Purpose Driven Church: Ministry

Part 3 of a 5 part series.

1997, 12 years ago, ministry meant programs.  Programs for outreach.  Programs for visitation.  Programs for missions.  Programs for inreach.  In 2009, ministry is missional.

When I read the Purpose Driven Church, I remember thinking “he is talking about purposes of the church, not programs of the church.”  I actually have a page dog-eared in my copy from 1997, where I wrote those exact words.  This was a major shift in my young mind.

I was brought up in the youth program.  My faith was developed in the Sunday school and Church Training programs.  Our church had a visitation program for senior adults and home-bound members.  I sang in the youth choir, which was part of the…music program.  In the past 12 years, ministry has shifted from programmatic to strategic; from structured to missional; from committee-led to team-based.  Ministry is much more flexible, mobile, even temporary.

In 12 years, we have seen the rise of a ministry philosophy called ”missional.”  Missional ministry attempts to discover what needs are present in a community and then encourage the church to fill those needs OUT IN THE community beyond the walls of the church.

Like a new missionary arriving on foreign soil, missional Christians first attempt to learn as much about the people, culture, and customs of their community.  Then they slowly begin to form key relationships, sharing the Gospel as they walk alongside new friends.  All the while, they are connecting with the community at-large and providing services and expressions of love to foster deeper trust and relationship.

Missional ministry is far different from ministry programs.  People and relationships far outweigh the structure of programmatic ministry.  Missional Christians DO ministry at gas stations, in coffee shops, in their business.  They reach neighborhood children next door and make connections with folks in their apartment complexes.

Being a missionary in your own home town.  Sounds a bit like the Great Commission to me.

But ministry is still not the biblical purpose that has undergone the most change in 12 years.  That is still to come.

New CU Logo

Campbellsville University, my alma mater and employer, has recently released a new school logo.

I am personally impressed and excited about the new design and branding.  CU is taking a bold step to publicly identify herself as a Christ-centered, Christian university.  Religious colleges and universities are plentiful in America.  There are over 500 universities with some level of religious affiliation.

However, a Christ-centered university is different.  A Christ-centered university attempts to offer students more than just a Christian environment that is safe.  It seeks to foster spiritual development by teaching a Christian worldview.  It seeks to produce Christian servant-leaders in all academic disciplines which love their field of study and love the Lord.

The steeple is the newest addition to the logo and represents a significant statement about our identity as a university.  The image is taken from the Ransdell Chapel, a centerpiece of our campus.  The Ransdell Chapel was completed in 2006, the first time CU has had a chapel on her campus.

Much like Solomon’s temple in the Old Testament, the chapel has centralized God’s leadership and presence at CU.  The chapel provides students with a place for weekly worship and prayer.  It is a place to  where students can hear and be challenged by biblical preaching.   It is a place where every Freshman is trained in Christian leadership, character and stewardship.  The chapel is more than a auditorium to hold graduation commencement and recitals.  It is a place where God is glorified, Christ is exalted and the Gospel is regularly heard.

This new logo says a lot to me.  It says CU is seeking to honor God in all our ways and to ignite a passion in our student’s hearts, minds, AND SOULS.

Backpack Blessing

Since February, I have been serving alongside and leading a small group of volunteers from two churches, Campbellsville Bapt. (our home church) & First Bapt. Church Campbellsville in a collection of backpacks and supplies called the Backpack Blessing.

Main Street folks will recognize the name.  I stole it from Pastor Bob.

We collected 231 stuffed backpacks and delivered them to two schools in our community to be given to needy children.

Here is an article in our local newspaper about the event.

Purpose Driven Church: Discipleship

Part 2 of the 5-Part Series on the Purpose Driven Church.

In 1997, one study was sweeping the country – Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby.  People by the millions were joining small groups to learn what it means to join God in His work.  For many, it was the first small group they had been in outside of Sunday School.

12 years later, the small group movement has captured the hearts and minds of America believers.  While Sunday school is still the most prominent form of discipleship in the American church, the small group movement is gaining fast.

For years, small groups were only found in megachurches where “education space” was limited.  Additionally, who wants to be in a Sunday School class of 200?  Larger churches needed their people to form relationships in smaller groupings to create a closer knit church and keep things from feeling too big.

That is not the case now.  In 2009, the small group movement can be found in rural, suburban and urban churches of all sizes.  And guess who we have to thank for this.  You are right, the Purpose Driven Church author himself, Rick Warren.  The 40 Days of Purpose and 40 Days of Community Bible studies pushed small groups into homes and neighborhoods.

