Back to "Breaking the Missional Code"

Transitions to Missional Ministry (Chapter 5)
What can we learn from The Church of the Apostles in Raleigh, NC in the way they organize their ministry around a number of teams designed to facilitate spiritual growth?
Their ministry teams:
Give members specific ways to serve Christ in their church and in their community;
Provide opportunities for them to grow in Christ by serving;
Allow them to grow in their relationships with each other by being part of a team who are serving together.

We need to decipher the communities in which we live. Like Jesus, we need to be spending time getting to know and evangelize lost people, not just looking for the next anointed style, program or method. We need to be deciphering our community and bringing the unchanging gospel to our community.

Instead of importing style and models, more pastors are genuinely asking the same questions that international missionaries do:
• What style of worship/music will best help this group to worship in spirit and truth?
• What evangelism methods should I use here to reach the most people without compromising the gospel?
• What structure of church (or organization) would best connect with this campus?
• How can this church be God’s missionary to this community?

Randy Frazee at Pantego Bible Church– he led the church to growth, not through the classic big service, but by challenging small groups to become incarnational expressions of Christ in their communities. They continue that by creating small groups geographically and expecting those in certain areas to attend certain small groups…and then for those small groups to transform their communities through presence, service and proclamation. (This is described as transitioning from attractional to incarnational).

In our DNA we need to move our members to go beyond “every member a ministry” to “every member a missionary.” How, also, do we incorporate into our DNA the belief that we will be multiplying our efforts, both individually and group wise?