eDocument Church Planting Models · “Purpose Driven is not about seeker services. It is about evangelism. Purpose Driven is a process by which you bring people in through evangelism,

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Church Planting Models

Overview of Purpose-Driven Church Planting

Dr. Daniel J. Morgan, Church Planting Group

North American Mission Board

Copyright 2002 by the North American Mission Board.

Overview of Purpose-Driven Church Planting by Daniel J. Morgan, Ph.D.

I. Definition: Please define this approach to church planting. What is it, what is distinctive about it, who generally uses this approach and where is it commonly used?

Purpose Driven Church Planting is an approach to planting that takes as its foundational insights the teaching of Pastor Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Church. There are several emphases that are distinctive about the approach, or at least were distinctive at the time of the book’s release, and have been adopted by others since then. Twelve of these distinctives are: • Building on five biblical purposes • Advocating crowd-to-core growth

• Culturally relevant worship style

• Independent of buildings • Targeted evangelism

• Seeker-sensitive events

• A simple path to maturity

• Balanced small groups • Progressive commitment

• Focus on church health not church growth

• Mobilizing members for ministry

• Simple structure for decision-making • A Scalable Paradigm

• A paradigm instead of just methods

1) Building the church around five biblical purposes. God’s purposes for His church should be the dominant consideration in decisions about what the church does and how it organizes itself. A study of the Bible led Rick to summarize God’s purposes for the church into five overarching purposes anchored in two passages of Scripture. The Scripture passages are the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. The five summary purposes that come from these passages are: Worship (Magnification), Fellowship (Membership), Discipleship (Maturity), Service (Ministry), and Evangelism (Mission). These five purposes are expressed in a diagram utilizing a baseball diamond to communicate the dynamic of moving people from seeker to reproducing disciple.

This concept of moving people toward maturity is implemented by developing at least one major program for each Biblical purpose. At least one core leader champions each purpose to insure that the purpose is not neglected. The biblical purposes also shape preaching, the way small groups are organized, the assimilation of new believers and members, the calendar and the budget.

“Purpose Driven is not about seeker services. It is about evangelism. Purpose Driven is a process by which you bring people in through evangelism, raise them up through discipleship, train them for ministry, and send them out on mission to the glory of God.” – Rick Warren, 4-5-2001

2) Advocating crowd-to-core church growth. The most effective way to develop a new church is by discipling a crowd into a core rather than trying to motivate a core to evangelize a crowd. This approach has biblical precedent in the ministries of both Jesus and Paul. Even in cell-church contexts this distinctive has meaning. There may not be a “crowd” but there should be a sustained effort to gather more than one seeker for each conversation about faith in Christ.

3) Culturally Relevant Worship Style. Purpose-Driven churches are not “contemporary” but

culturally relevant. Worship style is shaped to match the target audience. This adaptation affects all forms of communication, including music and preaching. PDC churches “read” their culture and adjust style accordingly, but without compromising the eternal message. This tension is difficult to maintain, but results in increased evangelistic effectiveness.

4) Not Dependent on Buildings. Most PDC plants thrive in rented facilities for years, just as Saddleback did. The PDC philosophy is that buildings are another tool, useful when they become the best way to accomplish the purposes of God. The reality is that most churches build too soon, and some, like cell church networks, will never build and yet remain healthy and reproducing.

“We intentionally did not build a building for 13 years and until we were averaging over 10,000 in attendance. We wanted to prove you don’t need a building to grow. This allowed us to have more money for staff and programming.” – Rick Warren

5) Targeted evangelism. Planters spend extensive time determining who their target group is, and what the bridges are from the target group’s life concerns to the Gospel. The most common misconception about targeting is that it is a process of excluding people the planter doesn’t want to reach. Targeting is actually a process of determining who the planter can best reach first and most effectively, but welcoming all seekers and expecting target groups to multiply as the church grows. When Rick did this study for the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, CA, he summarized the demographics memorably as a character known as Saddleback Sam.

6) Seeker-sensitive Events. Saddleback is committed to doing things in a way that puts seekers at ease and that eliminates unnecessary barriers to a clear understanding of the gospel. Since the average seeker needs multiple exposures to the gospel message before they respond, a Purpose Driven church does things in a way that keeps seekers coming back. At Saddleback there is an opportunity to make a conversion decision every week, but there is a strong call to commitment every six to eight weeks. This allows seekers to contemplate the message of Christ and the evidence of changed lives for several weeks before they are strongly urged to make a commitment to Him.

7) Providing a simple path of discipleship. The path from seeker to reproducing disciple produces the best results when people are introduced to God’s purposes for their life through processes that are simple, logical, and linear. Saddleback developed a system called CLASS (Christian Life And Service Seminars) to introduce attendees to membership, and members to progressively deeper steps of commitment and maturity.

8) Balanced small groups. The small groups of a purpose-driven church are intentionally balanced

around the five purposes. This intentional balancing of biblical purposes has the goal of healthy group life which leads to growth and reproduction. This is one aspect of the scalability of the PDC paradigm.

9) Developing members into ministers and leaders through progressive commitments to Christian

life and service. Each step in the path toward spiritual maturity is marked by covenant commitments. The belief is that people grow as they learn to live out their commitments. One over-arching conviction of Rick is, “a great commitment to the great commandment and the great commission will build a great church.” Purpose driven church plants use progressively deeper commitments as a tool of discipleship. As maturity deepens there is intentional channeling of this commitment into service and involvement in missions, not just deeper knowledge.

10) Focusing on church health rather than church growth. Balancing the five purposes leads to a

healthy church. A healthy church will grow, and multiply. This concept of church health is size independent. A planter can have a healthy church, whatever its current size. The use of PDC principles does not imply a goal of becoming a mega-church.

11) Depending on mobilized members to do the work of ministry. The purpose driven church develops its unique ministry in the community as its members discover their unique shaping by God for service in the Kingdom. A purpose driven church is committed to pastors as equippers and laypeople as ministers. Ministries are lay-driven, and they emerge as laypeople find new ways to express who God made them to be.

12) Simple structure and system of decision-making. Time spent in committees and in business meetings is time people can’t invest in ministry to others. A purpose-driven church is staff led with congregational input, especially in areas that directly affect members’ time and money. Authority to accomplish tasks is given to teams rather than discussed in committee. There is an underlying value of trust that is at the core of a PDC church.

13) A scalable paradigm used at every level of church life. The five purposes of God determine the

emphases and structures of the whole church. This same five-fold paradigm guides the organization, development, and ministry of small groups, both individually, and as they work together in their community. Ultimately, the goal is to build into every member’s heart a deep commitment to a surrendered life of worship and service.

