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Holy Week resources and reflections

Purpose-Driven and Presbyterian: One new paradigm at work

Editors Note:  In its ongoing effort to support effective local church ministry and mission, the Outlook invites its readers to consider alternative models of church ministry being developed in sister churches around the denomination.  This analysis of the 40 Days of Purpose combines with two other articles, A new Reformation? and Presbyterians and the "40 Days of Purpose", to provide analysis of the purpose-driven church paradigm

 

Michael Carey has heard the skepticism: the Purpose-Driven church approach is "too Baptist," not Presbyterian enough in its theology, caters too much to those brand-new to church and not enough to those who've been around.

But what Carey, pastor of Trinity Presbyterian in Satellite Beach, Florida, (http://www.trinitypres.net/ ) knows firsthand is this. His congregation has been following the Purpose-Driven model for eight years now, and:

-The average Sunday attendance is 700, out of 830 members -- a typical weekly attendance of close to 85 percent.

-About 500 adults attend Bible study, and 400 are committed to participating in a significant ministry at the church.

-Last year, the people of Trinity gave $2.4 million to support the church (including funds for a building program).

-And a conference in the spring of 2005 for Purpose-driven Presbyterians drew 400 people, who came from 166 congregations in 36 states.

Not every Purpose-Driven Presbyterian church can post numbers like those -- folks seem to agree that something special is going on at Trinity. But pastors from other congregations also trying this approach say they've seen it bring new life, new energy, and a new commitment to ministry at the churches they serve.

Editors Note:  In its ongoing effort to support effective local church ministry and mission, the Outlook invites its readers to consider alternative models of church ministry being developed in sister churches around the denomination.  This analysis of the 40 Days of Purpose combines with two other articles, A new Reformation? and Presbyterians and the “40 Days of Purpose”, to provide analysis of the purpose-driven church paradigm

 

Michael Carey has heard the skepticism: the Purpose-Driven church approach is “too Baptist,” not Presbyterian enough in its theology, caters too much to those brand-new to church and not enough to those who’ve been around.

But what Carey, pastor of Trinity Presbyterian in Satellite Beach, Florida, (http://www.trinitypres.net/ ) knows firsthand is this. His congregation has been following the Purpose-Driven model for eight years now, and:

-The average Sunday attendance is 700, out of 830 members — a typical weekly attendance of close to 85 percent.

-About 500 adults attend Bible study, and 400 are committed to participating in a significant ministry at the church.

-Last year, the people of Trinity gave $2.4 million to support the church (including funds for a building program).

-And a conference in the spring of 2005 for Purpose-driven Presbyterians drew 400 people, who came from 166 congregations in 36 states.

Not every Purpose-Driven Presbyterian church can post numbers like those — folks seem to agree that something special is going on at Trinity. But pastors from other congregations also trying this approach say they’ve seen it bring new life, new energy, and a new commitment to ministry at the churches they serve.

“The motivation for a pastor is, ‘Do I want to spend my life doing this with an organization that generally doesn’t have much affect on people’s values or lifestyle,'” said Greg Cruice, pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian in Mandeville, Louisiana. Or is it possible, he asks, to “overcome the mediocrity that is killing Presbyterian congregations?”

The Purpose-Driven model is the baby of Rick Warren, the founding pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., a Southern Baptist congregation with 22,000 members.

Time magazine has put this bearded, Hawaiian-shirt-wearing sparkplug No. 1 on its list of the 25 most influential evangelicals, and his book, “The Purpose-Driven Life” has sold more than 23 million copies in English alone and is being read by Christians around the world.

But some Presbyterians are hesitant. According to Carey, they ask, “Since the culture is not Presbyterian, can it possibly work in a Presbyterian congregation?”

Here’s what some pastors who’ve tried the Purpose-Driven approach have to say to the skeptics.

It can be what you make it. Warren lays out the blueprint, describing what he calls five New Testament purposes for the church — worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and missions. Carey said he sees great congruity between those five purposes and what the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) calls the Six Great Ends of the church.

He argues that if Presbyterians blend Purpose-Driven innovations with “what we don’t want to negotiate away or discard from Presbyterian culture … we can actually become better at being Presbyterian using this methodology.”

Some pastors said they stick with the basic Purpose-Driven approach, but modify it in places to match their own theological views or the needs of their congregation.

“The big picture is more important than being a clone of Saddleback church,” Cruice said. At the same time, “most people begin to realize that being a Presbyterian is not the first and most important thing. Being a follower of Jesus Christ is more important than our dogma.”

Cruice said some Presbyterians “don’t want change. That’s why we lose 40,000 to 70,000 people a year.”

It brings in new people, and challenges people to grow. On its Web site, Trinity tries to answer the question, “Why change a good church?” — and its answer, in part, was a nagging sense that although the congregation had doubled its size from 1985 to 1994, it wasn’t doing enough.

