Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/85

Contributor - Rev. Murray Moerman

Title - "Your Philosophy of Ministry"

Topic - Church Growth

Music. What instruments will be used, what kinds of music styles, upbeat or traditional, what will be the interaction of choir, congregation and special music? How much of the service will be musical - one-tenth or three-fifth? Do your budget, song books and worship leader reflect these priorities.?

Preaching Do you want your preaching to be expository or topical, oriented to the mind or homey, low key or emotional, long or short, with or without notes for the congregation, concluding in an invitation or not? All these matters of styles will be a part of the distinctive nature of your church and draw or repel the kind of people who live in your neighbourhood.

Renewal Orientation: What is the degree of your "charismatic" or "non-charismatic" (pardon these inadequate words for which I have not found the proper terms) openness? Should spiritual gifts be used publically, privately, by leaders, lay persons or no one? Which ministries are encouraged, which discouraged? Be up front.

Fellowship Structures: Will everyone be a part of a cell group or only those who "sign up"? What other fellowship structures will you have, how often will they meet, will they focus in homes or in the church building, how will you incorporate newcomers? What will be your fellowship ratio? You will need to structure a minimum of seven relational groups, places where friendships are built, for every 100 persons who attend your church. Of those, one of every five relational groups should have been started in the past two years so as to incorporate newcomers.

Sunday School: is Sunday School for all or only for children up to a certain age, is it for cognitive input or for fellowship, is it geared for Christians or for evangelism, what other structures for learning do you plan?

Evangelistic Strategy: is your plan for public invitations, door to door visitation or a program like Evangelism Explosion? Does your budget reflect your goals? What is your plan for nurturing new Christians?

Ethical Stance: Will you take stands on political issues, education, divorce, abortion, homosexuality, smoking, drinking, obesity, feeding the poor, and so on? How will you communicate the stands you will take to those in, or considering incorporation in, your fellowship; in sermons, position papers, membership classes? Newcomers need to have I opportunity to learn which issues you believe the church should take a stand on and what they are.

Goals What do you believe God wants your church to look like in twenty or fifty years? in which direction are you headed? What kinds of ministries do you envision? programs? structures? Do you know where you are going? Newcomers have a right to know.

Size: What do you believe is the optimum size of church needed to effectively carry out this philosophy of ministry.? Do you want to grow as large as possible, plant daughter churches, or remain small?

All are important issues and will significantly impact the kind of church you will become and in many ways whether or not you will grow.

Make no mistake: "He who aims at nothing will never fail to achieve it'. You must set goals. But more about goals next month.

Who should write your church's philosophy of ministry.? The development of a philosophy of ministry is a mutual project. The pastor, or a sub-committee of the church board, will write an outline. it is discussed, input is given, further refinement takes place; it evolves. Ideally a philosophy of ministry should be written in the first six months of the life of a church or even before services begin. In an established church it will take longer to write, but the process should not take more than six months to a year.

One more thing. You may say: "Our church hasn't had a philosophy of ministry and we get along fine."

You can survive without a philosophy of ministry but it is very difficult to grow without one. No church will appeal to everyone. But if newcomers know who you are, where you are going, and how you are going to get there, a much higher percentage are likely to stay. Make it easy for them. Know where you are growing.

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