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This has been the era of the uber-leader, who possesses a remarkable gift mix of teaching and leadership, whereby the mega-church has resulted. But we are entering a new era. A revolution is ahead. We are about to empower teachers to be teachers, and leaders to be leaders. And churches everywhere will explode in growth.
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Ben, Do you think there will be a movement toward smaller church communities away from the mega models? Or something different?
I am asking cause I have heard the idea toward smaller communities of faith (Which I like)is coming, but I have mixed feelings on what I think about trends.
Posted by: KM | January 16, 2009 at 10:43 AM
i def agree with you. i think we'll still have large churches, but when leaders are released in churches that are being led by teachers, they will reach their full potential
Posted by: Ben Arment | January 16, 2009 at 10:50 AM
We are wrestling with and fleshing out a "Networked Church." Lot's of interdependent mid-sized communities that gather for celebration. We call them Missional Communities (MC). Our hope is that these MCs will be the primary expression of church life. They meet in pubic and private spaces. They are value-driven communities rather than personality driven. They are truly shared experiences. They are not "professionally pastor" dependent. They are leader dependent. But, according to Seth Godin, "everybody is now a leader."
Posted by: Benjamin Nockels | January 16, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Ben... I think you are right on the money. I think we have repressed the pastoral gifts that Paul laid out in Eph 4 (apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastor, teachers) to the point where we typically only celebrate the pastor as teacher. When the church recognizes that all of these gifts (especially the gifts that are more leadership oriented) are necessary I think we will unleash the unlimited potential of our churches.
Posted by: Aaron Coe | January 16, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Can you name some churches where you see this happening?
Posted by: JFRadosevich | January 16, 2009 at 12:52 PM
Just a few... central christian in vegas; heartland church in rockport, il; rock harbor church in CA; but it's def a rarity.
Posted by: Ben Arment | January 16, 2009 at 01:05 PM
Ben, how about empowering every disciple of Christ to make disciples, perhaps this would be revolutionary AGAIN...
Posted by: Joe Hernandez | January 16, 2009 at 01:07 PM
Ben,
We're experiencing this right now at Oak Hills Church. Randy Frazee is partnering with Max Lucado. Randy and Max switch off, each teaching for 6 straight months. During their off months, Randy works on strategy and Max on writing.
www.chrismorton.info
Posted by: Chris Morton | January 16, 2009 at 01:37 PM
Amen. Proper distribution. Super-man retires. :)
Posted by: Daniel Decker | January 16, 2009 at 11:40 PM
that is awesome.
Posted by: brewster | January 17, 2009 at 08:10 AM
Well Ben...
I would have to agree with you on this idea!
And props to giving a shout out to Rock Harbor... it's my home church... of course i have been in Kiev for the last three years. But in 2010 another guy from RH and i are starting a plant with that same philosophy... he as the leader, me as the teacher... i just think its better... let everyone excel at what they are gifted to do...
Posted by: Joel Brown | January 18, 2009 at 07:18 PM