“Why were such a small percentage of members seeking to grow through classes or small groups?” church leaders asked. “Why were many new members ‘falling through the cracks’ within a year of joining the church?”

Advocates of the Purpose-Driven approach say it clarifies a church’s thinking about what’s important and why — centering all that happens, from budget-setting to mission work, around the five purposes. And it encourages both long-time members and those just walking in the door to build relationships with others in the church and develop their spiritual lives through classes and small-group commitments. The idea is “reach them where they are, take them where they ought to be,” Carey said.

Cruice’s church began using the Purpose-Driven program in January 2003, with the congregation’s leadership feeling a need for a more concrete sense of direction. That first summer, the session shut down the adult Sunday school program altogether to introduce them to the Purpose-Driven concepts through a series of seminars that explore issues such as salvation and prayer, and to ask them to make a commitment to deeper discipleship.

At Covenant Church in Omaha, Neb., the session wrote Purpose-Driven principles into the congregation’s vision statement, and the leadership was organized into five teams to match the five purposes (plus a sixth “resource” team for finance and personnel issues, according to senior pastor Jeremy Grant).

New Covenant in Mandeville created a series of discipleship and “life groups” — small groups of 8 to 12 people, most of which meet weekly in people’s homes, often sharing a meal together. Instead of having just an hour of Sunday school time, these groups might each meet for several hours (sometimes getting so enmeshed in discussion, Cruice said, that babysitters have been known to call to remind parents, “It’s time to come pick up the kids.”)

Grant said his congregation is growing — in a congregation of 900 people, more than 40 percent of them have joined over the past six years. With so many new people, he said, relationships really matter.

Who’s it for? Even Warren’s Purpose-Driven Web site (http://www.purposedriven.com/en-US/Home.htm ) acknowledges some of what it calls “myths” about the approach — for example, that it’s only for bigger churches, that it’s just for certain age groups or that it’s just “seeker-sensitive” and not for mature Christians. But the Web site says “there are literally thousands of varieties” of Purpose-Driven churches — “post-modern, ethnic, language group, cowboy, singles-focused, artists, surfers — and even traditional.”

“It’s not some slick program,” Carey said. He says he encourages Presbyterians to adapt what Rick Warren presents, not to adopt it without considering what will work best for them. 

Grant said he wants pastors to understand “the goal of pursuing a Purpose-Driven model would be congregational health and the glory of God.” Follow that, he said, “then what will happen is lots of people will come to know Christ.”

Networking. By all accounts, Carey and Trinity church are among the leaders in the Presbyterian Purpose-Driven family. Carey has helped create the Purpose-Driven Presbyterians Network (http://www.purposedrivenpresbyteriansnetwork.net/ ).

And from April 26-28 Trinity will host the 4th annual conference (http://www.faithwebsites.com/sysfiles/site_uploads/custom/custom788.pdf ) for Presbyterians interested in the Purpose-Driven approach.

Mission explodes. Some pastors say one of the greatest benefits of a Purpose-Driven approach is the way it gets people thinking hard about what it means to serve God, what gifts they have to offer, and how they can become personally involved in mission and ministry.

Cruice, whose congregation in south Louisiana is located just a quick drive away from some of the neighborhoods slammed by Hurricane Katrina, said he’s been amazed by how willing his Purpose-Driven church has been to dive in and help, and not just there.

Over the last year and a half, his congregation of 383 members has built six homes across the border in Miguel Alemon, Mexico, partnering with a border ministry program in McAllen, Texas, called Faith Ministries, and has financially supported 21 Mexican children, providing school uniforms, food, and meeting other needs.

Right at home, the congregation has built two Habitat for Humanity houses and started a reading program at a school.

And since Katrina, New Covenant has been housing work crews that are rebuilding homes damaged in Lacombe, La., about nine miles east. They turn a preschool into a dorm at night and have provided breakfast, supper and a place to sleep for more than 1,000 relief workers — the day Cruice was interviewed, that included Presbyterians, Baptists and Reformed Church volunteers from Delaware, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Colorado.

“I’m convinced our mission focus would not have been that strong without that sense of purpose,” he said — without his congregation having spent time “learning how to be out in the world.”

People from New Covenant are working on the houses in Lacombe, which Cruice says is turning out to be both a matter of providing relief and hope, but also reconciliation with people outside the usual sphere of his church.

“It’s relationship building,” he said. “We’re working in the same areas with the same people,” week after week.

According to Cruice, one man in his 70s asked, “How much is it going to cost me?”

The answer: “It’s not going to cost you a dime.”

The next question: “Who sent you?”

The answer: “Well, my friend, a guy named Jesus. And even after we’re done building here, we’re not going away. We’re going to stay friends.”

 

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