“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
-- John 3:16 (ESV)
I grew up in the Cumberland Presbyterian church. My friend Laird says it is Arminian in theology. I believe that is an over simplification, however, the congregation that I belonged to in Lebanon, Missouri definately believed in the "who-so-ever-will" doctrine. In most sermons I heard growing up there was a section near the end where the preacher would explain that you had a choice to make, that Jesus was standing there at door of your heart knocking, waiting for you to open the door to your heart. I developed a theology of the will. I believe without reservation that we were free to choose or not choose God and this would determine our eternal state. When I got to High School my geometry teach had a us do an exercise which he called "writing your own math, language or game". In essense, what you wou...
Comments
Good question to ask. I think much of the answer is based in the context of the church plant. I also wonder if starting with a sunday worship service as a 'default' is correct?
I know of plants that really start as cell based and only gather once a month as a time for all the churches groups to get together ... everything else is just more small group based.
I guess it is a philiosophy of ministry question. Maybe you have already considered that and ended up with a Sunday morning based style - cool. I wonder if we just 'default' it too fast sometimes.
Anyway, blessing on all you are up to! Keep pushing into the heart of the Father and thanks for stopping by nmy blog this morning!
::dan::
Thanks for giving your input beyond just voting. I happen to agree that one could question if Sunday worship is the starting point. I began with that assumption because of the size of the survey and as a jumping off point for discussion. So I'm glad you brought up the issue. Also, I am intrigued by the idea of starting with cell groups as the base for the church. Hopefully the result would be a church that has more close knit relationships at the outset.
Other than that, the only mandatory thing is visitation of those who need visitation.
Especially when a ministry is starting out, small study groups/cells are unnecessary - as the church plant itself is pretty much a small group. I'm a big booster of mid-week studies, but not of men's and women's groups. Men's groups in my experience have either been one of two things: a) groups of men whining about their special "man-problems" and trying to get in touch with their special "man-feelings" or b) good solid Bible studies that make one wonder why couldn't women be present. Sunday school classes offered before or after the worship service are cool, but not necessary. As far as Conferences go, cool and all but shouldn't a church wait 'til it gets a bit beyond being a plant before it starts planning conferences? Just seems like muddled priorities is all.
Personally I don't think there are any right or wrong answers. A church plant should be prepared to serve the needs of the community it is planted in - if the community needs a youth group then running something else minstry might prove to be a waste of time. No point running a nursery in a community full of single, childless people - a singles ministry would surely be far more useful (and might produce a need for a nursery at a later date?)
All of the things in your list have their place in a church but only when they are actually needed by the community around and in the church itself.
I agree with the necessity of focued prayer. Thanks for pointing out the oversite.
I was a little amazed that you pointed out visitation. I have read a lot of the Puritians and older Scottish ministers discuss why a visitation ministry was important. I did not expect you to mention it but I'm glad you did.
I see that the one with the most votes is the cell group one. Here's the reason I didn't vote for that: My parents did church planting. Chances are, your whole church is not going to be all that much larger than the size of a normal cell group, at least for a while. Cell groups aren't that important unless the church is large.