What's a Body to Do? - Christianity Today

If you look at the official statements of purpose for most churches in North America, you might conclude they are a franchise operation. A religious version of McDonald's or Wal-Mart, with each establishment identical except for its location.

Almost every church claims Christ as its head and some variation of the following as its purpose: "To glorify God through worship, fellowship, outreach, and service."

The wording will differ, of course. Some churches keep it short and sweet: "To disciple the body; to evangelize the world." Others wax alliterative:

Exaltation-the church existing for Christ

Edification-the church existing for itself

Evangelism-the church existing for proclamation

Extension-the church existing for action

The similarity of stated goals, however, camouflages the vast differences between churches. Even within denominations, each local body is a unique expression, with different gifts, callings, and ministries. Some emphasize missions and give half their budget to overseas work. Others major in the worship experience, or small-group fellowships, or serving the community.

Many churches, however, don't like to admit they specialize. As one Oklahoma pastor says, "We all want to be full-service churches, even when we don't have the resources. We try to be all things to all people, surrounded by other churches vainly trying the same thing. The result: we're often bland and mediocre. But to reach one group well, you may have to sacrifice something else."

Effective ministry does have an exclusive side. Though loving the world, God chose a particular place–Palestine–and a particular people–Abraham's race–for his most direct work. While on earth, Jesus preached widely but gave special attention to twelve disciples–all men, all Jews. Even Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, narrowed his focus and went to Macedonia, not Bithynia.

Churches, too, while not shutting anyone out, must decide where they will focus their efforts.

Every leader struggles with the questions: What should our church do? How should the biblical purposes for a church take shape in our setting? What's the specific calling of our specific church?

Here are some factors to consider.

Concentrate on Limited-Range Planning

In the 1960s, businesses began looking long-range, and churches soon did the same. Recognizing that too often churches had simply perpetuated programs of the past or launched new ministries piecemeal, pastors agreed that systematic planning was preferable to the status quo or merely drifting.

But in the 1970s and '80s, with a roller coaster economy, industries rising and falling overnight, and an ever-mobile population, the future became increasingly unpredictable. Trends developed shorter life spans. Business began shying away from long-term projections.

"Long-range planning is appropriate if you've got a stable environment," says David Horner, a Christian management expert. "But things are changing so rapidly that ten-year planning doesn't make much sense these days. Churches should have a sense of where they'd like to be in ten years, but detailed plans shouldn't extend beyond three years."

Planning helps challenge and channel the congregation's vision, but long-range forecasts, if not obsolete, are best handled with caution.

Assess Congregational Character

People in the pew may not be able to articulate the church's goals, but they can probably describe its strengths. And when working with a congregation to determine objectives, this is a good place to start: making explicit what people feel implicitly.

"Each local church needs to define goals in terms of its uniqueness," says Robert Wise, pastor of Our Lord's Community Church in Oklahoma City. "We start by defining strengths and weaknesses. As people see what they do well, a sense of motivation and direction emerges. A calling. You find out what people are concerned about."

Goals reflect the character of a church, and before setting goals, it helps to identify the church's personality-rigid or free, relaxed or energetic.

"Most of our people are from stable, disciplined backgrounds," says Wise. "Theologically we're Reformed, which sets some boundaries. In addition, we're both liturgical and charismatic, unapologetically both formal and spontaneous. In setting goals, all these things are both strengths and weaknesses, but they must be considered."

Deal with Demographics

First Baptist Church in Flushing, New York, saw that forty thousand people in fifty-two different language groups lived within a nine-block radius of the church.

"When I came five years ago," says Pastor Russell Rosser, "we were a dwindling WASP congregation of 140, but the people were committed to one another and to reaching their neighborhood.

"We had to wrestle with the concepts of heterogeneity and homogeneity, and the outcome was not either/or but both/and."

When the church developed its statement of purpose, it began: "To be a heterogeneous body of believers . . . and within that heterogeneous body to develop homogeneous fellowships for opportunity to worship in one's own language and to reach out to one's own cultural and language community."

As a result of this goal, First Baptist developed services in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), and English, with nearly seven hundred attending each Sunday. In all, more than thirty language groups are represented.

"We wanted to understand our objective and God's agenda and strategy for us," says Rosser. "Our first goal was to understand the dynamic of the community."

Half a continent away in suburban Minneapolis, another church changed its name, plans to change locations, and has made staffing decisions because of studying the congregation and community.

"You have to know the people you want to reach," says Pastor Leith Anderson of Wooddale Church. "We hired a secular research firm to help us analyze our situation. We're in a metropolitan, high-tech area with lots of singles, young couples, and well-educated people. That's who attends here, and that's who we minister to most effectively. We decided to go with our strengths."

One of the study findings was that denominational loyalty is much lower among people born after 1950, and for a significant number, denominational labels are a stumbling block. As a result, Wooddale Baptist, while maintaining its affiliation with the Baptist General Conference, will be known simply as Wooddale Church.

Identifying its target audience has helped Wooddale make other key decisions. For instance a few years ago the church had to decide between adding a singles minister or a counselor to the staff.

