Church Planting Part 3

Every church and especially every church plant has to make the decision of what they will do in the area of ministries. In churches all over the country you will be able to find ministries that touch on just about everything under the sun and most of them are great ideas that touch many peoples live but the question that has to arise for me is "how many things can we do with excellence?" If you go to one church you'll find they have tons of ministries (ie. VBS, Sunday School, Men's, Women's, Small Groups, private schools, AWANA, sports, MOPS, ect.) and then if you go down the street you'll find a church that only does a few things.

I've always been in churches that do a lot of things, and once again I believe that there is nothing wrong with that philosophy of ministry, but for me as I've studied different churches and different philosophy of ministries and I've come to the belief that the more things a church does the more it tends to not do them as well simply because you are stretching your human and material resources so thin. It isn't a matter of the heart being in the wrong place as much as it is just so much energy spent going in so many different directions. For me I really have gravitated to a more simply church approach where we may not have every ministry under the sun but we really try to be excellent in the few we do and really try to get people involved in those few areas. What I'd like to do here is talk about what those few areas of ministry are that I believe are important for a church plant.

**Main Adult Worship Experience-- You'll notice I didn't say Sunday morning service because in churches today the main worship service could not only be Sunday morning but could be Saturday night, Sunday night, or even some other day of the week. Historically church has been held on Sunday to celebrate the day that Jesus rose from the dead conquering sin and death but I'm not sure that it is mandated that you must worship on Sunday morning even though I think it is optimal.

I believe the main adult worship experience should be geared towards two groups: 1)believer's- we should never lose hold of the fact that worship is only something Christians can do because you can only worship God when the Holy Spirit has changed your heart. The main worship experience is a time for believer's to come together and celebrate what Jesus has done through song, prayer, tithing, baptisms, communion and the preaching of the Bible. 2)the unbeliever-- this main worship experience is an opportunity for someone who is not a Christian to come and experience what Christianity is all about, it is an opportunity for them to experience the love of God's people, hear the message of salvation in Jesus Christ, and see that the church isn't a scary place. The main worship experience shouldn't be, in my opinion, geared towards the unbeliever but we should make every effort, as long as not contrary to Scripture, to make them feel comfortable.

What type of "worship style" a church uses has been a hot button topic for years but I hope that someday it will no longer be. I believe there is a lot of freedom in Scripture about what "style" of worship you can use as long as the focus is placed on God and not ourselves. I believe that you can hold tight to the truths of Scripture and still be keenly aware and appreciate the changes in culture. Because of this belief I have no problem with the use of video, a full array of instruments, the use of drama and other forms of the arts, the idea of preaching both topical sermons and covering an entire book of the Bible. I believe that it is beneficial to use contemporary christian songs, secular songs, and classic hymns of the faith but I would lean towards the music being more "contemporary" then "traditional" in style because our vision is to "be a church where un-churched people fall in love with Jesus" and studies (next blog) have shown that church plants that use contemporary music reach un-churched people easier and grow much better then those that don't. One of the things that I really want to have is an appreciation for different "worship styles" and a flexibility to do different things because I believe that if you become too comfortable in the way you do things we as humans have a tendency to think it is the only right way.

**Children's Ministry (Nursery through 6th grade)-- It is imperative for any church and especially a church plant to take seriously the need to keep children safe and also teach them the truths of Scripture from an early age. Studies have shown that one of the most important things in a family deciding on a church is the safety/cleanliness of the children's facilities and we will do everything we can to make sure that when a family drops their kids off they know they are in good hands. Another thing I really want to see happen in a children's ministry is that it is such an exciting place for the kids that they can't wait for the next time they get to go. Think about this...how important to a parent would it be if their kids got them up from bed in the morning so excited to go to church? Wow! What I'd like to see in a children's ministry is a place where they can come together and sing fun songs, learn a Bible lesson, and then break up into small groups based on age to do projects about that Bible lesson so that it is reinforced. I would love from the time kids leave the children's ministry for them to have a great understanding of who God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are and for them to fall in love.

