Church & Ministry

Celebrating the Pastoral Team

By Howard Bixby Thu, 02/18/2010 - 1:00am

The following is reprinted with permission from Paraklesis, a publication of Baptist Bible Seminary. The article first appeared in the Winter ‘08 issue.

As we move into the spring months each year in the USA, we are keenly aware of a variety of athletic teams vying for championships and superior accomplishments. Winning teams are teams that understand, complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and work well together to accomplish significant athletic feats.

Likewise, when pastors on a church staff or missionaries on a field together learn to work as a team, significant ministry results will be accomplished. In the early church, this concept was repeatedly demonstrated in the book of Acts and the God-given results are noted there. In the New Testament church, pastor/elder/bishops worked together to serve the Lord and His church.

God has given the church a plurality of gifted pastors/elders to provide training, motivation, example, and leadership. It is crucial that they be able to work together as a team. It is a poor testimony for a church staff to carry on a ministry while they are bickering, being jealous, or not modeling love for each other before the people.

Teamwork is vital in the USA church or in the mission field church. The Body of Christ is to be an object lesson of the benefits of team work. Here are some suggestions for building and celebrating the pastoral team: read more

Inside Steve Stratford's Head

By KevinM Wed, 02/17/2010 - 1:00am

Steven Joseph Stratford, the director for institutional research at Maranatha Baptist Bible College and a pioneer in integrating computers into church ministry, died on Saturday in Watertown, Wis. He was 52.

Dr. Stratford was diagnosed with a brain tumor soon after the start of the fall semester in 2008, leading to a lengthy illness, surgery, and then the “quiet and graceful” exit he prayed for, surrounded by family who sang to him on the way Home.

“Let me state without a moment’s hesitation that having a brain tumor is not a good thing,” Steve wrote on his blog last October. “Brain tumors are ugly and nasty and virulent, and they kill people. They rank up there with guns and pit vipers. Sorry, I do not relish the thought of dying of a brain tumor!”

Wait, Steve—tell us what you really think!

And he did, marking the final year of his life with the same consistent testimony that characterized his entire ministry. “I am not afraid to pass into eternity; I will be glad to go home to be with the Lord,” Steve said. “Please do not ‘promote me to glory.’ I think that phrase is so hokey! I want it to be said of me that I ‘went home to be with the Lord,’ please.”

Steve’s editorial request was honored when Maranatha wrote his obituary this week, using the opportunity to review the accomplishments of a remarkable life. Reading it, my mind slips back 25 years, to when I first met Steve.

“Hey, Mungons! You need a song to sing today?” read more

Building a Biblical Model for House Churches

By Ken Davis Fri, 01/08/2010 - 1:00am

The following is reprinted with permission from Paraklesis, a publication of Baptist Bible Seminary. The article first appeared in the Summer ‘08 issue.

The move from conventional congregations to house churches has been termed a revolution. Researcher George Barna estimates at least 1 million Americans have shifted to small-groups worshiping primarily in homes or businesses.

But the revolution comes in this statistic: by 2025, Barna predicts 70 percent of Christians will be worshiping in such “alternative faith communities.”1

While the trend is clear, the benefits and biblical focus of such gatherings is more muddled. The early church detailed in the New Testament indeed met “house to house,” and the Apostle Paul regularly gathered new believers in homes. But this is not an exclusive or biblically prescribed model for worshiping.

The home church model can work today, and in circumstances where proper ty is scarce or expensive it can be a practical approach. Pastors and church leaders, though, need to think clearly before moving to a house church model. They must keep a biblical focus paramount and not let relational benefits overrun sound doctrine and New Testament church polity.

Inside house churches

House churches are small bodies of believers that meet primarily in homes, have generally fewer than 30 members, and normally have unpaid lay leaders. These back-to-basics congregations do not start in a home with the goal of moving later to a permanent facility. They are designed to stay in a private residence or similar surroundings. read more

The Church and Higher Education: Conflict or Complement, Part 3

By Stephen Davey Tue, 12/22/2009 - 1:00am

The following is part three of a transcribed speech Dr. Davey delivered at the annual Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) Conference in November of 2009. It will appear at SI in three parts. Read Part 1 and Part 2.

How do leaders pursue synergy while at the same time respecting autonomy?

One word comes to mind—it is the word “humility.”

Paul would write to these believers in Romans 14:19, “So then, let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” That’s humility.

Paul would write to the Ephesians a description of a leader worth following. He writes, “I entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” How’s that Paul? “With all humility and gentleness with patience showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

How do you know if a leader is worthy of his position and calling to spiritual leadership? Here’s the profile—see if it matches your institution or church board: he’s humble, gentle, patient, and diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit.

“Are you serious?” You gather a group of perceived successful pastors and educational leaders together and you will have more pride per square inch than their constituencies combined. The problem is most often us! read more

The Church and Higher Education: Conflict or Complement, Part 2

By Stephen Davey Wed, 12/16/2009 - 1:00am

The following is part one of a transcribed speech Dr. Davey delivered at the annual Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) Conference in November of 2009. It will appear at SI in three parts. Read Part 1.

The second word that I would bring to your attention is the word “autonomy.”

In the first century church in Rome there was a tremendous conflict brewing. The Jewish converts had established, built and led the early church. But in AD 49, the Roman Emperor, Claudius, deported all the Jews. Gentiles effectively took the reins and led the church for the next 5 years. Then, when Claudius died, the Jews returned to the church in Rome which was now controlled by the Gentiles.

The question became painfully apparent: “Who owns this place?”