"We went with the singles minister," says Anderson. "We decided our focus was outreach and growth, not problem solving. There are other places for people who need counseling."

The focus on outreach and growth also prompted the relocation. "We'll have fourteen hundred on Sunday morning . . . with parking spaces for fourteen cars!" says Anderson. "When newcomers decide to try us on a snowy Minnesota Sunday and find they have to park eight blocks away, they just don't come. Our decision to move was painful and hurt our momentum, but we felt we had to move to honor God and continue to reach out."

Avoid Opportunity Overload

In setting direction, the two areas pastors are probably most familiar with are (1) encouraging people to exercise their spiritual gifts, and (2) identifying needs and trying to meet them.

"All churches don't have all the gifts all the time, but each church has all it needs at this time," says Mike Tucker, pastor of Bethany Community Church in Tempe, Arizona. "We're constantly looking for new gifts in our church. As part of our membership class, we extensively interview prospective members to see where they can serve, and we always say, 'If you feel led to a ministry we don't have now, tell us about it. We're open. God can lead us through you.' "

Identifying needs can be done systematically through research or informally by training people to be sensitive. Usually spotting needs isn't the problem; the danger is opportunity overload. When so many needs emerge, there seem to be two different ways of responding: meeting whatever needs you can or strategically planning the use of resources.

"We have an understanding in our ministry: If we become aware of a need and have the resources to meet it, the answer is automatically yes," says Frank Tillapaugh of Bear Valley Baptist Church in Denver. "Not long ago we were asked to sponsor five refugee families. I called leaders of several Sunday school classes, and by evening we had five sponsoring groups. The question of whether to help didn't need a vote; the question was resources. Sometimes that means money, but in most cases, like this one, it means people's time. Our answer is simple: If we have willing people, we'll undertake any ministry-if not, we won't."

The strategic planning approach, on the other hand, tries to coordinate church ministries to enhance one another.

"A church may have the resources to pursue several opportunities but not all," says David Horner. "One important consideration is 'synergy'-that is, the extent to which the various possibilities strengthen and reinforce each other. For example, a plan that decides to emphasize youth evangelism and a summer camping ministry may be stronger than one that focuses on an aggressive youth program and a ministry to senior citizens. Churches are helped when the ministries can feed off one another."

What Are Other Groups Doing?

Seeing what others in the neighborhood are doing is helpful, not to play "monkey see monkey do," but to see what's not being done.

"We researched our area and discovered no church was working with the handicapped or with the elderly in that stage between self-sufficiency and the nursing home," says Robert Wise. "So that's where we began."

Checking out the neighborhood also lets you know where to refer people.

"We haven't started a single-parents ministry in our church yet, so I tell single parents who visit us about the ministry at Grace Community Church across town," says Mike Tucker. "By trying to do it now, we'd just do poorly. We don't duplicate other ministries unless there's a compelling reason. There are too many things no one is doing."

In Atlanta, Cascade United Methodist Church thought about starting a recreation ministry for neighborhood young people. "But we recognized the Boys Cub was doing a better job than we could," says Pastor Walter Kimbrough. "So we support them and put our energies elsewhere."

Take Your Statement of Purpose Seriously

Is a statement of purpose worth haggling over?

It can be.

A good statement of purpose not only clarifies what the church does, it sets boundaries. It defines what the church will not do. It helps limit expectations, and that alone can make it the pastor's best friend.

"Many people still confuse programs with the purpose of the church," says Lyle Pointer of First Church of the Nazarene in San Jose, California. "A good statement is a reminder that the church has purposes that transcend programs. It can help you select and say no to certain things.

"A man in our congregation once gave me some unsought advice: 'You're not as involved in missions as other pastors.' I knew what he was referring to: I support missions, but I don't attend all the committee meetings he would have liked.

" 'Your interest is very important,' I told him. 'Our church needs your involvement, but that cannot be my priority.' And I quoted one of the five stated purposes of our church, which deals with training laity to assume responsibility. While he pressed his point, I wasn't threatened, since the church had agreed on our essential purposes."

Some pastors, like Pointer, make sure the people know the purposes of the church. He preaches on them, reads them aloud at various times throughout the year, and delivers an annual "State of the Church" message based on how well the body is measuring up to the purposes.

How specific and complex should the statement be? Pointer is glad for a fairly detailed document. On the other hand, John Vawter, of Wayzata Evangelical Free Church in Plymouth, Minnesota, says, "Complex statements are fine for seminary classes, but church people need a simple statement they can remember." Wayzata's official statement of purpose is "To mobilize every believer at Wayzata Free Church for their God-ordained ministry." But the motto everyone hears is "Ministry is a many-peopled thing."

"I'm happy if people understand the general idea," he says. "When I came here in 1977, all I knew was that I wanted the church to exhibit a Spirit-filled life, the priesthood of believers, and to have an impact on the neighborhood. How that would take shape, I didn't know. But as we've grown from 170 to 700, I've kept the goal before them, and they've understood it and lived it."

