Church Planting – Models and Approaches
I am preparing for a church planting conference with the Ecclesia Network entitled Allelos, where I will be sharing on three topics. The Equipping Church, Leadership Skills for the Journey and Models and Approaches to church planting.
When it comes to models and approaches, I am wanting to get some feedback from you on this. I have a lot of material that I want to share, including personal stories and such. But I was wanting to make sure that I gave the "church planters to be" a good overview in what they should consider as they think through how they will approach the structure of the church, or the model. Here is an overview of some of the things that I have thought about. I would love it if you have any thoughts you would like to add. I need to finish my preparation by Wednesday, though if you comment afterwards, I may still be able to use it.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER
The Context
Global/National/Metropolitan/Local/Neighborhood
Ethnic Context
Neighborhood Context
Educational Context
Political/Structural/Geographical Context
Life Style Patterns
Economic Context
Historical Context
The Team
Relational Assessment
a. Mutual Trust
b. Mutual Refreshment
c. Mutual Enjoyment
d. Mutual Commitment
e. Unity of Spirit
Ministry Assessment
a. Spiritual Gifts
b. Passions
c. Abilities
d. Personality
e. Enneagram
f. Experiences
Resource Assessment (Ammerman)
a. People
b. Money
c. Space
d. Reputation
e. Spiritual Energies
f. Connections in Community
g. History
Process Assessment (Ammerman)
a. Leadership
b. Decision-making
c. Problem-solving
d. Conflict-management
The Theology of the Church
The Essence of the Church
The Metaphors of the Church
The Functions of the Church
The Marks of the Church
The Multiplication of the Church
The Definition of Success for the Church
CONTINUUM’S TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A MODEL
Solid/Liquid (Structure and Change)
Hierarchy/Charisms (Leadership)
Programmer/Environmentalist (Leadership)
Center/Margins (Leadership)
Vertical/Networked (Communication)
Attractional/Incarnational (Evangelism)
Relevant/Resistant (Culture) – HT Jason
Anti-Pop Culture/Engaging Pop Culture (Culture)
Formal [Attendance]/Informal [Relationships] (Community)
Bounded Set/Centered Set (Membership)
Monocultural/Multicultural (Community)
Internal/External (Focus)
Past/Future (Orientation)
Would you add or take away one of these continuum’s?
LEADING CONTEMPORARY ECCLESIOLOGIST (My overview of Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti work)
John Zizioulas an Eastern Orthodox bishop with a communion ecclesiology. The Eucharist is the foundational act of the church. The church is “instituted by Christ and constituted by the Spirit”
Hans Küng a catholic with a charismatic ecclesiology sees the church as the people of God, on a pilgrimage. He favors a charismatic structure where each person is gifted to edify, serve and unify the body of Christ.
Wolfhart Pannenberg a Lutheran with a universal ecclesiology sees the church as anticipation “and a sign of the unity of all people under one God." The church is a sign and tool of the coming kingdom for all humanity.
Jürgen Moltmann with a messianic, eschatological, charismatic, trinitarian ecclesiology views the church as a communion of equals that exists for the world. He advocates a broader view of the Spirits work, in all of creation.
Miroslav Volf a free church theologian with a trinitarian, participatory ecclesiology. He has an emphasis on the priesthood of all believers and sees the sacraments as necessary, but ordained ministers helpful but unnecessary.
James McClendon Jr. a Baptist theologian calls the church a narrative community that is future oriented, gift-created and a people of peoples. He emphasizes the rule of God, centrality of Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit.
Lesslie Newbigin an Anglican with a missionary ecclesiology emphasizes the visible witness of the church – bearing and witnessing the truth. The embodiment of the good news in the church and the missio Dei reflected in the Trinity are key.
MODELS TO EVALUATE
Missional Church
Emerging Church
Simple Church
Organic Church
New Monasticism – HT Jason
Liquid Church
House Church
Liturgical Church
Neighborhood Church
Multi-site Church
Clusters – Mid-sized Missional Communities
Purpose-driven Church
Seeker-sensitive Church
Mega Church
I realize that some of these overlap but what would you add to this list?
I would appreciate any feedback that you might have. I realize that this post will probably only make sense to some people. If it doesn’t make any sense to you, don’t worry. Tomorrow is another day.
That’s cool, I didn’t know you would be in for Allelos. You guys will be just a few blocks from our house if you want to stop by and say hi.
I’m so sad to miss out on this gathering JR, I hope it goes well for you. I will be praying for you and all the Ecclesia people I’ve gotten to know some. Hopefully I get to see all of you again sometime soon.
