Suppose we went shopping for a new car and when we arrived at the dealership we found out that there was nothing but 1950′s styles cars on the lot; what would we do? Well, unless we are car collectors we would probably look for another dealership. Most of us would not enjoy driving a car with no power steering, no power breaks, and no air-conditioning. We also wouldn’t like a manual transmission and getting less than 20 miles to the gallon! Driving an old style car just isn’t practical for the way most of us drive today.
However, a lot of churches are still trying to do ministry using a church structure that dates back to the 50′s. It is a top-down corporate model where ministry is driven by the pastor and enacted through committees. It is a system that worked well in the 50′s when the church was the center of the religious and social life of a community. Lifestyles were different as well. People went to the neighborhood church, commuted shorter distances to work, and had only one spouse working. All these things added up to having a larger number of people available to fill all of those committee positions and make ministry happen. Trying to still do ministry with this model today is like trying to drive a 1950′s car in 2011. It just isn’t practical and leads to frustration for clergy and congregation.
Today, more of a church’s ministry needs to take place outside the walls of the church and congregation members are more inclined to participate in short-term projects than to serve on long standing committees. Ministries today need to be flexible and able to respond quickly to changing
needs, which is why churches that have an active small group network are more successful in reaching people for Christ. These small groups have more freedom to develop and implement ministry on their own. They also give people in the church a greater sense of ownership of the church’s ministry and a greater sense of belonging in the church.
This is the philosophy behind the M.O.R.E. group network we have been trying to establish here. These groups exist for mutual support and encouragement, service to the church, and mission to the world. In 2011, our four existing groups have planned outreach and fellowship events for our church. The ultimate goal is to have as many people in the church as possible hooked up to a M.O.R.E. group so that we can maximize the giftedness of our congregation while minimizing the time burden. In other words, many hands make for lighter work. I would encourage you to talk with one of the following M.O.R.E. group leaders to find out how you could fit into this ministry.
Blessings,
Pastor John
