The Presbyter's Page
Electronic Edition – October 2004
Section 12 - LA
District UPCI
Donald Bryan - Presbyter
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Small Decisions Make Small Leaders
Ten
Characteristics of a Growing United Pentecostal Church
It's Not The
Size Of The Church, But Its Health That Counts!
Many pastors of churches try to make all the decisions themselves, and
under certain circumstances this approach works well. But, even in small churches there are reasons why a pastor should
delegate many decisions to selected members.
§ Time constraints. First, making a good decision is hard,
time-consuming work, and no leader can make many good decisions in a month’s
time, much less in a day or a week. So
he needs to carefully reserve for himself only the most important decisions,
and delegate the rest.
§
Truce or consequences. A major factor in favor of
delegation is that it helps develop and nurture strong members. A leader can’t expect his people to grow
unless he gives them the opportunity to make real decisions without their being
constantly second-guessed by the pastor.
§
Team coherence. Finally, the pastor who is willing to delegate
almost all decisions to assistants has an opportunity to build a much stronger
and more coherent organization than does the leader who tries to make all the
decisions himself.
Ten Characteristics of a
Growing United Pentecostal Church
1.
All growing UPC churches are worshipping churches. Worshipping churches are exciting churches. Worshipping churches feel alive. Non-worshipping churches feel dead.
2.
All growing UPC churches are praying churches. Where there is much prayer, there is much power. Where there is little prayer, there is
little power. Where there is no prayer,
there is no power.
3.
All growing UPC churches have a visionary pastor. Nothing significant has ever been accomplished in any arena of
life without a dreamer at the helm.
4.
All growing UPC churches generate a high percentage of membership
involvement. The most important statistic for any local
congregation is the number of members they have effectively involved in
ministry. We have traditionally
measured the effectiveness and strength of a local church by the number on the Sunday
school registry, or the number in attendance on Sunday night or in Bible
study. None of these measurements are
nearly as important as the number of people who are involved in ministry.
5.
All growing UPC churches maintain a high level of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm builds and breeds faith. A great program can die for lack of
enthusiasm, while I have seen many mediocre programs succeed wonderfully
because of momentum and enthusiasm.
6.
All growing UPC churches have made a commitment to aggressive
evangelism. Jesus plainly stated that the purpose of His
earthly ministry was seeking and saving lost humanity. So is the purpose of the body of Christ in
the earth today. Jesus told His
disciples and followers in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to seek
and to save that which was lost.”
He considered “seeking and saving” to be His divine responsibility. To understand the purpose of the church
better: Seeking is “evangelism”
and Saving is “discipleship”.
Growing churches make evangelism their highest priority.
7.
All growing UPC churches enjoy a high level of faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. There is no way to effectively complete
spiritual plans or programs without exercising faith in God. Those who accomplish great things for the
Kingdom are those who are able to see what God’s desire is to accomplish
through them and believe Him to do it.
8.
All growing UPC churches have clearly defined beliefs. People want to follow ministers that know what they believe and
why they believe it. Boomers and
Busters hate hypocrisy. They want to
belong to a church and follow a ministry that practices what they preach. The standards and doctrines as taught by the
United Pentecostal Church are not hindrances to growth. In fact, some of the fastest growing groups
in the world are much stricter than the United Pentecostal Church
International. It is statistically
proven that the fastest growing churches in the United Pentecostal Church are
those who believe and practice a strong standard of separation from the world.
9.
All growing UPC churches are giving churches. The local congregation’s giving is a direct reflection of their
burden for the lost. God will not bless
a stingy church or individual.
10. All growing UPC churches
practice leadership training. One of the
responsibilities of the pastor is to find and develop potential leaders within
the local church. Then he has the
responsibility of providing adequate opportunities for involvement for them.
If I Can Do It, Anybody Can. Jack Cunningham
It’s Not The Size Of The
Church,
But Its Health That Counts!
I’ve heard many people say over the last year that,
as we enter into the 21st century, it will not be the size of the
church that matters, but its health that will ensure its survival. So, what about the health of the
church? May I suggest a few guidelines for
assessing the health of a congregation of any size?
1.
Biblically based. Do your congregation members
have a clear understanding of what they believe and substantial information to
assist them in defending their faith?
Is there a discipleship-training program?
2.
Mutually concerned. Do your people genuinely care
for one another? Is there a system in
operation that easily allows your congregation to know when people have needs
and a prayer chain to respond to those needs?
3.
Socially concerned. If you do not have a small
group ministry, do you have a Sunday School program that provides adequate time
for your people to break bread together?
Church is fellowship as much as it is a formal worship service.
4.
Community saturated. Are you aware of the
day-to-day decisions that are made in your community that affect the school
system, the social programs, and the overall moral climate of the city you
serve?
5.
Financially stable. The church that is fiscally responsible
will be able to weather any situation.
Every pastor and board should insist on maintaining a certain dollar
reserve, and do everything possible to avoid paralyzation of ministry through
an unrealistic building or property debt.
People must be taught by example to give and to give cheerfully.
6.
Clearly understood vision. Every church
needs to know who it is, what its calling is and how it will be directed to
meet the challenge of the future. If
not, many small, and even larger, churches will simply exist to support an
institution.
7.
Positive outlook. Please do not allow yourself
to fall into a “poor me, small us” mentality.
Little-mindedness is contagious.
See yourself as God sees you- full of potential and planted for a
purpose.
I’m sure there
are many other “good health indicators” for churches of any size, but I urge
you to consider these we have listed, and then add your own ideas to the mix.
Any time you let up, expect
a let down.
One-fifth of the people are
against everything all the time.
There are no short cuts to
any place worth going.
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