Comments on: Developing Missional Values, Programs, Budgets, Goals

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:26:35 +0000

Todd – I tihnk the thing that separates “programs” from the “things that we do” is the motive of our hearts. We do not do a “homeless ministry to pat ourselves on the back and receive an “at a boy” from friends and family. We do such things because we believe people sleeping on park benches, having little to eat, and so on makes God mad. To put it another way, “The things that we do” are things we are called to do because we believe, as 1 Corinthians tells us, we have the mind of Christ – Thus: The things God cares about are things we should care about and the things that bring God joy are things that should bring us joy. We are hotwired to the heart of God for lack of better terms. Therefore, I find it hard to use the word “program” within the ministry. When I hear it, I think of an “AA” group or something. Maybe it is a semantics issue that I struggle with, but I think the things that we do are all apart of being the church. As I said, maybe it is just semantics but I have been gone to several churches that boast in their programs and yet have no fruit outside of it. I believe the things that we do line up with the heart of God and the goals that The Well has – Discipleship, Unity, Justice, and Locality. These 4 valus/goals/intentional areas line up with the what I believe, and I am sure you would agree, what God calls us to do and be.

By: Todd

Todd — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:10:47 +0000

Tim/Thom, I dont think i am using “programs” the same way you are. I am more thinking of “environments for people to serve.” For example, at The Well, we have a homeless ministry that meets on monday night, we have a Liturgy team, we have some small groups, we have a arts / concerts stuff.. these are all, for lack of better words, “programs.”

really, programs are unavoidable and actually necessary. They are merely the things that we “do” together as a community. its the addiction to programs that causes the problem. or the programs that aren’t helpful for mission that are the problem.

but, like i said, once we get together to serve in some way, we have a program. even if the program lasts one night.

now, i don’t need to use the word program for this, but really, its the only word i have that makes sense. I’d rather call them “missional environments” but that’s not what we’ve called them and I am not sure that would be helpful for most people who aren’t familiar with missional language…

By: Thom

Thom — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:04:42 +0000

Todd—

As our church plant leadership team begins to finalize our kick off in July (which is so soon!), we have been thinking thru a lot of the issues you raise.

In my own thinking, I tend to agree with Tim in his comment above that the purpose of “programs” should be questioned. I see small groups as the better place for programs, and that small groups should be empowered to do “programs” and not a church at large. I don’t think a church should be in charge of certain aspects of community as much as a small group should.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:46:50 +0000

Hey Todd –

Not only do our strengths lead us to discover our values but our weaknesses as well. We can only know how strong we actually are when we align our strengths next to our weaknesses – weaknesses help us to know our limits and our boundries. They help us understand where we lack in our values.

The only other part that I would challenge you with is the importance of programs. Do we really need “programs” as most churches have? I don’t think so. What I think we need are people to express their love and heart with the world. I think we need to spend more time developing a people who want to see God’s Kingdom on earth – His “will on earth as it is in heaven.” When we live in that fashion, we can and will grow structures built on the willingness of people who give and love others rather than something that looks good on a piece of paper. Once we have people who have an open heart, we can build a much larger budget because those who are apart of the vision will give more.

I understand that there needs to be something put on paper. There needs to be something that we can visually see.