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 Purpose-Driven and Presbyterian: One new paradigm at work, to provide analysis of the purpose-driven church paradigm
In the spring of 2004, Covenant Church in San Antonio, Texas, joined the international throng of congregations to employ Rick Warren’s “40 Days of Purpose” campaign. Our session read and discussed Warren’s book, The Purpose-Driven Life, and formed the steering committee for our campaign. After paying the licensing fee, we received all the necessary resources and materials required to conduct a campaign for our congregation according to Warren’s protocol.
The campaign, which invites the participation of every church member, consists of a variety of interrelated events and experiences. The most important is the reading of The Purpose-Driven Life, which is organized into 40 daily readings. Other elements include: weekly small group discussions of the readings, large group “catalytic” events such as kick-off celebrations, templates for coordination of worship services and sermons, a mission and ministry fair, and a closing celebration.
While we did not utilize all of the components of the campaign, most notably the sermon notes and outlines, we did add some distinctively Presbyterian flavors to our version of “40 Days of Purpose.” For our adult Sunday church school classes, we adapted lessons from the curriculum resource The Great Ends of the Church by Joseph Small [©1997 Congregational Ministries Publishing, Presbyterian Church (USA), Louisville Ky.] It corresponds to the five purposes of The Purpose-Driven Life. The language and order are different, however, so we ordered the Great Ends according to the order of the purposes:
Worship — The Maintenance Of Divine Worship
Fellowship — The Shelter, Nurture, and Spiritual Fellowship of the Children of God
Discipleship — The Preservation of the truth
Ministry — The Promotion of Social Righteousness
Evangelism — The Proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind
Two-thirds of Covenant’s people participated by reading Warren’s book and by joining a small group. We saw a significant increase in Sunday morning attendance and the large group events were packed. While many of us had qualms with Warren’s implicit Baptist theology and explicit egocentricity, the process elements of the campaign were well received.
Three things we learned.
The role of the Session. In contrast to many deliberative governing bodies that delegate programs and projects to committees for implementation, the Covenant session embraced the campaign as a hands-on project. The elders and pastors read the book and formed small discussion groups months before the beginning of the church-wide campaign. We interpreted the campaign as a spiritual practice, and determined that if the congregation was to get on board, we needed to promote the campaign with full knowledge of it. With that perspective, we were much better equipped to lead. Additionally, the elders on session formed the various work teams and were visible leaders of the campaign.
According to Mike Foss, pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, Minn. (www.princeofpeaceonline.org ), church leadership works best if it is first opportunistic and then strategic. It is a reversal of what most church leaders have been trained to do. Covenant’s session seized upon the opportunity, committed to it, and collaborated in strategic deployment of the campaign. The session enjoyed a different type of camaraderie flavored with a common vision and a common commitment to lead the congregation in a specific, discrete way.
The power of events. Peppered throughout the campaign are a number of events, including a kick-off dinner, a national simulcast from Saddleback Community Church, small group gatherings, a mission and ministry fair, and a closing celebration. Warren’s team describes these as catalytic events, designed to create excitement and give impetus to the campaign.
As an educational strategy, “40 Days of Purpose” helps to address the main tasks of educational ministry as enumerated by Charles Foster in Educating Congregations: The Future of Christian Education. Foster contends that these tasks include building communities of faith that 1) nurture discipleship, 2) help people make religious sense of their lives, and 3) nurture hope vital enough to invite people into the human vocation of praising God and serving neighbor for the sake of the transformation of the world. Foster contends that it is precisely in and through the event-full nature of the Gospel and of congregational life that our people begin to make sense of God’s call and claim on their lives. The campaign’s focus on the purposes in the context of “catalytic” events helped to empower the congregation’s participation in and reflection on worship and mission, the central actions of the church.
Questionable fit. Presbyterians who have been persuaded of the truth of the sovereignty of God and the chief end of “man” to glorify and enjoy God forever may find discomfort in the extraverted egocentricity of Warren’s teachings. The first statement of his book (“It’s not about you”) would seem to buffet my charge, yet the focus of the purposes throughout The Purpose-Driven Life is the believer and by extension the church. Driven-ness as a value would seem to suit more extraverted, type-A pastors and congregations. (In fact, I suspect that Saddleback Community Church may be more personality driven than purpose driven.) Contemporary church culture prizes youth, power, winning, and success. Even with all our spiritual God-talk, the church focuses primarily on the external. Purpose-driven programs tend to promote the emphasis on success and winning.
Parker Palmer, in his book Let Your Life Speak, offers a balanced perspective–every heart is a mix of shadow and light. Church leaders cast both on their congregations; the challenge is to cast more light and less shadow. Palmer says that in order to do that, leaders must explore the shadows deep within. Those of us who refuse to examine these shadows will persist in seeking quick fixes for our churches. We will miss the creative possibilities that issue from chaos. We will forget to laugh and play together. Our hearts will harden as we become more convinced that our task is to impose our will on others.
In conclusion, while there is reason to praise Warren and Purpose-Driven, as so many strategies for church growth and success, 40 Days can work against the self-knowledge of the leader by focusing on the external process of campaign elements. These strategies promise success to those who keep the perpetual motion of the church running. But unchecked, all church leaders face burnout, a spiritual condition that comes from trying to give what one doesn’t have, and paying scant attention to the state of one’s soul. Instead, taking the journey inward and downward directs us to the ground, the earth, humus. It invites us to have the same mind as the one who humbled himself, who took the journey down and in, with feet firmly planted on the ground of his being.
Mark Hinds is associate pastor of Covenant Church in San Antonio, Texas.