I’ve been reading through both Shane Claiborne’s new book “Jesus for President” and Tom Sine’s “The New Conspirators” (both quite good I think). Something to consider, that our simple church & larger organic type community has begun asking questions about is the new monastic community.
I think that it would be an interesting continuum to explore in a “relevant-resistant” (Relationship to surrounding culture) type of way. I stole that term from Sine straight out, but it comes from an exploration of what our gatherings and life as church looks like as the people of God in exile, within a new Babylon of the west.
The new monastic models would be interesting to see explored too. Our simple church and household (we’ve got the co-habitation thing going) is starting down the road of figuring out what monastic lifestyle might look like outside the city, where a lot of people live. Especially as economic turns start to become severe!
One of the things that has bubbled up from everyone involved in our community is the need to begin seeing the church in a bigger scale, and that the different “models” and approaches, are in some ways a re-casting of being different parts of the bigger body. That we as local gatherings need to not focus on trying to be a complete body in microcosm, but maybe see past those crumbling denomination / model lines to a greater whole.
Enjoy!
Daniel,
I would love to say hi. Why don’t you come by over lunch or something. Chris should know the details.
Jason,
I appreciate your contribution. Each item you mentioned will enrich this session quite a bit. Yeah, I totally forgot to put the monastic community. I think that this is a vital model for today. It’s absence from this list is considerable. I was thinking about it and then forgot, so thanks for that reminder. The relevant/resistant continuum is also an excellent addition.
I was talking with a church planting friend of mine in Long Beach and he mentioned this whole idea of trying to discern what they have to offer the whole body in their area, without feeling the need to be an do everything. I think it is really cool that you guys have been discussing that, and that you mentioned it. I think that it will be an important element to bring up,so thanks a bunch.
Jason, another important point that you bring up is to be like the men of Issachar and understand “the times” in which we live,as well the larger space in which we live (new Babylon) as it pertains the the rest of the world. I would love to hear a little bit more of this monastic lifestyle outside of the city. Could you elaborate a bit?
Again, thank you so much for your contribution. I am going to add your additions on now, as well as a couple more that it helped me to think about.
you might also want to consider whether families are all-together thruout worship gatherings or divided up into age groups like children’s church, youth, etc. also if there are men and women’s ministries or if men and women are together and the role of women in ministry.
Linda,
Thanks for your input. Each of those issues, how to minister to the whole family and the role of women is ministry are huge issues. Thanks.
Hi,
This is a bit late, but here’s a post by Ben Arment that had a cool thought about church planting the second time.
The accompanying photo he has seems like how church planter’s can feel at times!
~~~
“There’s a big difference between a planter’s first and second church plant. One brutal experience is all it takes to radically change his priorities. It’s no longer about fast growth, big lights, taking the town by storm. He tried that approach and it didn’t work… for him or the other 98% of church planters.
Money isn’t quite as important… he gets closer to the people… he reexamines his motives, slows down for his family… invests in kingdom growth, not just his own church… and he doesn’t care quite as much about getting credit. He appreciates the guys on the conference circuit, but doesn’t follow them like he used to.
A failed first go-round can be a gift from God. I don’t think you can fully appreciate God’s supernatural hand in church planting without it.”
http://www.benarment.com/history_in_the_making/2008/04/the-churches-we.html
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terry
Terry,
Some good words. What is crazy is when it is the church planters second or third time, but other people’s first. What you have then is the need to manage expectations of the first timers, which can be difficult. Thanks for your post.
I wish I had more to offer in elaboration, we’re very much in the initial stages of exploration about quasi-monastic community outside of urban settings.
Co-habitation seems an essential element from my own experience, and suburban lifestyle has pros and cons for that: bigger houses generally, but more stuff to give away to make room for people! It also provides great opportunities to recapture what it means to hold stuff in common as community, so not everyone needs one of everything, and so on… becoming faithful in small ways has led to great inroads of relationship. A barrier I’m curious about is the perceptive need for “personal” space, which comes from understandable human needs, but may be a bad response to the actual need for solitude and silence. I’m wondering if there is a good way to recapture some of the Patrick style “here’s your roommate” idea is possible, and marry it to some communal rules of life about respecting other people’s need for quiet and solitude in the common areas, etc…
Community gardens to supplement food for people on tight budgets, and a gentler & slower rhythm of life are things we are currently wrestling through too.
From a “painting pictures” perspective, I’ve been spending time re-iterating the idea of mustard seed faith, that exists in contrast to the programmatic/attractional styles of gathering. That has also required intentional time teaching the unity of the body as a whole, since it’s not really about who’s doing it right / better, but about becoming better in who we are and letting our actions flow out of us.
Jason,
Hey man, thanks for painting a picture of what you meant. That is cool to see you work through all of that. I hope you get the chance to blog about your journey.