At Saddleback Church, the PDC paradigm is also used to guide the age-related ministries of the church. Children’s ministry implements the PDC approach using age-appropriate symbols and terms. The same is true for junior high, high school, and college ministries. This consistency of vision and programming helps keep Saddleback’s staff working in harmony. It also insures that as the children of attendees grow, their Kingdom experience remains consistent, biblical, and balanced.

14) PDC is primarily a paradigm, not a set of methods. This last distinctive is perhaps the most

important for church planting. The methods of Saddleback can be copied, and the closer the setting is to Saddleback, the better they will work. But when adopted as a way of viewing the church, it becomes a flexible and adaptable framework to guide any planter in any setting in how to develop a healthy, balanced church that will attain all the size and ministry God intended when he placed the dream in that planter’s heart.

The PDC approach to church and church planting has been used extensively in the United States, but often in ways that attempt to reproduce Saddleback Valley Community Church, where Rick Warren is senior pastor, rather than applying the above distinctives to a given context. As a paradigm, it has been successfully contextualized around the US and in many countries of the world. Countries where we know of a PDC church include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico,

Nigeria, Poland, Uganda, Ukraine, Russia, South Africa, and Taiwan. There are probably many more examples that we know nothing about. The most common setting for PDC church plants is in fast-growing suburbs of United States metro areas. The reason for this is probably that this setting is closest to South Orange County where Rick developed Saddleback, so it takes the least amount of contextualizing to effectively use it in these settings.

It isn’t our job to create the purposes of the church, but to discover them. – Rick Warren

Success is bearing as much fruit as possible given your gifts, opportunities, and potential.

II. Values and Assumptions: What values and philosophies drive this approach?

Why are church planters attracted to it? Which worldview and societal issues are reflected by this approach?

Values 1. God made the church for specific purposes. If we seek to build on those purposes, God will bless our

work. • “But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” – I Cor. 3:10-11 • “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” – Prov. 19:21

2. The Bible must be central in determining how a church should function. The Purpose Driven paradigm arose from Bible study. Churches should orient their development around biblical answers to two questions: “What are we to be as a church?” and “What are we to do as a church?” Rick Warren gives a list of suggested study passages in his book.1 This study should be foundational for a planter who wants to build on his own convictions. All five purposes of the PDC paradigm come from summarizing the teaching from a broad cross-section of Bible texts.

3. The core concern of every church should not be growing bigger, but becoming and staying healthy. Health only has meaning from a Biblical perspective. The five biblical purposes of the church serve as the standard. Healthy churches keep the five purposes in proper balance for their context. A balanced, healthy church will grow to its potential.

4. Creating a committed Christian community is one of the five biblical purposes of the church. Members united in loving fellowship demonstrate the power of God to a watching world. (John 13:34-35). A PDC church creates a process to move believers into committed membership and fellowship in the church. The ultimate goal is Worship.

5. Worship is essential for the church to be the church. We join all creation in this activity, and it is the one activity we know will continue through eternity. The goal, personally, is a surrendered life of continual worship and service.

6. Knowing God is at the center of being a child of God. We grow in our knowledge of God through learning God’s Word and seeing it lived out in the lives of believers. We call this process discipleship and Jesus Christ commanded us to help new believers become mature followers of Christ.

7. Every Member has a place of service in and through the church. Pastors have a mandate to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. The church has an obligation to mobilize its members in pursuit of their unique Kingdom ministry.

1 Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.96-97. He also includes several topics to discuss as a church.

8. Evangelism is a partnership between God and his servants. The Holy Spirit brings conversion based on a proclamation of the gospel. The church insures that its proclamation is, to the best of its ability, relevant to the hearer. Corollary to this first principle is that all the circumstances in a seeker’s life are orchestrated by God to open their hearts to the gospel message; therefore, the church works hard to understand the nature of these God-wrought circumstances and tailor the application of the gospel to the needs in seekers lives. The summary of this dynamic can be stated as, “Targeted evangelism is essential to effective outreach.”

9. Simplicity. The early church in Jerusalem only functioned in two settings; they gathered as a large group in the temple courts, and then met in private homes. Out of these two settings the church accomplished all God intended them to be and to do.

10. Wise use of technology. This can enable us to better reach the lost with the gospel. Example: Easter 2001 saw Saddleback scan visitor cards and OCR them for the first time. There were over 2,000 decisions, yet many of the new believers received their first follow-up contact within 12 hours of their visit. Since the follow-up of decisions is a time-sensitive matter, this will enable Saddleback to assimilate more of these new Christians

Assumptions 1. High value of Scripture. The paradigm is built off of an exposition of Scripture and one of the core

values is that a church should base itself on what the Bible says, as opposed to secular-based insights of modern psychology, anthropology, or other disciplines. Scientific inquiry may contribute insights to the effective operation of a church, only when filtered through biblical absolutes.

2. Pastor-led or staff-led church, not deacon-led. The decision model used by a purpose-driven church

assumes strong pastoral leadership. Other models of decision-making work best when most members are mature believers. A PDC church, with its crowd-to-core process has a large number of maturing-but-still-immature members at many levels of commitment.

3. God intends the church to express itself in both large and small group contexts. The PDC approach is

defined in a way that easily conforms to both the settings expected in a healthy church: large group and small group. There is an assumption of large group celebration and small group connection.

4. Biblical balance is best. There is an assumption that every church should express all the purposes of

God for His church, although acknowledging that each church will have its own unique ministry in its setting.

5. The transition from unbelief to belief typically involves multiple exposures to the gospel and the lives

of believers. There are often identifiable intermediate stages, and the process takes noticeable time. 6. Churches grow best when they are self-governing, self-funding, and grow from converts out of their

ministry field. This is expressed in the emphasis on studying the ministry field and coming up with an approach suited to that cultural setting.

7. God honors those who are willing to trust Him for great things, those who take risks to obey Him, and

those who never give up. All the suggested approaches involve risk-taking and the expression of strong faith in God’s provision. PDC is not for those who want to repeat the patterns of the past.

8. God calls every church to multiply itself, not just grow larger. The discussion of health and growth

uses an organic analogy that includes reproduction as a natural outcome of health. The image of the

church reflects more the Antiochan approach than the Jerusalem approach, though it scales to any church size.

9. Members can be trusted. A PDC church demonstrates flexibility in its response to the community

that is only possible when decisions can be delegated to trained teams who then accomplish biblical results before reporting back to their supervisor. The same is true of evangelism and every other area of church life.

