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THE PREVAILING CHURCH An Alternative Approach to Ministry Randy Pope Moody Press, 2002, 256 pp. |
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Randy Pope is the founding pastor of Perimeter Church in
Atlanta, which, through its para-church organization, Perimeter Ministries
International, has begun church planting centers in nine countries and
expects to plant 100 churches in Atlanta in the next ten years. Pope defines a prevailing church as “a
place where the presence of God’s power is demonstrated with such force that
the community in which it exists is marked with an indelible spiritual
imprint.” (20) Such a church is
equally committed to “mission” (reaching the lost) and “home” (caring for,
feeding, and protecting God’s people). (31) “Church members are very forbearing and forgiving
regarding the neglect of the lost; while extremely impatient and unforgiving
regarding the neglect of the righteous.”
(33) “The healthiest environment for nurture and discipleship
is that of ‘mission.’ Otherwise,
nurture and discipleship become ends rather than means to accomplish God’s
greater purposes.” “I have found that
Bible study and prayer alone do not create mission-oriented Christians. But, …mission-related activities create an
insatiable thirst and hunger to feed on God’s Word.” (34) Pope suggests there are six widely recognized causes of
church growth. This book is about an
often overlooked seventh factor: an effective ministry plan. The components are as follows (from the
Appendix): “
“The first step in designing a plan for the church is to
determine her purpose.” Why do we
exist? The only appropriate answer,
…is ‘to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.’” (56) Many churches reveal in practice their
real purpose. Others may do the right
things for the wrong reasons. (57) A key question regarding a faith commitment is “To what
degree will we risk failure to bring glory to God?” The appropriate question is not, “Is it possible?” but “Is it
the will of God?” (60) If we attempt something we believe is
God’s will and fail, we can know we will be ultimately better off because of
the failure. (63) Better to attempt something great for God
and fail than to succeed in great things yet fail to receive his applause for
lack of faith. (68) “God usually gives vision for ministry to individual
leaders, at least as an initial step.”
“…the clarifying of the vision often comes as members of the
leadership team raise concerns or ask probing questions. Although the pastor must have a primary
role in receiving and casting the vision, “he should never take this role in
an autonomous way.” “…a significant
aspect of God’s rule in my heart involves my willingness to hear Him speak
through the wisdom of other godly leaders.” (70) “Our goal as church leaders should not be to grow large
ministries that reach unchurched people but to build discipling ministries
that develop mature followers of Christ who, in turn, reach large numbers of
unchurched people.” (79) “The prevailing church must be a ‘safe home’ and have an
outward thrust to the lost and the hurting—an effective ‘mission.’ (83)
‘Home’ elements: vital worship; true fellowship; biblical instruction
and discipleship training; pastoral care and shepherding; and equipping and
empowering to do the work of the ministry. (84) A mature and equipped follower is described on p. 85. Spiritual maturity is a means “through
which the gospel is continually transplanted into new lives.” (86) Effective ‘mission’ includes: (87)
A vision ought to be open-ended. [I prefer a definition of vision as something that can actually
be completed. Dlm] (93) “The church’s scope must begin locally and extend to the
uttermost parts of the world.” (per Acts 1:8) (93) Neither ‘home’ nor ‘mission’ can be excluded without seriously
damaging the church. “Judea and
Samaria represent those who are geographically close but relationally
distant. The remotest part of the
earth represents those who are both geographically and relationally
distant…. Each of these locations
present specific challenges to the church.” (94) “Although our overall mission still relates to the
threefold breakdown of geographical scope found in Acts 1:8, Perimeter’s
vision expresses our immediate concern with our neighboring community. [Admission of an omission? Dlm] Perimeter’s vision statement: “We are seeking to bring the people of
greater Atlanta and all places where we serve into a life-transforming
encounter with the kingdom of God.”
(95-6) Churches have both stated and unstated values (which the
long timers live by). The church is very unlikely to change unless they face
up to the unstated values. Perimeter
has 3 sets of values relating to 1) who we are, 2) what we do, and 3) how we
do ministry. “One of a leader’s key
responsibilities is to know and to hold himself and others accountable to the
priority of values.” Regular staff
evaluations should include a values-oriented component. (97-100)
In order to create change in a church, resources such as
prime time, leadership, and finances must be aligned to the values. Leadership decisions must be in strict
alignment with values. (100) When Pope speaks of a well-defined “mission,” he is
referring to what some would call a ministry plan, the means of reaching the
vision. (103) Making mature and equipped followers of Christ is one of
the greatest challenges for churches.
We tend to ask how many heard and whether the truth was well presented
as the criteria. But this doesn’t
measure results. Five components for
effective discipleship:
Equipping and accountability require life-on-life
investment. (112) Pope was significantly influenced by the autobiography of
John R. Mott [who coined the slogan, ‘The evangelization of the world in this
generation’]. Mott said, “He who
multiplies the doers is worth more than he who does the work.” Thus working in the states is not less
noble than going overseas, but “including a global component in the vision
and mission of the church is indispensable.”
Each church must discover what its greatest contribution to the world
can be. “The challenge is for a
church to make that determination and then give itself wholeheartedly to
it.” “Church planting is our best
contribution, and to this end we operate somewhat myopically.” Our staff scrutinizes every new ministry
idea based on how well it is aligned to our mission. It makes for many difficult decisions.
(132-34) Job descriptions answer the question of who will be
responsible for what in accomplishing the vision. (137) “In any
institution, the leader is the [person] who is thinking ahead of everyone
else.” (quoting Robert Schuller, 138) Responsibilities for laypersons: “
Infrastructure is designed to accomplish the mission. (179)
Four infrastructure needs of the people: (184)
Cultural relevance. Watch for ways God is already working in the culture. Every ministry plan must be in alignment with the overall
ministry plan. (188) Questions to ask of those designing a seeker service
model: (190)
“Addressing the crisis needs of people in common struggle
has proven to be an effective way of reaching nonbelievers.” (191) In designing a culturally oriented strategy, the first
question is, “In what ways and to what degree will the unchurched be reached
and hurting people be helped?” (193) Roberta Hestenes asked the following question, “With the
popular models for church today, when and where will people learn the Bible?”
(196) Pope suggests four places:
“Goal setting enables us to put expression and direction
to an act of faith. Goals are simply
targets.” They represent the mile
markers and signposts that tell us how we are doing. They should be SMART – specific,
measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound. (208-9) Measurable. The
vision of Perimeter Ministries International is to establish 100
congregations in the greater Atlanta area in the next ten years. Attainable. “A
goal needs to include specific action we can actually take.” Realistic.
“Realists often come across as pessimists.” “Realists keep the steps from being too big. Many goals could be described as attainable
that may not be realistic.” “Goals must be supported by a plan, owned by those
required to accomplish them, and supported by the necessary resources.” Feedback when setting and monitoring
goals is critical. (See Encouraging
the Heart, Kouzes and Posner)
(211-212) “What is a reasonable time line of specific tasks that
must take place in order to accomplish the goals of our ministry plan? Here is often where we discover if our
goals are truly reasonable.” (216) “In order to assess the impact of changes to be made, we
find that focus groups serve us well.
They enable us to hear from a representative sampling of our
congregation regarding three areas:
“Without biblical evangelism and discipleship, a ministry
plan is doomed to ultimate failure.
…it may produce much activity, but it will not lead to a prevailing
church.” “Discipleship without
evangelism represents purposeless spiritual intake.” (231) “I believe that every church should have a plan and at
least one method for equipping believers to individually share their faith.”
(232) He describes their X-PRESS
course. “Discipleship training is, for the most part, a lost
practice in churches today. … I refer
to the most mature form defined as life-on-life, laboring in the lives of
a few.” (241) Without this kind
of discipleship we “run the risk of producing immature believers, at best,
and disillusioned learners, at worst.” (246) Oh yes. The six
widely recognized causes of church growth: (40-46)
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