On Ministry and Revolving Doors, Part 4

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

IV. Practical Suggestions for Mobility

A. IDOLATRIES

1. Preach consistently, often to all of these idolatries: money, escapism, status seeking, approval, etc. Money a stewardship (money as a means); Vision cast to de-commodify and revive personhood.

2. Active social justice ministries: you’re confronted with your own idolatries to money, wealth, materialism, etc.

3. Stewardship seminars

4. Professional advancement a vocation (profession as kingdom building)

5. Asking people to consider that perhaps Boston is for you. Challenge the culture that you just follow the job with the bigger paycheck, the greater influence, to consider if maybe you’re being called to advance your city.

6. Vision-casting: Challenge them with a missional mindset to stay for the sake of the community

7. Vocation – Faith & Work Integration

Their response to their call is not bifurcated (between work & local church)

8. Belonging: community groups

9. Church-planting: more missional mindset, small communities for easier connectedness

• Autonomy a community
• Build a vibrant, caring, vulnerable community: Community Groups
• Family Level groups, Neighborhood level groups, Nation level groups

B. REALITIES

Must have a missional mindset about ministry. May not see the return on our investment, but there is a kingdom return on it.   It’s hard, but we must be able to accept it.

Must challenge & critique not mobility per se, but the idols that may be driving mobility

• In Community Groups
• In University Ministries
• In Mercy Ministries

1. What is under your control?

a. Cultivate Renewal Dynamics. The most fundamental leadership skill is to discern and apply the individual and corporate renewal dynamics.

• Personal Spirituality. Your own prayer life and personal spirituality is foundational to your ability to cultivate renewal dynamics.
• Apply individual renewal dynamics. This is the ability to apply the gospel to the individual heart, especially in spiritual direction, counseling, discipling, and general pastoring.
• Apply corporate renewal dynamics. This is the ability to apply the gospel to the corporate body in preaching, teaching, prayer and worship-leading, and in seeking the balance of Lovelace’s ‘secondary renewal characteristics.’

b. Contextualize Ministry Design The next most fundamental leadership skill is to design a ministry that ‘fits’ a) your church’s theological vision, b) your church’s spiritual gifts, and c) your social-cultural context. There are three basic parts to this:

• Choose/understand the basic ecclesiological model. This is the ability to create a church model (your basic emphases or ‘driving forces’ that fits your church’s calling.)
• Set and cast vision for the church This is the ability to set a ‘missional vision’ for your church that is clear, apt, and compelling.
• Create an overall strategic design for the church’s ministry This is the ability to contextualize not just the basic model and vision but specific strategies and approaches to leadership, music and worship, community-building, communication, etc

c. Develop Ministry Practices and Programs. The least fundamental, but still quite important, is the ability to plan and run ministry programs very effectively which are based and guided by the church’s vision and strategic. Note: This is the area traditionally covered by ‘church growth’ literature.

• Do regular planning. The ability to know the priority areas of ministry that must be covered, to set up programs, to plan and set goals, and to recruit and give clear job descriptions to various leaders and workers.
• Do supervision or execution. The ability to fully carry out and execute your plans, and/or to supervise others who do so.
• Do evaluation. The ability to regularly evaluate how you are doing and how you have done and to continually improve your performance.

Summary. What determines the ‘effectiveness’ of church leadership? What determines the number of conversions, the amount of character growth, and the impact on culture? In the end the answer has to do with the character of God and the character of the leader.

• Ultimately, “God gives the growth.” (1 Cor 3:6) His Spirit sovereignly works in your ministry and in the hearts of the people both inside and outside the congregation.
• The key ‘cultivation skills’ that God ordinarily uses as the ‘secondary cause’ of the work he wills to do in your church are themselves deeply rooted in the maturity of the leader’s character.
• Cultivating renewal dynamics, which is mainly a function of your godliness and joy.
• Contextualizing the model, vision, and strategies, which is mainly a function of your hope and wisdom.
• Developing ministry practices and programs, which is mainly a function of your diligence and self-control.  (Basic management skills.)

Endnote:  The three basic skills of church-leader effectiveness–cultivating renewal, contextualizing ministry, and developing programs–are basically expressions of the three basic leadership skills that all leaders everywhere must have, namely ‘vision-setting’ ‘strategic design’ and ‘managing’.

C. Opportunities

1. It is an expert culture. People who come here are highly skilled and extremely busy.

Ministry implications and ideas:

• People expect very intelligent, unabashedly intellectual teaching and preaching.
• Low volunteerism to do work around church. People expect experts to be running our various ministries, not volunteer generalists.
• Tenure and relationship not as important as productiveness and quality. A meritocracy – This will effect how people evaluate staff and ministry.

2. People literally live in their careers. People come to the city to work, not to have a life.

Ministry implications and ideas:

Greater interest here than anywhere else for “faith and work integration.”

3. People are sexually active

Ministry implications and ideas:

*On the one hand a lack of prudishness about sex. Very frank, surprisingly celebratory, Showing the biblical “goodness” of sex

4. Rootlessness

Ministry implications and ideas:

*unlike baby boomers, younger generations appreciate the historic roots of the church.

Liturgical renewal rather than purely contemporary worship.

*extremely important to build community. Importance of small groups (Keller)

5. Openness to change-missional opportunity-Christians are more connected to Non-Christians