« Praying For The Weekend: Matt Chandler | Main | Would You Attend a Same-Sex Marriage Ceremony? (Revisited) »
October 17, 2011
Skye Jethani: Recipe for Church-365 (Part 4)
What if your church gave volunteers, leaders, and money to other churches' ministries- on purpose?
Read parts one, two, and three of "Recipe for Church365".
Ingredient Four: Decentralized Service
Over the last few years my travels have been taking me more regularly to Portland, Oregon. Portland is weird, and that’s how they like it. But it’s also inspiring. I’m thinking of Rick McKinley and his church Imago Dei. Rick and the leaders at Imago have done a great job inspiring their people to serve the community in Portland. But when members of the church approach a pastor about starting a new ministry, Rick has trained them to always say the same thing: “No.”
I know, it sounds counter-intuitive, but there is brilliance behind the madness. Leaders at Imago Dei know that in most cases there is another church, agency, or non-profit already engaged in the work. So rather than reinventing the wheel and launching a redundant ministry within Imago, they work to connect their members with other organizations all over Portland. As Rick said, “No logo, no ego.” If our church’s name doesn’t have to be attached, a lot more work gets done. As a result, Imago members have been seeded all over the city and multiplied their influence and impact.
I live in an area blessed with numerous amazing churches with excellent ministries. Why replicate what they’re already doing so well? Rather than starting another men’s ministry, why not connect with what’s going on at College Church? Or the healing prayer ministry at Church of the Resurrection? Or the homeless ministry at the Covenant Church? Or the Hispanic ministry at the Bible Church?
Given the leaner institutional footprint desired by Church365, it makes sense to release people to participate and support these good works at other churches. And why not send our best people and most gifted leaders to bolster these ministries? In fact, because Church365 would likely have less overhead, why not encourage members to give their money to these ministries as well?
Decentralization may not be limited to other churches either. Like Imago Dei in Portland, it would be wonderful to see God’s people serving side-by-side with people outside the church to help the community. Social agencies, schools, and government programs are ideal places for Christians to engage when they sense God’s call.
The simple value of non-redundancy would go a long way to simplifying the church’s structure while simultaneously blessing other churches and the entire community.
Stay tuned for ingredient five of Skye's recipe for Church365
Comments
Not to trend into the dangerous area of cooperation with secular ministries, but...yeah. This is a somewhat controversial question, and I worry that a church that spends its time partnering with secular ministries will 1)Not be able to give glory to God in the ministry's work, and 2)Be restricted from engaging in Evangelism while doing its work.
And not doing those things will limit the extent to which the value of them can be instilled.
What do you do if the group doing the work is Mormon? Muslim?
Posted By: Rob | October 17, 2011 1:54 PM
In fact, our church -- Vineyard Community Church in Iowa City -- has been doing this very kind of partnership for two years through a ministry we call Hands on Faith. A number of us have a passion to walk our talk when it comes to faith, but we recognized early on -- given our church's size -- that starting up our own thing would cause more heartache than help. So instead we work closely with longtime, established agencies that serve the sick, the hungry and the homeless, finding ways our church members can be "salt and light" to these populations. Some activities are behind the scenes: cleaning and painting the local food bank and crisis center intake rooms, for instance. Others are very people-oriented: providing activities at the homeless shelter, sending our church's doctors and PAs to help at the free medical clinic, and spending time (sometimes playing games, sometimes praying) with cancer patients living in temporary housing. And we find that being so intentional about all this, rarely outright proselytizing but never, either, being unclear that we are followers of Jesus willing to listen and pray with these folks, has had a profound impact not just on the poor, but on the staff and volunteers of the organizations. When they see what we do, even if they come from no church background or a bad church experience, light up and begin asking questions. A number have even begun attending our church!
Oh, and to Rob's point, we're actually working on a partnership right now involving our local Mosque and a project to serve a local domestic violence shelter. God is good!
Posted By: Stephen | October 17, 2011 3:05 PM
"What do you do if the group doing the work is Mormon? Muslim?"
Do you fear becoming a Mormon or Muslim through aquaintance, or do you fear that your efforts of cooperation towards a common effort/need will be lost in the shuffle of the association?
The thing I've come to accept, and this is through years of experience is that G-d does the most remarkable things with a person's life with the most limited resources available.
One of my common gripes/complaints/angst to G-d is "why can't I lead someone to Christ?" Johnny on the spot?
Nope, never, but I find out later that the same people I've been talking to about G-d suddenly become Christ followers as soon as we're apart.
WHAT? HOW? WHY?
I've often wondered is it me?
Perhaps it is...perhaps my arrogance/stupidity/pride mentality gets in the way of G-d's spirit.
I don't know, but I do know what the results are...die-hard, there is no G-d individuals suddenly becomes a believer. It just astounds me.
So, this I know...somehow, someway, it all works out to the glory of G-d whether we realize it or not.
It just does.
Accept it, and just do what you can do...G-d takes care of the rest.
Posted By: sheerahkahn | October 18, 2011 1:21 PM
Post a comment: