ARE WE A PEOPLE AT HALF TIME? - Leadership Network

Multiplying Ministers
Organizations do not grow in any significant
measure without multiplying leaders.
Consequently, it should go without saying that
the New Apostolic Reformation could never
have become the fastest-growing segment of
contemporary Protestantism without an efficient
system of selecting and training leaders.
The leaders are designated as “ministers,” so
an essential key to new apostolic church
growth is multiplying leaders.
Worship
new apostolic leaders are advo-
The congregation is the incubator.
Membership is not a legal contract; rather it is
a spiritual covenant. Few churches reach it,
nevertheless, the ideal is that every single
church member function as a minister. New
apostolic leaders take their roles as apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, as
found in Ephesians 4:11, very seriously. Their
primary task is detailed in the next verse,
“…for the equipping of the saints for the
work of the ministry.” When this happens, the
congregation becomes the primary incubator
for ministers, both lay ministers and staff ministers.
New apostolic pastors have long since
recognized that to the degree they themselves
attempt to do all or most of the ministry of the
church, they clasp an impenetrable lid on the
growth of their congregation. Therefore, they
make it a point to train others to minister. Lay
people have to be both trained and empowered
for ministry if the church is ever to
become anything other than a small,
static church.
Several cating “coach” as a helpful role designation
for the pastor. What does a coach do The
coach sets the game plan and deploys all
available personnel for executing it and winning
the game. If everyone plays on the team,
what positions do they play Functionally, this
is determined by the spiritual gifts God has
given to each believer. It is up to the pastor or
the coach to help each one discover what gift
or gifts they have, develop them, and then use
them to the fullest extent possible for ministry.
Outreach
Initiation of new apostolic ministry comes
from the bottom up. No church can do everything.
How do we choose The new apostolic
answer is simple—do whatever works. If
their new ministry is meeting a need, it will
work. If not, it will fail. Who initiates ministry
Not some committee or church board or
denominational agency. Anyone can initiate a
new ministry in most new apostolic churches.
The two major structures for organizing lay
ministry in new apostolic churches are ministry
teams and small groups. Some churches
major on one and some on the other. Some
combine the two. Some are transitions from
one to the other. Although some ministry
teams, such as those relating to worship, are
managed by church staff, many of them operate
on the free enterprise model. They are
largely self-directed and self-financed. Some
focus inward, designed to meet the needs of
the congregation, and others focus outward
toward the community.
When lay people are ministering throughout
the congregation, this provides the primary
incubator for new staff leaders. Most new
apostolic churches are characterized by
home-grown staff. This is in contrast to the
traditional model where lay people assuming
staff positions is the exception rather than the
rule. New staff members usually come from
outside the church. The new apostolic paradigm
of home-grown staff carries with it a
series of new realities. The rules of the game
of training for and ordination to professional
ministry are changing. One of the outcomes is
that individuals who are ordained in new
apostolic churches tend to have a considerably
higher age profile than in traditional
churches. The church member who has
demonstrated outstanding spiritual gifts as a
lay person is frequently well into a secular
career. Mid-career changes into full-time
Christian ministry are now becoming
commonplace.
Plugged-In-Worship
New apostolic worship is “plugged in” to
three important power sources: the sound system,
the Holy Spirit, and contemporary culture.
Of all the changes taking place, this one
has also spread outside new apostolic circles
more than any other change. Traditional
churches in just about all denominations are
beginning to realize that worship forms of
past generations will not survive long into
the future.
Outreach in Overdrive
New apostolic churches want to grow and they
are willing to pay the price for growth. Their
outreach is intentionally focused on four central
tasks: (1) expanding the local church,
(2) planting new churches, (3) mercy ministries
in the surrounding communities, and
(4) cross-cultural missions.
Churches that have a vision to reach the lost
are fed up with traditional models. Why
Because they haven’t worked! Among new
apostolic church leaders, whether denominational
or otherwise, there is little aversion to
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pragmatism. They say “If God has given us a
job to do—let’s get it done! If a methodology
works, use it; if it doesn’t work, scrap it!” This
is not a statement of carnality; it is a statement
of driving commitment. God’s work must be
done in God’s way, true. However, throughout
history, God’s ways have changed and changed
again. God’s way of doing something yesterday
is frequently not God’s way of doing it today.
New apostolic church leaders constantly seek
ways to update and contextualize their outreach
ministries. ■
Eight Significant Changes in Worship
From ➜ To
Classical
Performance
Hymns
Pipe organ
Cerebral
Awe of God
Liturgy
Meditation
Contextual
Participation
Songs
Percussion
Celebration
Intimacy with God
Liberty
Mission
Excerpts from Churchquake! The Explosive
Dynamics of the New Apostolic Reformation
by C. Peter Wagner and published by Regal
Books, 1999 (800.446.7735)
Peter Wagner is co-founder of the
World Prayer Center in Colorado and former
professor of missions at Fuller Theological
Seminary. He is recognized worldwide for his
research and writing on church growth and
spiritual warfare.
Con.NEXT.ion
Further reading on New Apostolic
Reformation Churches:
The New Apostolic Churches
by C. Peter Wagner (Regal Books, 1998)
Reinventing American Protestantism
by Donald Miller
(University of California Press, 1997)
A Church for the Unchurched
by George Hunter III (Abingdon, 1996)
The New Reformation: Tomorrow Arrived
Yesterday by Lyle Schaller
(Abingdon, 1995)
NetFax, Issue# 27, “The New Apostolic
Paradigm,” September 4, 1995
NetFax, Issue# 106, “The New Apostolic
Reformation,” September 11, 1998
Both issues of NetFax are accessible at
www.leadnetinfo.org
www.leadnet.org