Sunday
Aug072005
The start of something new
Sunday, August 7, 2005 at 7:15PM
One day I'm going to teach a pastoral theology course, and I'm going to emphasize the importance of having a philosophy of ministry. It's too confusing to make it up as you go. You end up catching fads rather than living out a thoughtful philosophy that's marked by maturity and wisdom. The past few years have been painful ones for me. My philosophy of ministry has undergone a radical change. It's hard to change when you're in the middle of pastoring - kind of like switching cars while driving. I've suffered, and I think the church has suffered as well. It's been hard, I'm glad I've been through this process. I realize you can't teach a philosophy of ministry in the classroom. Some things can only be learned, slowly, with the passage of time. I have also been learning a lot about my own leadership strengths and weaknesses. Part of learning is finding out where we're weak. I had no idea about parts of who I am until very recently. As Parker Palmer says, another part of maturity is coming to embrace our weaknesses, to learn to accept them as much as our strengths. Maybe that's a different way of saying, "Be humble." Bottom line: I feel like I have emerged from a period of switching, and I can't wait to start a new ministry year in September. In fact, I'm having a hard time waiting for things to kick off. Good thing I have to wait, because I still need to get completely ready. But it's time, and I'm excited. I will be reporting as honestly as I can what's happening this year we get going. I'd also appreciate your prayers. I see what Richview has been and what it can be and I'm excited, and I don't want to blow the opportunity that's before me at this moment. More to come on this journey.
Reader Comments (10)
Hi Darryl This is interesting as i am not sure a student with minimal experience can actually formulate a lasting philosophy of ministry. It'd be great to have one... but i am coming to believe that we learn as we 'do' and until we have tested a philosophy on the coalface it is simply a collection of ideas and ideals. It does mean a constant wandering and learning though which can be either exciting or tiring or... both!
I'm not a preacher Darryl but isn't it true that your philosophy of ministry has to begin with the Holy Spirit? I get more and more convicted in my walk with the Lord that as I submit myself to His will, He guides me into all truth. It such a great cooperative challenge for us. As we humble ourselves before Him in obedience and humility that's where God's power is. 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world's spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 13When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths.[a] 14But people who aren't Christians can't understand these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means.
this is going to be extremely very interesting for you to do....something really different that's for sure..... go for it!
"I'm not a preacher Darryl but isn't it true that your philosophy of ministry has to begin with the Holy Spirit?" George, absolutely.
Good comment George. No matter what kind of emerging is going on apart from the Spirit truth and grace are absent.
I don't think any Christian leader anywhere would argue that we could accomplish anything apart from the Spirit. I'd suggest, though, that there are other key questions to be answered by someone in ministry about what they are trying to accomplish and how. James MacDonald, George, has a very clear philosophy of ministry, which would differ greatly from, say, Rick Warren's, or John MacArthur's.
I don't know too much about Rick Warren, (except seeing him on Larry King one night after all the press about that woman in Atlanta who had the encounter with the murderer and was reading Purpose Driven Life at that point in her life, I thought he was good on that) but I wouldn't know how different MacArthur's and MacDonald's philosophy of ministry is. I listen and read a lot of both of them and they are cut from the same cloth it seems to me. Both solid biblical preachers without the fluff and the feel good stuff that so many other preachers believe they have to have to tickle people's ears. How would you say their philosophy is different Darryl? They wouldn't be that much different then say MacArthur vs McLaren that's for sure:) All this illustrates again how discernment is so important in the world today when it comes to Truth issues. Thank God for His Word.
Maybe the difference is just how it's expressed, but I don't think MacArthur has anything like the four pillars that Harvest does. Some questions for a philosophy of ministry: What is the church? What are its purposes? How should it be run? How should it operate? How do you measure success? The greatest change for me has been in moving away from an attractional approach (get unbelievers in here) to a more missional one (get the disciples out there).
You have my prayers as you continue to earn your PhD in the school of hard knocks. I'm so glad we're classmates.
Sounds great Darryl becoming more missional. I guess the challenge is how to do that within the environment you are in. I don't mean you and your church specifically but any church. I've been around churches my whole life, before I acknowledged Jesus as my Lord and Saviour 4 years ago and since then. I've been in many different types of churches that had different philosophies of ministry and am now so thankful to be in the church I'm in. I think I'm seeing more clearly the differences. On our website under the philosophy of church planting section you will see it begins with this "The church exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission, and in the spirit of the Great Commandment (Matthew 28:19-20, Matthew 22:37-38)." It all begins with our purpose to glorify God. First of all as individuals in our own lives. What I have seen in our church and in my own life is that as we seek to give God the glory in all things He really does show up and we experience His awesome presence and He shows us how He is at work building His church. We are just over a year old now and are seeing incredible things that God is doing. We don't know where its all going we just seek to cooperate with Him and line ourselves up in such a way that He will continue to work in our midst. It all begins as we give glory to Him. Its great to hear how pumped you are Darryl for the new season to begin at your church and I for one will be praying for you. (and when you get missional in the Willowridge area let me know:) )