Modern

Postmodern

Recruit life long members of a congregation.

Make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Purpose of local congregation is to maintain itself.

Purpose of local church is to create settings where

people can come to faith and belief

in Jesus Christ

Teaching focus is on knowledge. 

Teaching focus is on spiritual formation.

Focus on religion.

Focus on spiritual journey.

Church’s mission directed primarily at those who

are just like the ones already in church.

Church’s mission self-consciously and scandalously

attempts to reach those in neighborhood who are

also different than those already in church.

Church rested its hope on reason, seeking to prove

God’s existence through scientific means.

Church rests more on scripture, tradition, and

EXPERIENCE (including emotion) as well as

reason to have God touch real lives

through the Spirit.

Hierarchical church structure that saw ministry

as primarily the job of the professionally

trained ordained minister.

The members are the ministers to the world and

the ordained clergy seek to equip and support

the laity in their ministries.

Ministry requires a team effort. No one person has

the necessary expertise. Change is constant and

requires life-long learning and adaptability.

Zenith of power in late 1950’s when stable

neighborhoods and times were assumed.

Church now in a transition time between

old 20^th model and the new 21st.

Church competed for members by having a better

preacher and more exciting programs.

 

Evangelism is logical and linear, laying out a faith

that is rational, and beliefs that made sense.

 

Preaching is didactic, linear, and rationalistic; three

points and a story that people can agree or disagree

with. Whether people live out the point of the

message is secondary.

Communicating the Gospel includes multi-media

presentations in addition to the verbal and

concentrates on real-life applications.

Preaching is thematic while focusing on the heart.

Preaching helps the listeners see the connection

between the core values (Scripture for the day)

and their ministry (the way they live out the

core values in daily life.

Worship assumes people are already Christian and

already know basic of Bible and prayer.

Worship is relational instruction that centers on

living out the Christian faith in our changing

world, focusing on experiences of faith and

practice that shape core values, without

assuming people already know the

basics of the faith.

 

Goal of worship and programs is membership, not

discipleship, a place where one could belong and

raise children in good education program.

 

Leadership requires committees to organize and

carry out programs and events. 

Responsibility for oversight is in hands of professional

minister and church staff. 

Individuals find a niche in particular jobs.

Stability and creativity is not based on committee

structures but on the nature of working

relationships and mutual trust.

Individuals are encouraged to grow and expand

both spiritually and in the areas of their gifts. 

Character and integrity matter as people

learn to trust the leadership.

Leadership functions to say “yes” to those finding

new ways to reach out, whether through

existing committees or new task forces.

Visitors, participants, and members are invited to

gather in SMALL GROUPS where they learn to

live out the spiritual disciplines of the Christian

faith. Together they hold one another

accountable and challenge one

another to grow in faith.

As they pray, study the Scripture, and seek God’s

will, vision for ministry begins to arise.

The ministry of the baptized responds to God’s call

for ministry and sees the vision for ministry that

arises out of small groups and individuals as

they practice and reflect on their

spiritual disciplines.

Structure is created and designed to

give feet to the vision.

The role of leadership is to set guidelines and

boundaries, and to put into place structures

that will enable new ministry to bear fruit.

Leaders watch and let ministry develop organically

as God works in the lives of the baptized.

The starting point is vision as it arises out of the

prayers of the whole body of Christ. The ending

point is the empowerment by the whole body

of Christ to do the ministry.

Rather than trying to force the new ministries to fit

old church structures, the leaders empower

ministry to unfold as it is unveiled

in God’s timing.

The congregation comes to worship to see what

the pastor is doing. 

Did he or she preach a good sermon, attend meetings,

visit the sick, and attend to the needs

of church members?

The pastor comes to worship to experience and reflect

on what the congregation has been doing. Did they

feed the poor, visit the sick, pray for healing, grow

in grace, and attend to the needs of the

congregation and community?

Pastors and lay leaders as a team equip believers

to be in ministry.

The job of the leadership core group is not to do the

ministry on behalf of others. Instead, the goal is to

infuse people with the passion to be in ministry

in the world and to give them the tools

they needs to be successful.

One tool is to help them know Scripture and basic

beliefs. Another is to help them know their

spiritual gifts.

 

 

Cliff-notes and Quotable Quotes for Self and Sharing with Others.

