. Anchor Centers
5.a . . . shall serve as places where small assemblies occasionally gather together into larger assemblies for the purpose of encouragement, Q&A, concerts, etc.
5.b . . . shall be open 24/7 as a haven for any person.
5.c . . . shall contain staff that will administer the offerings of the small assemblies for the good of the larger body.
5.d . . . thus more fully leveraging the resources of the smaller assemblies for the needs of the body or ministry or to assist Christ-followers with needs that cannot be met by the small assembly.
5.e . . . shall provide a place for “regional” elders, deacons, pastors and apostles to meet.
6. Elders and Deacons shall be chosen to serve their “region” of small assemblies.
6.a They shall meet together as needed
6.b They shall be involved in their own small assemblies
6.c They shall be available to other small assemblies in order to assist with questions, discipline and administrative issues
7. Pastors and apostles shall be few in number, shall travel among the small assemblies and shall be primarily concerned with answering the call for education and teaching.
8. Small assemblies are expected to reach out to the lost in practical acts of love.
9. Any individual who feels withdrawal from the traditional corporate church to be uncomfortable shall be referred to any of several radio stations or any of several thousand internet sites where exists an extensive archive of traditional corporate church services and sermons on any topic imaginable.
Viva la Revolution
posted by TT | 9:03 PM
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