**Student Ministries (7th through 12th grade)-- Student ministries are a fun but challenging time because it is during this phase of life that so much changes in hormones, attitudes, and beliefs. Much like the Children's ministry my hope is that we provide an environment that is so exciting to be involved in that they want to go and be involved. My vision is that the Student ministries would work very similar to the Children's ministries in that they would gather in a big group for songs, skits, and a Bible lesson and then break up into specific age small groups to discuss more fully the lesson. My hope is that during the summer we'd also be able to add in Missions Trip and other fun activities.

**Service Teams-- One of the big areas that I'm excited about is our Service Teams because I believe that if you want to get connected in a church one of the best ways is to serve. I believe that when you work with people towards a common goal you really begin to bond and form a friendship that can last for a long time. One of the main reasons why we won't be have any type of Adult Sunday School ministry is because I want to free up people to be able to serve. Whether is be parking lot greeters, door greeters, helping with children's or student ministries, set up and tear down, sound, lights, offering helpers, or some other thing that comes up we need volunteers to jump in and serve. One of the things that I want people to know when they come is that we want you to use your gifts and serve on one of our Service Teams, not only so we can have an excellent church experience but so you can meet new friends.

**Outreach-- Part of the mandate that Jesus gave His disciples is to go out and share the Gospel with your local community and the farthest parts of the world. My hope is that if we're not known for anything else that we'll be known as a church that shares the love of Jesus with the world. My goal would be to build bridges with other local churches, para-church ministries, non-Christian organizations, and also global organizations. I want for our love to be so well known in our community that if our church were to disappear one day the impact would be felt by both Christians and non-Christians, I want people to be able to say that even though they may not agree with our message they appreciate our work in the community. I want for us to not only send short-term mission teams out into the field but also launch out full-time missionaries. These full-time missionaries will reach not only people groups that have heard the Gospel before but that brave the unknown for Jesus into un-reached people groups. Part of being in love with someone is telling people about that love, part of being in love with someone is showing them how much you love them and that is what we want to do with our love for Jesus.

**Small Groups-- I believe that "church" is really about community. I believe that small groups of 6-12 people meeting in homes, businesses, and restaurants are a vital part of what we should be about. I believe that beginning with our kids and working our way all the way up to adults we should desire to be in a group where we can grow in our relationship with God and with each other. I see these groups meeting on a regular basis because we need a place where we can pray together, fellowship together, talk about God's Word together, and support each other through life's ups and downs. Small Group ministry is one of my passions because I've seen what the Holy Spirit can do in that type of environment.

My hope is that we would create a small groups ministry where people can come and get plugged in, where they can meet new people to do life with. One of the challenges of small groups is that if you're a growing church, which we want to constantly be, you have to constantly be getting new people who are willing to step up and lead groups so that new people have a place to go. I want to have a culture that values both the need to develop deep, lasting relationships and the need to understand self sacrifice for the betterment of getting new people plugged in. My hope is that our groups will be based on life stage (single, married, and empty nest) so that you can group up with people most like you. We'll have times where the groups will talk further about the sermon and times when they'll talk about other topics.

As you can see my goal isn't to do a lot and that is intentional. I believe that if we're going to ask you to be a good spouse, a good parent, a good employee, a good neighbor, and share your faith with friends, family, and strangers that that takes a lot of time and effort. I don't want to pile on top of you more and more stuff. What we'll ask is that on top of that list of things you are hopefully already committed to doing that you do two events for us specifically: 1)join or lead a small group and 2)be involved Sunday morning (or Saturday night or Sunday night...whenever the large get together time is)in a Service Team. My hope is that if you have come from the type of background that I have, where every night there is something to do, you'll find this as great news because our goal isn't to burn you out but to have things that are so much fun that you'll love being a part of them and you'll want to see us reach the vision of "being a church where un-churched people fall in love with Jesus".