 

The premise of NextChurch.Now by Craig Kennete Miller is that growing congregations are those that create new faith communities that are able to meet the needs of specific people groups in their local community. (p. 7)

 

Even existing congregations are finding ways to open themselves to new people by creating discipleship systems and new worship experiences. (p. 5)

 

A small group without worship is not a faith community. Conversely, a worship experience without a small-group system is not a faith community. A faith community sees as its role the developing and equipping of people for ministry. (p. 51)

 

Today, the role of the church has changed. Rather than being the cultural center of a believer’s life, it is the spiritual center. People do not desire more activity, instead, they long for purpose and meaning. As a result, effective congregations are ones that focus on the core values of the Christian faith and center on teaching people spiritual disciplines that will last a lifetime. (p. 56)

 

In the end, people become a part of a community of faith when they choose to be on a spiritual journey with a group of believers. (p. 50)

 

Paul’s call was not simply to nurture piety in the lives of individuals. Rather, the apostle had in view the transformation of the whole world in the name of the one true God, who had sent Jesus Christ to die so that all people could be saved. By sharing the Word of God in a way that could be understood by individuals in their cultural context (Saddleback Sam), he sought to create a Christian community that would challenge the principalities and the powers that oppressed people everywhere, and would prepare believers for the life to come. (p. 17)

 

Is your local church a combination of people groups that are united by common core values and mission, or is it competing entities tearing the church apart? (p. 25)

 

The first steps—

the prayer life,

the methods of sharing the faith,

the gathering of the core group,

the establishment of the first small groups,

the first practices of spiritual disciplines, and

the nature of the first worship service—

make up the genetic code that will run through that congregation for the rest of its existence. (p. 16)

 

When people talk about the death of the church or the decline of Christianity, more often than not they are pointing to the package, not to the contents—the way of doing things, not the core values. (p. 65)

 

When vision for ministry grows out of the practice of prayer, Bible study, worship, holding one another gracefully and accountably, and doing acts of mercy, all believers in the congregation see themselves as ministers of the gospel. (p. 94)

 

The process of developing the core is not for the impatient. It takes time, prayer, confidence, and dependence on the Holy Spirit to move beyond issues related to building and programs to focus on forming healthy Christian relationships that nourish the soul an create a strong foundation for spiritual and numerical growth. Critical to the process is a leader who is willing to say, “I need to grow in love and compassion.” Leaders who do not have all the answers but have a desire to work with others to discover the answers are ones who create an atmosphere where healthy relationships can develop. Healthy leaders create healthy core groups and, in turn, healthy congregations. (p. 100)

 

Key question: = What do we hope will happen in the lives of people as they become part of our faith community? (p. 101) What does spiritual maturity look like? (p. 108)

 

Every church that is growing spiritually and numerically is able to articulate an image of its disciple system. For some congregations the image might be that of a baseball diamond; for others, it might be a funnel or well. Whatever the image might be, the leaders in growing congregations are able to share with newcomers the process of discipleship. (p. 111)

 

What function does a local church have that makes it unique in the spiritual life of the community in which it resides? A church cannot make someone believe in God. It cannot force people to attend worship. Nor can the church make people related to God in some fashion. So what does the church actually do? The church creates settings where people can connect to God. (p. 113)

 

Most people do not see themselves as unbelievers, secular people, or even as seekers; they see themselves as believers. They may not be Christian believers, but in their minds they are believers in something. (p. 139)

 

What makes a faith community different from a place where worship happens is that people are transformed. Effectiveness of worship linked to discipleship training is what is happening with the people. 

Are they growing in faith? 

Are they living a Christian lifestyle? 

Are they discovering their spiritual gifts for ministry? 

Are they practicing their spiritual disciplines? 

Are the reaching out to new people in the name of Christ? 

Are they creating healthy relationships? 

Are newcomers giving their lives to Christ?

If these things are happening in your church, you will have no problems attracting new people. (p. 146)

 

Transformational, thematic worship question = How does the Scripture apply to the lives of the people who are in my congregation? How does the Scripture apply to me? Then, what question or life issue does the Scripture illuminate? What is the human condition that the Scripture addresses? How does the Word of God speak to this condition? (pp. 152-53)

 

The reality is that God is the One who gives the growth. Our job is to prepare our hearts and our souls for God’s work in our midst. (p. 164)