In January, I wrote an article for Evangelical Missions Quarterly titled, “Seven Pillars for a Missional Culture.” Much of what we do as The Church at Brook Hills is supported by these pillars. While I will not reproduce the full article here, I will mention the seven pillars.
(If you (especially pastors) are not a subscriber to Evangelical Missions Quarterly, then you should get a subscription as soon as possible. I have been reading EMQ for many years and greatly look forward to a new volume every quarter. It is one of my must-haves when it comes to missiological journals.)
Biblical Foundation. God is a missionary God. The Scriptures are filled with this truth and are to be taught accordingly. No eisegesis is needed to show this to your people how it affects disciple making at home and abroad.
Vision, Mission, Goal. Everything your church does is influenced by this–assuming you really mean what you say is your vision, mission, and goal. . . and assuming you have them. If these are grounded in the Scriptures, then you cannot get very far from them being about glorifying God by making disciples of all nations.
Aggressive Evaluation. Wise Kingdom stewards evaluate before they do something, while they do it, and after they do it. Adjustments are always necessary in our constantly changing world at home and abroad.
Organizational Structure. Keep things as simple as possible (even with a megachurch) to free up Kingdom resources (people, time, and money) for more to go to the areas of the world with the greatest physical and spiritual needs. Keep ministry departments from operating as islands unto themselves. Collaboration and the blurring of ministry lines is vital. While some church ministries are more specialized than others, no silo operations are allowed.
Strategic Principles. Keep a list of 5-10 core principles as a church. They influence all that you do. Do your people know them? Do you teach them to new members? Here are ours: biblical, simple, intentional, reproducible, cross-cultural, and radical.
Values. Keep a list of 5-10 core values as a church. They influence all that you do. Do your people know them? Do you teach them to new members? Here are ours: biblical proclamation (Acts 2:42); sacrificial care (Acts 2:42); wholehearted worship (Acts 2:42); desperate prayer (Acts 2:42); exponential multiplication (Acts 2:47)
Equipping Process. A process is needed to equip all of your members in basic disciple making skills. Beyond this you also need a process to equip church planters and pastors that you will send to serve elsewhere. Check out the series I wrote on the details of our church’s present process.
———-
Last week’s guest on Strike the Match was Jon Hirst, president of GMI. Missed our conversation? Check it out: iTunes | Android | RSS
