I came across an article today on ChurchLeaders.com that puzzled me. Okay, it got under my skin a bit. Okay, maybe more than a bit. Okay, maybe a lot more than that.
I’m doing a preaching series on Sunday mornings at our church called: What Is Church?
We’re talking about what Jesus meant when He said He’d build His church, the power we possess as being His church, the purpose of our gathering, what to do when we gather for worship/fellowship, and what our main focus should be for existence (i.e. glorifying God, discipleship, and evangelism).
Below is an excerpt from the article I read today. It gives “10 Steps To Start A Church” and I would simply love to hear your thoughts about it. Is this how we should go about actually planting a church? Hmm, I wonder.
I left my own comment on the original article itself, but please feel free to leave your own thoughts below on my website. Thank you!
[stextbox id=”custom”]It is a control-driven church culture that demands there be theologically trained leaders who are accountable to centralized authorities. That isn’t necessary, and it isn’t required. Don’t be afraid.
So here’s what you do:
1. Choose a place and time…anywhere, anytime, any frequency.
2. Tell your friends who want something like this.
3. Inform them of the intention: church, fellowship, community, worship, prayer, etc.
4. Even if leaderless, appoint a moderator: just someone to keep it centered.
5. Open with a prayer: impromptu, written, ancient, modern, or maybe best…silent.
6. Play a worship song or hymn: live or recorded. No cheese please.
7. Read a passage from the Bible without agenda.
8. Talk about it. Try not to hold to any theological persuasion. Keep it open.
9. Close with prayer…maybe for someone present.
10. Have an end time and promise to keep it.
QUESTION FOR COMMENTING BELOW: What do you think about this particular checklist?
Photo credit: Bob.Fornal (Creative Commons)
I read a lot of articles like this on churchleaders.com. You can get a wide spectrum of thoughts there.
The first thing I did was read the whole article, then read the author’s bio. This man has bounced all over the theological yard, and is currently not involved in what could be called “organized Christianity.” I don’t know what has driven his spiritual pilgrimage, but I detect a certain degree of dissatisfaction with the North American church as a whole.
Throughout history the church has picked up a certain amount of traditions, practices and beliefs that impede it’s mission and may even be destructive, much as a ship will collect barnacles and other marine organisms. For the health of the ship, there needs to be periodic cleaning of the hull. For the health of the church, some of the things we presume to be important have to be stripped off.
I think, however, that Mr. Hayward scrapes a little too deeply on the hull, and missed some spots.
I couldn’t have said it much better than that, Lee.
I am fairly familiar with the author of that article, and what he is known for (if you review his blog) is drawing pictures about Christianity that are snarky, relatively blasphemous, and which regularly use profanity.
Church planting is so important and missed by many…
I came to your blog from Jon Acuff’s site. He has created a tremendous forum for sharing our blogs and impacting more people with them.
I hope my blog can be an encouragement to you also.
I write it for encouragement and motivation daily.
http://i-never-fail.blogspot.com
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to watching the connections grow!
Hey, thanks for dropping by Craig. I’ll check out your blog as well. God bless!