Why are church planters attracted to it? Church planters are motivated by a number of reasons. One is undoubtedly the visible success of Saddleback with a worship service running 16,000 on a weekend and 55,000 people calling it their church home. Other planters are attracted to the PDC approach because it offers a simple, understandable paradigm as the basis for organizing a new church. Others may have been attracted by the huge number of people who have attended the PDC seminar and attempted to apply the principles in their church (currently around 200,000 church leaders). Trainers like the simplicity, completeness, and scalability of the approach. It give the average planter the best opportunity of establishing and growing an effective church. Worldview and societal issues: The paradigm is not tied to a particular worldview, though Rick worked out the system in the context of wealthy, professionally trained citizens of the US. His approach to this constituency has taken consideration of their propensity for self-help approaches and an acquisitive lifestyle. The purpose-driven paradigm, however is not tied to the methods Rick used at Saddleback. The methods used at Saddleback are a culturally appropriate application of biblical principles. Since the principles come from the Bible, they are not bound to western culture. One impact of the paradigm as it has spread around the world is to correct with Scripture some cultural biases that creep into the church around the world. The above must be balanced, however, by observing that the paradigm is linear and logical in its presentation, rather than radial and intuitive. This makes it easier to apply where linear/logical processes are highly valued. Rick began Saddleback as a small group meeting in his apartment living room – highly relational, and then continued to work out the paradigm in a structured, institutional setting, as Saddleback grew. When he finally wrote out his convictions in the Purpose Driven Church, Saddleback was large with a highly developed organization. Yet it still places a high value on relationships, and has been easily adapted to small group settings. Going even deeper, the purpose-driven paradigm assumes that people see a purposeful life as of high value, an assumption that is shared by the writers of the New Testament. Cross-cultural strengths of the purpose-driven paradigm include its simplicity and scalability. It can be applied at the cell church/ house church level as well as in a mega-church. Each level of application is distinct in the way it balances relational versus institutional aspects of the body of Christ. The paradigm helps maintain balance and health regardless of the methods used to implement PDC at a given organizational level.

III. Biblical Support: Which theological principles and Bible texts support this approach? 1. The Purposefulness of God

a. Isaiah 10:12; 14:24; 44:8; 45:13; 49:4; 55:11; Daniel 4:17; Matthew 5:18; John 6:27 b. Jesus also lived a purposeful life: Luke 13:32; John 10:10; John 18:37

2. The five biblical purposes of the church a. Acts 2:42-47 – All five purposes can be found in this passage2 b. Matthew 22:37-40 – The Great Commandment c. Matthew 28:19-20 - The Great Commission d. A list of references for study is included in the PDC book.3

3. A Seeker-focused ministry a. Jesus - Mark 2:17; Luke 19:10 b. Paul – His strategy of first preaching in synagogues to reach God-fearing Gentiles and those

Jews who sincerely waited for Messiah’s coming. 4. Crowd-to-Core approach to ministry

a. Jesus i. Building the crowd – Fifteen times in Matthew the word “multitudes” is used, usually in

the context of Jesus teaching, healing, and feeding. The teaching, miracles and food drew the crowds.

ii. Discipling a Core – Jesus called on the multitude to make a radical commitment to follow him. This drove away the casual followers; Luke 14:26-33; John 6:56-66. Once a person chose to follow, Jesus began to make Kingdom truths clear; Matthew 13:10-17; Matthew 13:34-35; John 7:17. Besides teaching them, he mentored them; Mark 3:14.

iii. Overview: Luke 6:13-19 is a beautiful snapshot of the different circles of commitment all present at the same time.

b. Paul – Went first to the synagogue and preached to the mixed crowd of Jews and Gentile God-fearers. The seekers responded, and he discipled them in the context of a house church

5. Targeted evangelism (both contextualizing the message and targeting a group) a. Jesus

i. John 4:4-42 – Samaritan woman at the well (contextualizing), ii. Matthew 15:24-28 - Syrophoenician woman (focusing on a particular group)

b. Paul i. Acts 17:22-33; appeal at Athens (contextualizing)

ii. Acts 22:21, Gal.2:7-8; called to the Gentiles, not the Jews. c. Peter

i. Gal. 2:7-8, I Peter 1:1-2; called to the Jewish diaspora.

2 Ibid., p.119. 3 Ibid., p. 96-97

IV. Strategic Advantages: Why is this approach effective? In which environments does it thrive? Why would a church planter decide to use this approach? What results can you expect from this approach?

This approach is effective because: 1. It is a comprehensive approach that helps planters bring seekers all the way to becoming additional

workers in extending the Kingdom of God. 2. It introduces considerations of balance and health, so that PDC churches tend to remain healthy and

evangelistically growing for a long time. 3. It is simple to grasp, so an average planter can understand, contextualize and implement it in their

setting. 4. It addresses critical communication issues, which often hinder effective evangelism. 5. It encourages an economy of effort within the church. The church doesn’t do every good thing, but at

least one major thing in each biblical purpose. The churches ministry energy is not dissipated to the point where some of the biblical purposes are not implemented adequately. Yet, there is freedom to focus on the unique strengths of a particular church body. There is the opportunity to maintain spiritual margin in the lives of members, valuing refreshment and variety, uniqueness and gifting; with a net effect of greater energy by lay people invested in the chosen ministries of the church.

6. It is strictly speaking a paradigm, not a model, so that it acts as a framework balancing the implementation of “best practices” in the various biblical purposes for a given context. Once paradigm and practices are combined, the particular “franchise” can be duplicated in similar settings, say by a particular regional or national church planting body. EX: in the middle-class suburban setting of the US, best practices include using preview services to build a crowd. This has resulted in churches going from core group to worshipping crowd of over 400 in a few months. This has been shown effective in a number of PDC church plants. This launch practice was not part of the launch of a particular PDC church in Sicily, Italy, yet the PDC paradigm implemented in that context has also resulted in extraordinary evangelistic success for that region and a church that maintains biblical balance.

A church planter would choose this paradigm in order to insure that their church planting efforts are balanced. They would choose this paradigm to force them to work through issues of contextual communication, both for their preaching and for shaping of systems and programs of assimilation and discipleship. The planter would use this system as an integrative tool for the “best practices” they glean from other sources; insuring that their resulting model is well suited to reaching their targeted seekers and moving them through discipleship into active service. The results they should expect include: 1. An extended period of growth, lasting years before significant slowing. This does not imply a certain

size, but Kingdom extension as an expression of ongoing health. 2. Majority growth through conversion rather than transfer. 3. A larger than average pool of motivated lay people actively serving others in their areas of gifting and

special ability. 4. The ability to maintain a committed fellowship, an activist fellowship 5. The ability to re-vision as needed to continue to be effective. 6. Early involvement by lay people in world missions 7. Low percentage of nominal believers in places of influence in the church 8. Easy ability to maintain a high view of Scripture, due to people’s personal encounters with the power

of God in their daily lives. 9. Early and sustained community influence 10. Strong spiritual opposition to the ongoing ministry of the church (the price paid for effectiveness)

V. Strategic Disadvantages: When and where is this approach not as effective? Who would you recommend not to use this strategy? When the strategy has failed, why? What cautions would you give to those seeking to implement this strategy?

This approach requires an evaluation of the proposed plant’s context. Attracting the repeated participation of seekers in a church requires not only the empowering of the Holy Spirit, but a clear understanding of the culture, especially the socio-psychological tensions inherent in the lifestyles that are produced by this culture. This implies demographic and social research and the willingness to adapt methods to cultural realities. If a planter is willing to do this preliminary work, a PDC approach can be effective anywhere. Planters who want a programmatic approach to church life shouldn’t use this approach; PDC planting has a built-in bias of questioning and revising programs. Denominational leaders who connect denominational loyalty to the use of certain national programs or curriculum without local adaptation will not be pleased with the PDC approach. When the PDC strategy has failed, these failures show the same characteristics as with failed attempts to use other models. • The number one reason for failure is an unqualified planter. Some don’t have the gifting needed to

plant a church from scratch, although many of these could take over a new church from a more catalytic planter.

• Others fail because they never received adequate training in how to plant an effective church. • Still others fail because they try to copy Saddleback’s programs rather than implementing the PDC

paradigm in a culturally appropriate way. Copying only works when their target area is demographically similar to south Orange County where Saddleback was planted and has thrived for twenty years.

Contextualizing is the key to applicability. When trying to adapt PDC, several core values seem problematic. • In a house church context, what does “crowd-to-core” involve? The central principle in a crowd-to-

core approach is “many ears, one voice.” Throughout Jesus ministry as well as Paul’s ministry there was a pattern of proclaiming the gospel message where as many people as possible had gathered. In context this may mean sharing the gospel with two or three people gathered in a café or home for the purpose rather than with each one individually.

• The principle of the anonymity of a crowd is relied on at Saddleback. What is the contextual application in villages where everyone knows everyone else’s business? In North America it may mean using other methods that allow anonymous inquiry – web-casting a worship service, using email or postal mail to deliver content to seekers. Given the willingness of a North American planter to adapt the principles, there is no cultural setting that I know of where the PDC paradigm (not Saddleback) would not be beneficial.

• The focus on balance and health looks different in a rural and small town setting. The smaller the church, the more the need to rely on good relational dynamics rather than good institutional practice.

There are many settings where there has been no attempt to adapt a PDC approach, so one cannot make a universal claim to applicability. Nevertheless, it has been effectively used in so many different cultural contexts around the world, that this writer is comfortable in claiming that it should prove helpful to church planters in any church plant setting. The paradigm facilitates a more effective church than if the PDC paradigm were not used as the framework of development. The PDC paradigm summarizes several universal elements of how God works in people’s lives. Regardless of context, people grow through a process, though the process may not be as linear as portrayed by the diamond. Rick Warren expressed this idea of progressive discipleship using boomer-appropriate symbols. Post-moderns, for example, seem to look for more organic analogies and symbols. This preference doesn’t diminish the under-lying reality that the PDC paradigm attempts to describe.

The PDC strategy for reaching and discipling people 1. Attract a seeker with a message that touches felt needs 2. Involve them in worship, fellowship, and personal witness

until they become a believer. 3. Committed to membership: sure of salvation, baptized,

understanding the vision & values of the church 4. Committed to Discipleship: understanding how believers

grow and committed to personal devotional life, participation in a small group, and stewardship of their resources

5. Committed to Ministry: understanding God’s unique SHAPE for their life and committed to serving others through the church.

6. Committed to Mission: understanding God’s redemptive work in the world and committed to share their faith and support the larger work of the church in the world.

7. Living a live of personal devotion to God, growing in spiritual balance and health.

VI. Strategy Guidelines: Give a strategic overview for this approach. Discuss important strategic issues. A Purpose-Driven Church is built around the purposes of God, • not relationships • not evangelism • not programs This allows for tremendous variety in the appearance of these three church development factors, each of which dominates one of the other major planting models. Besides flexibility, this approach raises a different set of strategic questions than these other models. A PDC approach balances the pools of people at different levels of commitment. It is a very dynamic model that ties growth to the movement of people to deeper levels of commitment. As with all such processes there is a reduction in numbers at each commitment boundary. The largest group is the pool of seekers. It must be large relative to the rest of the church, to keep the process of conversion and discipleship going. Evangelism: The key strategic issue in evangelism is maintaining a pool of seekers. A PDC approach operates to keep seekers exposed to a relevant gospel message and community of peers for an extended period of time, until the Holy Spirit converts them. This means that every event and program must have an attractive element for seekers, so that they continue to come back. This attraction requirement means that the planter must clearly understand what motivates unbelievers to seek God. This attractive element must be based on solid demographic research, and the public elements of the church must be constantly adjusted to create and maintain this pool of seekers. This doesn’t mean compromising the purposes of God for the church beyond evangelism. It means carrying them out in a way that gives seekers a hint of what life in the Kingdom is really like. Every ministry of the church comes under this seeker-sensitive scrutiny. Systems: PDC is a systematic approach to church. Structure emerges from three central ideas. The first is that the church is called to fulfill only a limited number of purposes – extensively discussed in Scripture, but adequately summarized in five statements of purpose. The second idea is that there must be a simple yet intentional process to help seekers build these purposes into their life, as they become reproducing disciples. The third idea is that when biblical purposes are balanced, health, growth, and multiplication result naturally. From these three central convictions emerge all the structure of a PDC church. The best

practices that fulfill these core values will vary from church to church and country to country. They will vary by size, as well. In a small church or relational church, there may be no programming, only a systematic way of mentoring new believers through these major biblical themes. In large, suburban settings there may be extensive programming to move large numbers of believers through a process of discipleship and into ministry. In a post-modern church, the paradigm may become more organic and the process less linear. The strategic implication for the planter is that they must plant with the whole system in mind from the first, not just one piece. Also, they must be willing to let the implementation of the PDC evolve from informal to formal programs over time. This means using prototypes and temporary systems in the early days of the church. These prototypes are designed to maximize the unique contribution of the planter and those mature believers in the initial core, as well as the active participation of seekers and younger believers. Programming: PDC is driven by a commitment to maintain seeker-sensitivity through constant adjustment of events and programming. This biases the PDC church against pre-set denominational programs and literature. PDC churches focus on what actually works in their ministry area. PDC churches value adjusting constantly and adapting to the seekers they must reach to maintain the seeker crowd. Strategically, the denominational planter must maintain good relationships with the denominational hierarchy without being coerced into using resources that are inappropriate for his context. There is also the need remain flexible in methodology. PDC is highly scalable, and at larger sizes, formal programs are needed, with the curriculum to make them go. Member Ministry: The planter builds a PDC churches through mobilizing the membership into service to accomplish the purposes of the new church. For this to happen, the planter must be a person of contagious faith and a clear communicator of vision. This strategic concern requires that the planter can identify how untrained people can contribute to key initiatives needed to launch the church. If the planter must evangelize his initial core team, then it also implies working with spiritually immature believers; knowing the opportunities to offer them as well as the boundaries within which they can serve. The planter must be true to the value of a mobilized membership, even though there is tremendous pressure to get something going, and the knowledge that in the first days the planter can get more done in less time if they do it themselves. Even when mature servant-leaders begin to emerge, growth momentum demands that we continue to mobilize, train, and deploy immature believers into service at the same time as we disciple them. Event Momentum. Once the church begins public ministry, the ability of the pastor and leadership to attract and keep seekers is a central concern. This attraction begins with offering real help for the problems and issues faced by the target population. Momentum builds through word-of-mouth about changed lives as much as through advertising. The desired effect is to bring together the largest possible group of seekers every time the gospel is presented. This doesn’t mean a call to commitment at every event. Rick Warren uses a cycle of six to eight weeks between strong calls to decide for Christ. The events between these strong pushes include the opportunity to decide, but focus more on building an overwhelming case for Christ as the answer to life’s problems and the key to meaning and purpose. There are at least two critical points in time for this strategy to be effective - before the public launch the planter must see people come to Christ as models of how God changes lives in that setting. Also, the planter must figure out the concerns which have the greatest ability to draw seekers to hear a message on how to deal with that area of life. This determines some of the early agenda of the planter. There must be aggressive research into the cultural

concerns of the community, coupled with evangelism that identifies seekers and moves them from these concerns to Christian commitment. This research should begin long before the planter arrives on the field. One tension that inevitably occurs with success is the sense that we must slow down and focus on discipling the converts. It is a tension that must be resisted. Both have to occur at the same time. Once the momentum slows it is very difficult to recapture. This writer’s observation is that if we lag too far behind what the Holy Spirit is doing, He will call out another group to bring in the harvest. The Pre-launch Church. One of the strategic advantages of the PDC paradigm is its scalability, the paradigm guides development at every stage of growth and with every system in the incubating church. Each system is initiated and installed as the planter begins to win converts. The needs of the new converts drive development of the discipling/mobilizing systems of the church, and the process will remain the same for the life of the church. The follow-up of the first converts produces, not necessarily in this order, a membership class and the administrative system to track members, a new believer class/group, the first small groups with their lay facilitators, the initial class on discipleship, the initial class on service and ministry, and the initial class on the mission of the church and equipping lay people to share their faith. The specific content and organization of each of these steps is developed in a way that is appropriate to the context, but each will grow into a full-grown system for expanding the walk with God of each member in the church. Congruent with evangelistic momentum, the process begins with seekers and quickly equips people to share their faith with those around them. Congruent with a mobilized laity, each new piece of organization is developed in a way that allows lay people to minister out of their gifting and ability. The Ministry of the Word. The PDC approach declares that the chief end of the ministry of the Word of God is life change. This becomes a strategic issue in its all-encompassing approach to the way the Bible is used and presented in the church. It shapes preaching as well as what Bible study opportunities are offered. All preaching is done for life-change. With this core value, messages start with some aspect of the audience’ life that needs to change. It assumes that the audience, both seekers and believers come from the same cultural context, so they deal with many of the same issues. Messages build on this starting point around application of Bible truth to everyday life. They tend to build around a process of defining the problem, understanding the consequences of the problem, defining the Bible’s solution to the problem, and a limited number of steps a hearer can take to apply biblical insight to their lives and see positive change. Usually the steps begin with the need for a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and often include the need for being in community with other believers to see long-lasting change. This approach to the Word works well in the pre-launch phase of a church plant, when a planter needs to see rapid maturing of the core leaders. The vitality of the PDC approach is that the basic strategy doesn’t change as the church grows. Another positive aspect of this approach to the Word is that it models a way of Bible study and application that can be used in personal devotions, small groups, and the lay-led teaching ministry of the church as it grows. The planter is thus able to develop and propagate a key element of PDC church “culture” early and efficiently. Worship One core value is to develop people who become true worshipers of God. The ideal is that life becomes a seamless act of worship expressed through our service to God and man, with the motivation of overflowing joy and gratitude as we commune with the Father through the Son in the fullness of His

Spirit. Our purpose for living becomes the fulfilling of God’s purposes for His creation and kingdom. This is the Purpose-Driven Life that a PDC church desires as its “product” from ministry. On a more holistic note, Rick’s perspective is that seekers can’t worship the God they don’t know yet, but they can participate in worship and observe believers interact with God in this way. To the extent that they sense God’s presence as believers worship, and understand what is happening, to that extent they become aware that there is something here beyond their reality, and they are drawn toward God through that experience. This dynamic raises the strategic issue of how understandable to seekers should the worship elements be? PDC churches try to develop services of worship where each element is understandable to everyone present – whether believer, seeker, or skeptic. We want things to make “sense” even though there are supernatural elements that can’t be adequately explained to a non-Christian. This means stripping out special or archaic vocabulary in favor of plain speaking. This models the directness of our relationship with God. The music of our worship is indigenous – it emerges as people express their thoughts about our relationship to God in tunes that seem natural and enjoyable to them. This goes for the instruments used as well. For a church to remain relevant to its community, the musical style must be in a constant flux as new people join the church and bring their musical sensitivities with them. There is no sacred music, only words that express our faith set to tunes that express our cultural heritage.

VII. Implementation Guidelines: Present the steps a church planter would take to implement this strategy. Give a progression of the milestones that must be reached for the strategy to be effective. Answer common questions church planters frequently ask as they seek to use this approach.

This section requires some context. Because the PDC is a paradigm, no absolute statement of best practices can be made without defining a context. For purposes of illustration, then, assume a current common context for PDC plants – US suburban settings where the car-dependent culture is deeply ingrained, people are media-savvy, and the ethnic makeup is divided primarily among Anglos, Latinos, and Asians. Cultural issues that create tension in people’s lives include the disintegration of the family, substance abuse, the pursuit of affluence and other aspects of materialism. This description will look at church plants in four phases: Preparation for church planting, Pre-launch development of the church, Launching and post-launch issues, and Developing the systems of a mature church. 1. Preparation Stage. The planter clarifies his call, develops strategic partnerships, completes

demographic study of the target population, and prepares a formal church plant proposal. 2. Pre-launch Stage. The planter moves to the field, along with any members of a planting team. The

planter begins to evangelize within the target population and talk about his vision. The planter forms early converts and believers drawn to his vision into a core group large enough to service the beginning systems of the church.

3. Launch Stage. The planter begins to use evangelistic events to build a crowd of seekers and move the responsive into the discipling/mobilizing systems of the church.

4. Maturing Stage. The planter completes installation of the purpose driven systems needed to maintain balanced growth in the years ahead.

Step One: Preparation for Planting 1. Planter’s Personal Preparation

a. Assessment and Training – No one should plant a church without first going through an in-depth assessment of their aptitude for church planting, strengths and weaknesses they bring to the church planting task, and any character issues that could hinder the long term health of a church plant. Planters should also participate in formal and informal training opportunities to learn the skills, perspectives, and overall systems involved in planting a healthy church. The assessment and training should occur long enough before deployment to the church planting field that the planter can correct deficiencies and recruit complementary team members.

b. Research and Demographic matching – Because PDC churches emphasize targeted evangelism; a study of the target culture and people is essential. This process has two questions to answer. The first is what it will take to gather and evangelize seekers in this culture. The second is whether this planter is a close enough demographic match to accomplish the answer to question one.

2. Partnership formation.

a. Denominational support – The best scenario is planting with enthusiastic support of local churches, the local association, and the state organization that relates to Southern Baptist work in the area. This is not always possible, but should be pursued. A good formal church plant proposal can do a lot for the planter in winning the support of each constituency. The approach is to begin with the most sympathetic audience, and let them give input on the proposal to avoid unnecessary offense to the next most sympathetic group.

b. Prayer Partners – Prayer is the hidden secret to effective church plants. Prayer partners should be formally recruited and added to the distribution list of whatever tool the planter uses to communicate and update supporters

c. Financial Partners – The PDC paradigm will work in a lay-led, or bi-vocational context, but for seminary-trained church planters, the most likely scenario is a funded plant. In the US, it requires more money to launch and grow a PDC church than is usually contributed by denominational sources. Independent fund-raising should one component of the church planter’s strategy to fund the plant. This should be discussed openly with denominational supporters, and the discussion based on a written budget that is part of the church plant proposal. Most effective funded PDC planters will use an advertised launch, which requires money.

d. Planting Partners – The planter will be far more effective if joined by one or two couples or singles who sense God’s call to help begin the new church. These are people who not only sense a strong bond with the planter, but also fill a strategic role that compliments the planter and the rest of the planting team.

3. Orientation and Move to field. a. When the planting team is complete, they should be oriented to all the preparation done by the

planter, and team-building activities completed b. Time-table for move to field finalized and acted upon. Issues to be settled include team members

finding jobs or support level established, finding appropriate housing, final partnership covenant with all partners.

Milestones during preparation 1. Formal training complete – A gifted, called planter stills needs formal training before they attempt to

plant. 2. Initial evangelism strategy complete – The planter should be able to write an initial evangelism

strategy based on their careful demographic study of the field, combined with their consultation with veteran church planters. This strategy should explain how the planter will attracts and keep a pool of seekers while they are evangelized. It should identify the top needs that may cause an unbeliever to consider the claims of Christ.

3. Church plant proposal complete – A funded plant in suburban North America, as assumed here, depends on facilities to hold a crowd, which are expensive to rent and require numerous workers to sustain the systems of a worship service. A formal church plant proposal that communicates the vision, values, growth plan, and budget of a new plant is invaluable for gaining the support of prayer partners, financial partners, and mature, vision-directed workers who will sense God’s call to this task.

4. Partner network complete – This milestone occurs when the planter has written commitments from prayer partners, sponsoring church(es), and planting team members.

Step 2: Pre-Launch Phase. As soon as the planting couple or team arrives on the field active outreach begins. For the health of relationships, however, “first get the pictures on the wall!” The first week or two should be dedicated to getting the family settled into the place they will live. When an innovator is planting the church, the PDC framework is a perfect setting for developing prototypes while maintaining a balanced system.

1. Est

ablish an effective evangelistic outreach a. Win the first converts to Christ through personal evangelism

“Prototype is the incubator and nursery for all creative thought…the prototype is the place to conceive and perfect the system.” – Gerber, E Myth

For evangelism to be in the DNA of the church, conversion growth must occur early. The ability to lead people to Christ is one indicator that the planter can communicate the gospel in a context-appropriate way; that they understand the hearts of the people they are trying to reach.

b. Pilot community seeker events A planter must prove that his theories about the context are sound. When his team can put on seeker events and consistently have seekers show up this is another indicator that the team understands their context, and that they will be successful. Seeker attendance should include repeat attendance by some seekers at subsequent events.

c. Pilot evangelistic Bible studies

The third indicator that the team knows how to reach a community is when they can establish evangelistic group settings where seekers attend multiple weeks and finally commit to Christ. Steps a – c (personal evangelism, evangelistic events, and evangelistic studies) cannot be rushed and should not be by-passed. Taking theory to effective practice at this stage lays the foundation for everything that follows. They MUST wait on God to reveal where He is working and continue to adjust what they do to cooperate with His ripening of souls for harvest.

2. Establish the Initial Core of the New Church

a. Continue vision casting. The planter continues to cast vision and challenge for a radical commitment from believers attracted to the ministry from the target area. God has prepared laborers for the harvest who will join the planter.

b. Establish a strong home worship. This is a place for the initial core to experience and live out the five biblical purposes. A home worship anchors this early church life. This group becomes an extended family.

c. Add the first members. Believers from the community who have responded to the challenge of helping this church launch should be added to the membership. So should the first converts from the community. This is done with a prototype of the membership class.

d. Begin follow-up of converts. On the baseball diamond this is the baseline from home to first base. The goal is stabilizing new converts to that they are assimilated into the church and begin the growth path to reproducing disciple.

3. Equip the Initial Core for the Work of Ministry in the New Church

One of the distinctives of a PDC approach is that the paradigm guides the priorities, sequencing, and content of development in the church as the planter organizes for a public launch. There are at least three key areas that take focused attention: a. Prepare and pilot Class 101. This class explains what it means to commit your life to Christ,

describes the vision and values of the church, and asks people to make a covenant to join the church in growth and service. This is one key piece in moving people from the crowd to the community.

b. Develop a prototype of CLASS 201 and the Discipleship/maturity system. The most crucial activity is to begin the first small groups and training small group leaders. The principle of multiplication should be modeled as soon as possible. Long-term growth depends on the ability of the church to multiply units as needed to keep people on the cutting edge of ministry. When “units” get too big, some people start stepping back. These groups are “prototypes” that may need to be adjusted in format or structure after the launch of public worship

c. Develop a prototype of CLASS 301 to help place people in the crucial tasks leading up to the launch of public worship. There is usually not the luxury of people serving only in their area of

gifting and passion. The core value at this point is “every member a minister” and the team servesg wherever there is a gap. Focusing on areas of gifting and passion has to come later

4. Prepare for First Preview Service

Preview services have proven effective in the kind of church plant used for this example. They often use advertising. Two core values dominate development of an advertised launch. The insights gained from targeting evangelism and attempting to be seeker-sensitive inform the design of advertising as well as the details of what occurs in a worship service.

a. Acquire worship location for previews and launch. A place large enough for the worship to grow

in size, but not so large that it seems empty for the group that attends at the first. In most parts of the US a neutral location works best – a high school auditorium seems to be the ideal location in many parts of the country. There should be child-care space that can be made attractive and sanitary. The quality of the building should match the expectations of the target audience for a “nice” and safe place to attend with their family.

b. Prepare advertising theme and materials. This theme is used for pre-launch through launch

events. This is one area where the money spent on an outside expert is probably well spent. A marketing specialist can take your message and community demographics and quickly find an approach that matches them. For a “launched” plant, this is a critical part of the process.

This is not the case in many of the places in the world where PDC is being used to plant churches. For these settings, advertising is solely word-of-mouth to friends and acquaintances. Even with an advertised launch, word-of-mouth invitations are still the most effective way to get seekers to attend. Advertising works with personal invitations rather than replacing them.

c. Prepare a calendar schedule to help planning for preview services and the launch. This is part of

being systematic and would apply to both PDC and non-PDC plants.

d. Print and mail advertising prior to the first preview. Again, this is not specific to PDC planting in the US, rather it is specific to an advertised launch.

Step three: Launch 1. For each Preview follow same pattern

a. Review response cards for comments and then follow-up attendees

One way that PDC is distinctive from a seeker-driven approach is that while PDC respects the anonymity of a seeker, once they identify themselves a PDC planter aggressively follows up on the contact. This follow-up seeks to serve felt needs and achieve a second contact; to get repeated contact and exposure to the gospel.

b. Evaluate and adjust the worship service plan. Not PDC specific, just good practice.

2. Finalize Class 101. Offer this class within three weeks of each preview, with a special invitation to

people who have come to more than once preview. 3. Revise the Class 201 prototype. Offer a maturity class after the first preview. This also means

expanding the small group system to assimilate people who commit to small groups in CLASS 201. 4. Offer Bridge events

a. At least one between every preview – try to identify champion for this b. Fit to culture, community needs, and community calendar.

5. Establish a Worship Planning Team. Between the last preview and the launch service, the planter should turn over operational control of support systems to his team that now has experience in seeing how the different systems should operate. The goal is to stabilize what is going on before the launch of weekly worship.

6. Have the Launch Service. Step Four: Installing the Bases The planter of a PDC church shifts focus after the launch of regular worship. Prior to launch there was a concern to create evangelistic momentum – to create a seeker crowd that is large enough to gain a steady flow of converts. There was also a focus on creating the prototypes of the systems that will move people to become reproducing disciples. After the launch the planter leads the development of one base at a time from the crowd to the core. The worship service and evangelism system should be complete and prototypes of First through Third base operating. The Planter now focuses on the membership purpose, the discipleship purpose, the ministry purpose, and the mission purpose sequentially in that order. The goal is to improve the effectiveness of each purpose in bringing people to a deeper level of commitment and maturity. This is not just about designing a CLASS, but a system and team to operate it. As each purpose is completed the flow of people from the previous purpose can be handled more effectively and moved onward toward the next purpose in the process. The process is repeated next within the small group system. The general steps are: 1. Install the bases in the church as a whole

a. One purpose at a time b. One program and class per purpose to start c. Quickly review/revise the prototype programs and classes for Fellowship and Discipleship.

Come up with annual calendar for these two areas. d. Develop book of ministries, ministry counselors, and lay champion/leaders for the Ministry

purpose, and a tracking system to make sure people get involved in ministry. e. Plan the first mission project and get on calendar

f. Develop a full system of new believer follow-up 2. Install the bases in the small groups

a. Expand the small group system with coaches and later, as needed, with regional leadership. b. Use the information from the Ministry base to identify, recruit, train, and deploy “purpose

champions” in each small group. c. Expand leadership development with a more formal and long-term in-service training system. It

sustains vision, develops skills, and coordinates activities and performance of group leaders and their leadership teams.

To summarize the development of a Purpose Driven church in the context assumed, the planter finds constant guidance for the “next” thing to do in the framework of five biblical purposes and the value of discipling a core of reproducing disciples from an intentionally formed pool of seekers. This approach helps the planter avoid a static approach to church that loses focus and momentum. VIII. Case Study: Present at least one case study for this approach. Walk the student through pre-natal,

birth and post-natal phases.

Bibliography

Chuck Hunter, Church for the Unchurched (Abingdon, 1996)

George Hunter, How to Reach Secular People (Abingdon, 1993).

Sally Morgenthaler, Worship Evangelism (Baker, 1995).

Lee Strobel, Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary (Zondervan, 1994).

Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church (Zondervan , 1995).

Appendix A - What first attracted you to PDC?

I found the model so helpful - the main attraction was the fact that Christians are moved on in bite-sized steps in their Christian lives – this short course approach fits in with our culture and is easy to communicate. – United Kingdom pastor

I was first exposed to the PDC model in 1995 when I attended the pastor's conference that year. It was like a 2nd conversion experience for me! When I came to Australia we started a purpose driven church, the only one in the state as far as we know. My dream is to see… all our new church plants using the PDC model! Currently I am working with 3 local churches in leadership development and applying the PDC model. – IMB church planter strategist in Australia. As a church we have had a keen interest in church planting and have, in the last 10 years, planted 10 churches. We are endeavouring to build an ethos in all of the churches we plant, the heart to in turn plant more churches. The PDC model has had a marked influence on our church. The whole PDC model has been the structure upon which we have built our new churches; giving clear purpose and direction for the new church. The staff and development of the church have been directed along PDC lines. We commenced a church planting school last year, which we run for our movement. This January was a second year of the school. Our home church at Seaton (Adelaide) has about 800 people. – Planting church pastor in Australia The first thing that attracted me to the Purpose Driven Church material was reading Rick Warren’s book of that title, which a friend of mine purchased in South Africa, then decided to leave with me. At that time, I had a clear destination in my mind, the place where God wanted my church, but I did not know the road, the process to bring the church there. And here comes this book. It was an answer to my prayers. It was like a map, a motorway. Now I knew what to do. I have applied all the PDC principles (all four Class: 101, 201, 301 and 310, and 401). Current attendance in worship is about 300 adults. – Church planter in Sicily The PDC model can be adapted to any context and does not require all the "red tape" of planting a church that other models require. People are looking for church to be meaningful and relevant to their every day situations...PDC does exactly that! Non-Christians want someone to tell and show them how they can find purpose and meaning for their lives and the PDC offers a platform for this. New Christians want to grow without all the church activities and demands on their limited time... PDC is the model for them as well. Older Christians want to reach their non-Christian friends without presenting all the formal structures of the local church. PDC is committed to unchanging Scripture, but with flexible methods that can change with each generation. God has called us to reach middle class Brazilians and the PDC is the model that I have used to plant two churches in two different states (cultures that are different) and it has worked well. People have been saved, discipled and are reproducing new believers. This is what church planting is all about. – Church planting couple in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Most church planters are entrepreneurial builders, so they have a natural tendency to gravitate to PDC, which offers a practical and proven blueprint for church planting." – Andrew Accardy, Director of Conferencing, Purpose Driven