It is not a coincidence that Paul would spill a lot of ink discussing the issues of Gentile and Jewish distinctives, while at the same time teaching them the truths of Christian fellowship. The questions are still asked today. Who owns your local church? Who owns your school? Who calls the shots? What are the lines of authority?

I believe no single issue has eroded the relationship between churches and schools more than this issue of autonomy. Respecting one another’s distinctive roles, structures, institutional preferences, codes of conduct—yet pursuing Christian fellowship around a confession of biblical faith—will be a huge step in the right direction. read more

The Church and Higher Education: Conflict or Complement, Part 1

By Stephen Davey Tue, 12/15/2009 - 1:00am

The following is part one of a transcribed speech Dr. Davey delivered at the annual Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) Conference in November of 2009. It will appear at SI in three parts.

First, let me congratulate TRACS for 30 years of faithful service to Christ. Thank you for investing in higher educational institutions.

Dr. Beck has been a special encouragement to me in the process, along with all of us at Shepherds as we’ve pursued, and now achieved, full accreditation. We’re glad to be a part of the TRACS Family. When Dr. Beck, on behalf of TRACS, asked me to speak he suggested I address the subject of the relationship between the church and the educational institution.

More specifically, is the relationship between churches and schools a complement and a blessing to one another, or is it a relationship of conflict and struggle? And if so, what does it take to move from a relationship that competes, to a relationship that completes one another?

I want to structure my comments today around three key words that come to mind when I think of potential relationships between schools and churches—relationship that must be marked by the integrity of Christ’s gospel and the sweetness of genuine fellowship. read more

The Multisite Church, Part 2

By KenFields Mon, 09/14/2009 - 12:00am

Reprinted with permission from the Baptist Bulletin, July-August 2009. Read Part 1.

Theological questions—and answers

In preparing for this article, I got my hands on as much multisite literature as I could find. Friends loaned me books—including two multisite church manuals. I Googled…and Googled…and Googled some more! I informally discussed multisite churches with a couple of multisite pastors. Through my reading and research and interviews, my initial concerns with the multisite expansion model remained unresolved. Questions went unanswered. And answers often came attached with, “Well, God is blessing this thing. Our church is growing.” While one cannot argue with God’s apparent blessing, Christians—and especially church leaders—must be certain their philosophy of local church structure squares with Scripture. Before we talk about the multiple sites or campuses, we must understand what the Bible teaches about the church. read more

The Multisite Church, Part 1

By KenFields Thu, 09/10/2009 - 12:00am

Reprinted with permission from the Baptist Bulletin, July-August 2009.

As my family and I took our seats following the final congregational song, a large screen descended from above the pulpit. Within seconds, a pastor appeared on the screen and asked us—and the 1,200 other worshipers—to open our Bibles to Ephesians 4. He would be preaching a sermon titled, “Imitating God in Our Relationships with One Another.”

Knowing that the thriving midwestern church had embraced a multisite church structure, my wife and I had informed our children that they would not hear live preaching that Lord’s Day morning, but their response to a preacher on a screen surprised me. At first I attributed their dismay to the fact that we are from a small church in an even smaller community. But as I dug deeper into their dismay, I discovered that their problem wasn’t with the size of the church or even the use of video technology; their dismay stemmed from the fact that the announcements, prayers, Scripture reading, and congregational singing were live events, while the preaching was not. It seemed the church had unwittingly prescribed a greater importance to the parts of the service that were live. In my children’s young and impressionable minds, the preaching was of lesser value because it wasn’t an incarnational, in-the-flesh, event.

That Sunday morning in 2008 is my only firsthand experience with the multisite church movement, but because I love the church and am enamored with it, I had begun thinking through the theological implications of the multisite structure long before attending my first multisite church service. The purpose of this article is neither to defend nor attack the multisite church structure, but to ask some questions and offer some explanations regarding the important theological and ecclesiastical implications of the multisite church structure. Perhaps what is written here will stimulate some thoughtful discussion among the pastors and laypeople of our association. read more

What Is the Role of the Pastor's Wife? Part 1

By Pastor Dan Miller Wed, 09/02/2009 - 12:00am

What Is a Pastor’s Wife Supposed to Do?

Shepherding the flock of God can prove one of the most exciting, enriching, and satisfying duties a man can undertake on this side of heaven. Yet shepherding the flock of God is not a particularly safe enterprise. It is a life-work that exposes the man of God to a multiplicity of trials, deep disappointments, searing heartaches, and haunting questions from within and without.

The pastor serves God’s people as leader, preacher, teacher, counselor, overseer and chief intercessor. He must perform spiritual surgery and apply healing balm to the souls of his people on a daily basis. And in all of this, the undershepherd bears the unrelenting burden of his accountability to the Lord of the universe for the spiritual watchcare of a flock for whom the Good Shepherd laid down His own life.

Brothers, we are not sufficient for these things, and we know it. A proud pastor is an oxymoron—or a moronic ox, if you will. None of us is either worthy or capable of such an undertaking. But God is rich in mercy. Jesus has sent the Comforter to aid us in our frailty—to counsel, encourage, strengthen and help us in the great cause to which we have been called. And for most pastors, God also graciously provides a human helper—a woman—to walk at her husband’s side as his covenant helper in this grand mission to exercise stewardship of God’s flock.

The pastor’s wife is certainly a rare species with a very peculiar calling. She is one flesh with the pastor. And if he is worthy of the title, this means she is one flesh with a difficult man. If she is worthy of her calling, it also means she has laid down the “normal life” on the altar and slit its throat in sacrifice to God. read more