Other shifts in discipleship in the last 12 years consist of family-centered ministry over age-graded structures.  The explosion of mentor/mentee discipleship and accountability groups for men and women.  People are having to make choices with their busy schedules.  Coming to church Sunday AM and PM and Wednesday, plus being in a small group study is not possible.  Most Americans are attending one worship service and one type of small group discipleship, whether that be Sunday school, in-home small group, accountability group or meeting with their spiritual mentor.

In today’s discipleship world, less is more.  But yet discipleship is still not the purpose that has shifted the most in the past 12 years.

Destin Vacation Pics

While the Destin vacation was not the best for us (if you read our Facebook updates on the trip, you would know why), it was still our first family vacation.  Therefore pictures must be shared.  These are some of my favorites.

PDC Revisited: Worship

Worship in 1997 was experiencing the beginning phases of the contemporary worship movement.  People were singing “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” by Petra and Songs from the Loft by Amy Grant.  The movement was taking shape but still undefined.

Regardless of the form of contemporary worship, everything was moving to be more experiential.  Gone were the days of observational, sit-back and watch worship, a new more active, highly participative generation was seeking to think, feel, and do worship together.

Video was being introduced.  Projection screens were being put in.  Choirs were being replaced by small praise teams and electronic Roland drums sets were being bought.  A shift was taking place in 1997.

Twelve years later, corporate worship shifts are still in rapid progress.  From multivenue sites to podcasting, the use of technology has made worship and preaching more accessible to the masses.  Many forms of artistic expression are finding their ways back into the church, and not just puppets and creative movement as in 1997.  Painting, sculpture, graphic design, stage craft, theatrical elements of drama, dance, and lighting.  While the experience is important to the worshipper  so is beautiful and creativity.

Preaching has also experienced a huge shift in 12 years.  Revivalistic preaching (i.e., taking one verse and then bringing the hellfire) is not longer acceptable in most churches.  Expository preaching is now en vogue.  Taking a text and explaining the author’s meaning with added illustration and application is the style people want.  They want to learn what the Bible says and means, not just how to get saved.

In 2009, preaching is making another shift with the advances of technology.  Pastors have the ability to preach all week with twitter, facebook, blogs, podcasts, and streaming video.  Technology has enable biblical communication to flourish, which may mean the Sunday morning sermon is no longer be the primary venue of pastoral teaching.

Worship is different in 2009.  But worship is NOT the purpose of the church that has changed the most in 12 years.  That is still to come.

PDC Revisited: Discipleship is next.

PDC Revisited

1997 – 12 years ago, before I ever served on a church staff, only months after I accepted the call into ministry, I read a book about the purposes of the church.  The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren was my first exposure into understanding and doing ministry in the American church.

I had never thought about these things before.  Even though I had been a Christian for over 10 years and very active in my local church, I was completely naive to what the church should and should not be about.  This book put the 5 purposes of the church in clear, plan English:  Worship, Discipleship, Fellowship, Ministry, and Evangelism.

No matter your view of PDC or of Rick Warren, you have to give it to him…he was right and clear in his assessment of the biblical purposes of the church.  The impact of that book can never be truly ascertained.  The 5 purposes are found are over the place: vision and mission statements, worship bulletins, church budgets, and church plant founding documents.

Over the next 5 posts, I am going to take each of the 5 purposes and try to put into words the ministry shifts found in each of these over the past 12 years.  I think you might be surprised how much things have changed in only 12 years.

Post Sermon Syndrome

I once read an article from a wife’s perspective about what her husband was like after he preached a sermon.  She described his state as PSS (Post Sermon Syndrome).  After 7 weeks at Main Street and usually a long drive back to Campbellsville, I experienced some of the same symptoms she described.

I was tired and exhausted.  Quiet and reflective.  I wanted to talk about the day with my wife, but really didn’t want her to be brutally honest with me…at least not yet.

But for the most part I am recycling phrases of the sermon in my mind.  Remembering faces in the crowd at certain points.  Wondering if I made the right connections to the Gospel.  Wondering if I read the scripture passage clearly and with passion.  Trying to figure out what that woman meant by that comment to me on her way out.

Can any other pastor/reader of this blog describe their Post Sermon Syndrome?  I would love to know if I am alone in this.

Changing Terminology for Christians

In a grad course this past semester, a debate ensued about what people of faith in the postmodern, millennial generation want to be called.  The term “christian” is tainted with images of people who have hurt them and are hypocritical, intolerant, politically-right leaning conservatives that don’t care about the environment, social justice or the poor.

I asked for some terms that this generation accepts and will willingly wear.  Here are their replies:  Christ Follower, Follower of Jesus, and Child of God.  Not bad…biblical and very individualist.

Christian means “little Christ” and began use in the church in Antioch in Acts 11:26.  Prior to the rebranding and name change, those who followed Jesus were called people of The Way (Acts 9:2, 19:9, 22:4).  “Christian(s)” only appears 3 times in the whole New Testament (Acts 11:26, 26:28, 1 Peter 4:16).

