Throughout the week I am praying for the churches in our association. Each day I try to look at them from a different perspective: location, size, ministries, and visible priorities. This keeps my prayer time from becoming boringly repetitious and forces me to reevaluate my perception of each church on a regular basis.
The day that forces me to do the most critical prayer focus is Friday as I seek to see where each church stands against an outside standard and how I can be used by God to move that congregation closer to a Great Commission church.
I use three broad categories and break each of those into more focused groupings. They are:
1. Cathedral Builders: the focus is upon maintaining the facilities and the traditions regardless of the cost. These congregations can be subdivided into three groups reflecting how open they are to change.
a. Hospice: they would rather die than change
b. Critical: there is hope, but something had better be done fast
c. Stable: they are trying, but serious attention needs to be given to their vision before they slip into the critical stage or worse
2. Institution Builders: the focus is upon programs and success is measured by creating new programs and how many people are in attendance, especially members. This category has two categories
a. Inward focus: the priority is trying to retain all the members, keep them happy, and reclaim former members/chronic absentees
b. Outward focus: evangelism and missions are becoming more of a priority, but the focus is to get these new people involved in the programs taking place at the church facilities. The church buildings need to be used seven days a week with lights on every night in support of the programs.
3. Kingdom Builders: the focus moves from programs to relationships. Relationships are the priority wherever and whenever they can be developed and sustained. Homes, neighborhoods, and marketplace become the centers of the church at work. The life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ is the goal of conversations and activities. The facilities become one more tool for ministry rather than the center of ministry. Two categories help me evaluate these churches:
a. Traditional: worship services and their times vary little from other churches in terms of elements and order of service
b. Non-traditional: New and creative elements of worship expression are used regularly; times and places for corporate worship vary according to the need to involve people in the community.
Helping a church become a Kingdom Builder transforms it into a far more effective 21st century tool for the work of the Holy Spirit. My ministry as a Associtional Director of Missions is becoming more shaped by seeking to move these churches closer to being Kingdom Builders. How would you evaluate your church or churches?
