Monday, March 3, 2008
Perspectives, 595 Assignment
Please read and respond to the article, "The Spontaneous Multiplication of Churches," by George Patterson, beginning on page 595in your Perspectives on the World Christian Movement book. You will be required to respond to at least one other student's comments to successfully complete this assignment. Please ensure that you put your name in parenthesis if you post anonymously.
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5 comments:
I am looking for a church like this. I was in a church that followed this kind of philosophy. It was not part of the fellowship though. Let me try to describe how this church put it in practice.
The pastor discipled ten people. (It has to start from the top or it will fail.) These ten people were his Deacons. Each deacon had at least one other person helping him that was in training getting the same training as a deacon but not a deacon. ( this person later may become a deacon or it is good training for a mature church member.) Each member of the church was assigned to a deacon team. This process started when the person joined the church. A deacon would be called on to stand with the person up front when they joined the church, on day one. Later the deacon would stop by to meet the family and drop of an envelope of information about the church, different ministries they could help in, and also a survey of strengths and gifts. This would then be returned to the office and if someone needed help a church member with that special talent would be called if they would be willing to help.
The deacon would contact each family at least once a month. The deacons “did the work of the ministry”. By this I mean one deacon had the prison ministry, one had nursing home ministry, two deacons had the hospital visits etc. This meant if someone went to the hospital two deacons would visit them, their own deacon and also the deacon with the hospital visits.
The pastor would meet once a month with the deacons and discuss the ministry. They would also have additional training each month when required. They shared prayer requests from their members, if someone did not let the pastor know the deacon would let the pastor know if something important was needed.
The deacons would also serve the Lord’s supper, which at times would be around dinner tables in the fellowship hall. The deacons sat at the head of the table to serve those at his table. Deacons would often open the worship service in prayer. Everyone knew the Deacons were to be respected and represented the pastor on almost everything.
Deacons were rotated off the ministry one third each year. This gave good continuity for the deacons and kept up the training at the high level. Consequentially this meant many church members received training on how to make hospital visits, home bound visits, and ample training how to share the gospel and lead someone to a discussion. The average church member also got good training how to follow-up on new converts and all the above training if they moved to other churches. Church members got as good or in some cases better training than many college students, in actual hands on ministry.
This church was not part of the fellowship though. I wish I found another church like this. The Sunday school was of the same high quality training too. Sunday school teachers got a different kind of training geared to teaching, of course. Many of them also had served as deacons or deacon helpers. Lord willing this is the kind of church I would like to develop if I get into the pastorate.
Mark A.
(Thayer Lawson) Disciplining the people is a must in starting with the word. Every movement in the universe must have order, that’s discipline. Or they will be out of control. The initial strategy wasn’t out of control but it lacked the discipline to motivate or get the churches started. You must know and love the people you disciple. Select a few that you can be intimate with, get a good feeling for the students. Build those individuals up so they can build up others. Teach and exemplify the Great Commission, in your everyday life. Building and edifying the disciples will help reproduce churches. Pray for the reproduction of churches and power. The simple principles above will assist with the building of the disciple first then it will give him the courage to continue burning when outside the presence of church, which helps him reproduce and build up others.
This entire article is based on love. Without love none of the things taught in this article can be accomplished. Loving people is the foundation of building relationships. Relationships are what builds and keeps the church going. The Holy Spirit has His work in the hearts of the people, yet He uses relationships of people in His work. The love of God is often what draws people to Him. His grace and mercy are the first things that should be taught in discipleship. Love is a key ingredient to discipleship.
Once people are solid in their beliefs then they can go out and make disciples of their own. This is when church planting can really take off and go. A church will grow faster if the people are grounded in the word of God. A love for God will cause people to spread God’s word and be a light for Him.
I agree with the process laid out in this article for reproducing churches. Too many of our churches today are getting bigger and not reproducing. I liked the last few paragraphs where Patterson said that all creation is reproducing and the church should follow suit and obey God’s command. (Meisha Deane)
Great article. We need Spirit filled churches producing leaders for more Spirit filled churches; but it really goes beyond the church though. I believe within currently established churches there needs to be push for sincere discipleship, not some “push to the back burner” acquaintances. I think that’s where some churches have lacked; this can cause a rippling effect for the future of those churches as well. For those that have been bought with the blood, have been commissioned to make more disciples and we do this in and with love. (Trey Hyman)
Thayer,
You sound passionate about discipleship. What kind of discipleship would you do, how would you do it? What would you do to disciple the members, knowing that in a church setting you get people joining that what to stay with their friends that may have been there for many years? You would end up with a new Christian in the same discipleship with someone who has been a Christian for many years.
Mark
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