by Sandy » Mon Oct 27, 2014 8:52 am
It's about a decade old, now, but I highly recommend Neil Cole's Organic Church. It's kind of what it sounds like. Having served on the staff of a ministry-oriented church with a lot of "organic" ministry, it's an approach that lets mature Christians with an understanding of spiritual gifts and ministry within a local church context use them in determining what their ministry will be within the church, and how that fits with the local church and its ministry. I saw that approach revitalize a declining, traditional, neighborhood SBC church that had lost a lot of members and energy to nearby mega churches, and had declined to about 180 mostly elderly members, and turn it into a congregation reflective of the community in which it ministered, and move both the spiritual vitality and attendance upward, through a variety of ministries it might never have had if its leadership hadn't been open to that approach. I got involved there largely because in its ministry evaluation process, the church determined that it would house and take over governance of an existing Christian school, merging it under the same discipleship umbrella as its Preschool and home school cooperative. Over about a decade, attendance on Sunday grew to over 300, with virtually all of the new members being under 40, and either Hispanic, Asian or African American, and an additional hundred or so in small groups whom we didn't see at the church on Sunday. The small groups all had a worship-Bible study format, and eventually incorporated what I would call two other "churches" under the ministry arm of the main congregation. In addition to the school, there were all kinds of ministry groups, including Jazzercise groups six days a week, a Harley biker's fellowship, AA and Al Anon, two college fellowships, senior adult fellowship and a couple of "domino clubs", half a dozen weekday Bible study groups and a "jam session" for musicians every other Saturday night. Most churches wouldn't have the structure, or the will, to divert so much control over activity to so many people. Accountability was through a "Discipleship council" which was made up of the discipleship minister and the leader of each group. And I think they key was no direct contact with the Deacons.