Leading a Congregation to Relevance

C. Dean Waterman

Description

It isn’t what is new but what has been that matters. Methods may change based on community, culture, or denominational direction; fundamentals never will.

What is the measure of a successful congregation? For most, success is in the numbers, but the new scorecard is relevance, which is deeper, and more impactful. The fundamentals that bring relevance are not new but have been abandoned by many congregations for the newest methods and trends in church growth.



Within these pages is a new model for bringing these important fundamentals together. They may be taken as a whole or implemented individually, but when done so they bring a renewed focus to a congregation which results in lives changed, and new relevance to those within the congregation, and in the community it exists in.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Discipleship
• Christian Living
• Mentoring
• Philosophie et théologie
• Disciple (Christianity)
• Congregation
• Spirituality
• Christianity
• Pastoral
• Leadership
• Church

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 17 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664279612
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

LEADING A CONGREGATION TO RELEVANCE
 
 
 
 
 
 
C. DEAN WATERMAN
 
 
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 C. Dean Waterman.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
 
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
 
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated into any other language.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7962-9 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7963-6 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7961-2 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022918094
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 10/17/2022
DEDICATION
_____________________
To three mentors, and their wives, who have impacted my
life and ministry with 150+ years of collective wisdom.
Henry and Carol Wr ight
Robert and Karen Fan cher
John and Karen C ress
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Before You Begin
Introduction
 
Chapter 1       Spiritual Leadership
Chapter 2       Do-Re-Mi
Chapter 3       The Model
Chapter 4       The Right Start
Chapter 5       Strategic Vision
Chapter 6       Congregational Management
Chapter 7       Intentional Discipleship
Chapter 8       Developing Leaders and Teams
Chapter 9       The Next Generation
Chapter 10     Communicating for Results
Chapter 11     Engaging the Body
Chapter 12     The Third Place
Chapter 13     The Prayer-Centric Congregation
Chapter 14     Nuts and Bolts of Relevancy
Chapter 15     Embracing Guests
Chapter 16     God-Centered Worship
Chapter 17     Measure what Matters
Chapter 18     Missional Influence
Chapter 19     The Teaching Ministry
Chapter 20     Decisions & Discipleship
Chapter 21     Exponential
Chapter 22     The Model Congregation
Chapter 23     Before You Go
 
A quick note …
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To Jody, who has been a valued life and ministry partner for 25 years. You have endured much; from my personal failures and wounds from various sheep within the congregations we served together. I could not have done the work I have without you.
To my children, Joseph and Andrea, who didn’t get as much of me as they deserved while in their formative years. I realized almost too late that ministry starts in the family, the congregation follows. I love both of you, and my ministry will be complete with both of you in heaven with your mother and me.
To my previous congregations. I feel pity for the ones who got me in the beginning of ministry, and I am sorry for being young, foolish, and too proud to learn from wise ones until later in ministry. For your patience, and kindness, thank you. For all my previous members, some who may still be upset with me just a little, I love you now as I did while pastoring with you.
To my sister, Rita, for cheerleading and editing this book. For maintaining my “voice” and passion, while making this book better than I even hoped. For always being a force for good and kindness the past five decades of life.
To my parents, Russell (deceased) and Joan Waterman, who listened to God’s voice and took the boy home to foster, when they really wanted a girl. Then if that wasn’t enough, you brought me into the family by adoption. It was a divine appointment, and while I had my rough patches, you survived!
To all colleagues and friends from the previous decades. Each of you know who you are, and I value all of you for your kindness, friendship, frankness, and willingness to humor me. For ministry colleagues, regardless of the denomination you serve, I cheer you on as all of us continue to serve God and love the people with a heart like Jesus. Soon the rewards will be evident.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN

The story has been often told of a young elementary school girl sitting in art class one day. The teacher had given a specific assignment to draw whatever each young student wanted to share with others and their parents. As the teacher went from student to student observing their individual artwork, she looked over the shoulder of the young girl, and asked her, “What is this you are drawing?” The girl replied, “God.” “That is quite impossible!” the teacher exclaimed, “For not one person knows what God looks like!” Head still down, drawing carefully, the girl simply replied, “They will when I am finished.”
And therein lies the call for each of us as Christians, leaders, and our congregations today.
Painting a Port rait
One of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer, writes the most profound sentence I have ever read. “What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” 1 To his statement I would add this; what we lead others to think about God may be equally important, if not more. As Christians, we have opportunities each day to shape other people’s views of God. Within the context of this book, the same is true. Every congregation on this planet is painting a portrait of God to those who are watching.
Knowing that is the case leads to a most important question: what image of God is your congregation painting? It isn’t just the sermons and worship service, but the interactions new guests have with members, and members interacting with each other. It is how children come to see their value within the congregation, and adults just the same. It is seen in how “sinners” and backsliders are accepted or rejected and various opinions and viewpoints on faith are encouraged or discouraged. Within each respective community, congregations are ever revealing God as either One of infinite love, concerned with humans’ everyday life, or who is aloof and non-existent amid the challenges present within culture today. Realize this: every action, or inaction, is a witness to what we believe God to be. So, then, what are people truly seeing through your congregation and mine as we reveal God to them?
This is Pers onal
I wrote this book because I love the congregations that dot the landscape of America, Canada, and around the world. I believe each one has a solemn responsibility to reflect God accurately to the world, and more specifically to their community. There may be numerous denominations created by barriers that have been self-imposed, but ultimately as the ekk ē lesia (more on that later) we are called to the same purpose—reflect God to those who have never met Him or have a negative view of Him from a previous experience. Yet in many congregations, this has not been the case, but an afterthought. Many truths have been preached, without Jesus as the center of truth being preached. I was guilty of that for so long. Then I learned an important lesson personally. God is love. Everything else in the Bible just proves it. When I learned this fundamental truth for myself it changed my life, ministry, and outlook. It also changed the congregations I pastored after that point, proving to me congregations often reflect their leader(s).
That is why this book is personal. I love the church, and the congregations that make up the body of Christ. I want to see each one makes an impact on the lives of their members, each new guest, and their community. Why? Because each congregation is painting a portrait of God, and that includes yours too. For many congregations, the portrait they are painting is causing people to run away from God, not to Him. There is enough distortion in the world about who God is, and His attributes, without the church joining in. The challenge is recognizing where a congregation may be failing in this regard and changing it.
When my understanding of God personally changed from a “checklist” God, who demanded things from me through obedience and compliance (legalistic) to be loved and ultimately saved, to one of unmeasurable love (grace), wow! No longer did my behaviors reflect earning God’s love but reflected the gift of grace I was experiencing personally. My sermo