So what is my point.  Terminology is not what makes someone saved.  Being a Christian, Christ Follower, or a Child of God has nothing to do with what title you hold.  It has to do with your soul.  Secondly, terminology changes and should not be seen as antithetical to orthodox faith.

Consider other changes in terminology:
Preacher, to Reverend Garrison, to Brother Shane, to Pastor Shane to Shane.
Or Lydia’s House, to the Church in Philippi, to Riverside Bapt. Church, to Philippi Community Church, to The Gathering@Philippi.

Healing Takes Times

Just miles away from the Pensacola Outpouring, also known as the Brownsville Revival, I have been thinking a lot about the charismatic, Pentecostal movement in America.  As we drove into Destin, we passed many, many Pentecostal places of worship (usually called Worship Centers) advertising deliverance, healings, victory, and Holy Ghost power.

My biggest beef with faith healing and the charismatic movement is its dependence on the immediate.  I am a continuationalist, which means  I believe God can still use healing, miracles, tongues, signs and visions today.  I don’t not believe, as the cessationalist believe, that those charismatic gifts ended with the apostolic age.  However, spiritual and physical healing takes time.

A broken bone takes 6 to 8 weeks to mend.  A person fighting cancer has a lengthy treatment plan.  Someone recovering from alcohol addiction may be freed/healed from the desire to drink, but they still need time to repair the damage years of drunkenness may have caused.

I have long been skeptical of instantaneous faith healings, but I am not skeptical of God’s power to do whatever He likes.  The reality is true healing takes time, whether that is through the power of the Spirit or by human means.  Hearing a faith healer shout “Be healed” may be the start, but it is definitely not the end of God work.

I believe the healing can start in a Bible study class, in a sermon invitation or in the middle of the interstate.  When any sinner asks God to begin His miraculous work in their life, the healing process begins.

Defend Thyself

The dissertation defense went amazing yesterday.  Just three of us were there.  Me, Dr. Williams, my dissertation chairman, and Dr. Jones, my second reader.  I did my 25 minute presentation.  Then they asked a few questions and gave me some minor changes I need to make the document.

The questions were about my conclusions and why I thought certain things were happening.  Very engaging conversation.  I haven’t found many folks who even think about my dissertation topic (Christian higher education administration), much less talk about the topic with some excitement.

Then they asked me to step out of the room.  While outside, they privately discussed my work.  Then they called me back into the room.

Dr. Williams then said the magic words.  Shane, we are going to approve your dissertation and move you onto December graduation.  Congratulations. Those words sealed the deal.  I have completed my doctoral studies and my dissertation.

Diss. Defense Tuesday

Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 7 (16 days before my 32nd birthday), I will sit for my dissertation defense. 10 AM at Southern Seminary in Louisville.

For a couple hours, I will present my findings and listen intently as my dissertation committee gives me their critiques of my research and writing.  I will have opportunity to ask them questions about ways the document can be improved before the final printing later this summer.

If everything goes good (as I predict it will), then tomorrow by around 12 noon, it will be all over.  My doctoral studies will be complete.  My dissertation will be defended.  And my name will be changed forever to Dr. Garrison.

Wow.  Big day.

Main Street – Complete

We finished our 7-week stint at Main Street BC yesterday.  The final message was called Lydia: My Heart and Home.  Available at iTunes, search Sievechurch.

It was such an honor to return to our former church and be involved once again.  Friendships were rekindled and it really felt like we had never left.  The people were so kind to us and made us feel like home-folk.

There are not many churches in North America like Main Street.  The staff is amazing.  The people are truly trying to seek Christ first in their lives.  The times of worship are powerful and inspired.

I am sure I will serve in numerous churches over the years, filling in and doing consulting work, but Main Street will always a very special place in my heart.

New School of Theology Website

For all my CU friends and alum, CU has launched a new website.  It is really nice.  Included in the renovation project was a complete revamp on the School of Theology area.  Dr. Hurtgen, my boss and dean, and I have worked on these new elements, pages, and aspects of our section.

I would love for you to check it out: www.campbellsville.edu or http://cu.publishpath.com/school-of-theology.

Main Street Week 6

This past week I preached a message from Acts 10 entitled Peter: My View of Other People.  The message was dealt with the issue of race and seeing people for the character of their hearts, not the color of their skin.

We featured the “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr. King had a dream that one day people of all nations, black and white, Jew and Gentile, Catholic and Protestant would stand together under the banner of freedom.  This is the same issue Peter was struggling with in Acts 10.  It was a powerful day and a challenging one all at the same time.

You can listen to the message at iTunes (keyword: Sievechurch) or by going to http://sievechurch.wordpress.com.  Only one week left at Main Street.  Boo hisss.