The Process Itself Is Helpful

Many pastors find that the process of identifying purposes and establishing direction is as helpful as the final wording.

"To work well together, leadership must have common experiences," says Leith Anderson. Thus, at Wooddale, pastors and elders go through a six-week course, reading the same books, discussing the same issues. Throughout the year, they attend seminars to continue learning together.

"Our common experiences and study times helped us agree when we were establishing our theological priorities for ministry," Anderson says.

Simply discussing certain questions in light of scriptural descriptions of the church can build cohesiveness.

What does God want to do through our church?

What strengths and opportunities do we possess?

What needs and expectations are present in our church and community?

What effects are our past efforts likely to have on our future?

The interpersonal process involved in arriving at a statement of purpose can also be helpful.

"The process brought us together," says Lyle Pointer. "We may disagree on specific goals, but there are never differences on overall direction, and there's a healthy pride in knowing we're all agreed on that. The process of hammering out our purposes has also become a model for further problem solving."

When Goals Conflict, Weigh the Trade-offs

Almost every worthy ministry will have pluses and minuses. At the very least, each goal will have a price.

At Bethany Community Church in Tempe, Arizona, church leaders are frustrated because there's no place to meet privately for prayer after the service with those making spiritual decisions. All the available rooms are being used for Sunday school classes. Should they convert part of a Sunday school classroom into a prayer room?

"Our phrase around here is What's the trade-off?" says Mike Tucker. "After weighing all the factors, we decided the Sunday school ministry was more important, and the prayer room would have to wait."

Another decision was whether or not to spend several thousand dollars to install ramps for the ten to fifteen handicapped persons attending Bethany. The church decided yes.

"Joni Eareckson Tada spoke in our service and pointed out how ministering to the weak strengthens the whole body," says Tucker. "Decisions like the one about ramps must be evaluated by their total impact on the church ministry-financially, but also spiritually. We felt the financial sacrifice was worth it."

The Pastor's Influence

In setting goals and direction, one of the most powerful influences is the pastor. The role pastors should play provokes intense disagreement, even among pastors themselves.

Some adopt a no-nonsense "leaders are to lead" approach and assume the initiative for setting the direction of the church. As John Vawter puts it, "The pastor has to get the church going and must be willing to pay the price. Too many acquiesce to traditions and the expectations of people. The role of a shepherd is to move the flock from one mountain to another, getting them ready for market, ready to produce."

Lyle Pointer agrees. "I initiate, with feedback from the congregation, of course. I make sure things keep going until I can eventually turn them over to lay people. Some pastors use lay ministry as an out; most growing churches have strong pastoral leaders."

Other pastors feel just as strongly that initiative belongs with the laity.

Don Finto repeatedly urges the people of Belmont Church in Nashville, Tennessee, to "hear the voice of the Lord" and do what the Lord prompts them to do. "We no longer start programs," he says. "We tried to launch, among other things, a day care center and a drug rehabilitation program, and we asked God's blessing, but they fizzled. Now I just put together people of like interest and tell them, 'If your idea is of the Lord and you remain faithful, others will join you, and the ministry will succeed.' That approach has worked in developing a bookstore, a Saturday night concert ministry, a Christian community theater, and home-grown Bible study groups."

These lay-oriented pastors feel they still provide strong leadership-through creating an atmosphere where ministry is shared.

"Some pastors have a strong sense of personal ministry-preaching, say, or evangelism-and gather like-minded people around them," says Robert Wise. "But I think the Holy Spirit speaks more often through the body than to a leader with singular vision. Even strong leaders must listen to the body or else wind up a voice crying in the wilderness."

As in most controversies, both sides can learn from the other-initiative needn't come from only one direction.

"I try to maintain around a 50/50 split between ideas coming from the grassroots and proposals coming from the pastoral staff," says Mike Tucker. "If pastors offer too many, the people become spectators, don't own the goals, and don't actively pursue them. If pastors are too passive, people will wonder if they really care."

Supermarket or a Specialty Shop?

Specifying the church's direction can be painful. Some people will feel that writing future goals somehow dishonors the work of the past and present.

Others will imply that goal setting isn't spiritual, that being too specific sets limits, and God may want to do things beyond our self-imposed focus.

Even pastors fear that the church may come up with "wrong" goals. As one pastor said, "We're located in one of the fastest-growing cities in America, and it would have been tragic if they'd decided to minister to members only and not focus on growing numerically."

Churches also dislike setting specific direction because they're geared to respond to needs, and turning away from some to minister more effectively to others is agonizing.

Yet despite these difficulties, our churches will continue making prayerful decisions about tomorrow. We might find the job easier by recognizing our church's special calling. It isn't necessary to duplicate the services of every other church in town. We don't have to be supermarkets stocking every imaginable item; specialty shops do quite well.

Over the centuries, we've found our church identity in doctrinal distinctives and denominational heritage but not on many other grounds. Admitting that Jesus "doeth all things well" but our church does one or two things well may help establish a fuller identity. But most important, a more focused ministry may also help us minister more effectively in the location God has placed us.

Marshall Shelley is assistant editor of LEADERSHIP.