Appendix B: What Makes a church Purpose Driven – by Rick Warren

WHAT MAKES A CHURCH PURPOSE-DRIVEN?

NOT BEING CONTEMPORARY! Being Purpose-Driven is not about being contemporary. It is about being biblical and eternal. The 5 purposes of the church as given to us by Jesus Christ in the Great Commandment an the Great Commission are eternal, and never go out of style. They are not a fad. Any church that fails to fulfill the purposes Jesus established the church for is not really a church!

NOT YOUR TARGET GROUP!

There are literally thousands of PDCS of all of varieties: post-modern PDCs, ethnic PDCs, language group PDCs, and even cowboys, singles, artists, and surfers PDCs. There are PDCs for Builders, Boomers, GenXers, and now even Millennial Gens – and they are located all around the world in over 100 countries.

NOT HAVING A SEEKER-SENSITIVE SERVICE! PDCs are committed to the purpose of evangelism, (one of the 5 New Testament purposes) not any one particular method or service. Thousands of PDCs DO NOT have a seeker service. They do evangelism in many different formats.

NOT YOUR WORSHIP STYLE It doesn’t matter whether your worship style is liturgical, traditional, contemporary, country, charismatic, multi-sensory, or casual. What matters is that your style matches the people you are seeking to reach and that you are fulfilling all 5 purposes.

NOT YOUR SIZE

PDCs come in all sizes and shapes. The purpose-driven strategy focuses on balance, health and strength, not size or shape. There is no correlation between the size and strength of a church. PDC is a church-health emphasis, not a mega-church program.

NOT LOCATION PDCs are found in all kinds of locations: in rural, small town, suburban, urban, and inner city areas. As mentioned earlier, there are PDCs all around the world.

NOT DENOMINATION PDCs exist in over one hundred different denominations and associations of churches.

10 CHARACTERISTICS OF PURPOSE-DRIVEN CHURCHES

1. They have a purpose statement that describes, in their own appropriate terms, their commitment to fulfilling the five eternal purposes of the church which Jesus commanded in the New Testament: worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and ministry. Jesus commanded these in the Great Commandment and Great Commission, Paul explains these in Ephesians 4, and the Jerusalem church modeled these in Acts 2. 2. They create a strategy to fulfill their purposes. While using a variety of terms, a purpose-driven strategy is about building people, not building a big church! It is a strategy that incorporates all 5 purposes: bringing people to Christ and into fellowship in His family, building them up to maturity, equipping them for ministry in the church, and then sending them out on a life mission in the world in

order to bring glory to God. Disciple development is too important to leave to chance. The PDC strategy is based on two assumptions: 1) People grow when they make spiritual commitments. 2) Authentic community is essential for encouraging spiritual commitments. PDCs use the ancient Christian tradition of personal and group covenants as a major part of our strategy. 3. They structure around their purposes. Without a structure which insures balance and gives equal emphasis to all five New Testament purposes, churches inevitably overemphasize whatever the pastor is most passionate about. Just like God gave the human body a structure for balance (2 legs, 2 eyes, 2 ears, etc.) the Body of Christ needs structure for balance and to keep the church from being driven by personality, fads finances, and a lot of other forces. PDC’s use a very loose, organic, team-based structure rather than the modern hierarchical structures found in business and military. The church is a Body, not a business! It is an organism, not an organization. It is a family, based on relationships, not rules and policies. PDCs are structured around the ministry of every believer, not professional, paid staff. Lay leaders and staff work together, with each purpose-based team responsible for a specific purpose of the church. 4. They program by purpose. Programs are only tools to fulfill the purposes. PDCs figure out a way to fulfill each of the five purposes. They evangelize their community, gather a crowd for worship (“where 2 or more…”) fellowship as a congregation, disciple the committed, and equip their core for ministry and mission. No program lasts forever, but the purposes do. Programs don’t motivate. Great purposes do! 5. They staff by purpose. Rather than staffing in the traditional, managerial roles of business, PDCs staff to fulfill the 5 purposes, based on the unique S.h.a.p.e. that God has given each individual for ministry. PDCs believe it is more important to be personal than professional. Every purpose has a champion who is passionate about it. PDCs begin by finding lay leaders to lead and serve on each purpose-based team and they develop paid staff as needed. 6. The pastor preaches with purpose. He plans his messages to insure that the congregation receives a balanced emphasis on each of the purposes. The objective is to help every believer live a life that fulfills the purposes for which we were created. 7. They form small groups on purpose. The 5 biblical purposes of the church are the DNA of the Body of Christ. As DNA, it must be implanted in every cell of the Body. Each small group helps the members fulfill each of the five purposes in their lives. A cell group that fulfills some, but not all, of the purposes is an unhealthy group, and will likely never reproduce. 8. They calendar and budget by purpose. The 5 purposes determine what events are scheduled. Every event must fulfill at least one of the purposes or it isn’t done. Expenses are categorized by the purposes, so balance can be insured. How a church spends its time and money reveals what they really value. 9. They build on purpose. Buildings are seen as ministry tools, not monuments. They must serve the purposes, and never become more important than the purposes. Build your people before you build your steeple. Saddleback grew to over 10,000 in attendance before building their first building. We wanted to prove that you don’t have to have a building to grow a congregation. 10. They evaluate by purpose. They regularly ask: Are we balancing all five purposes? Is there a better way to fulfill each purpose? Most PDC churches are built from the outside-in, rather than in the traditional way from the inside out. It’s far easier to turn a crowd into a core, than it is to turn a core group into a crowd.

Appendix C: The Bases around the world

Appendix D: Indexes to the PDC Book The Purpose Driven Church

Subject Index

Subject Page Subject Page 4 Basic Complaints about Church 191 5 Benefits of Purpose 86f 5 Circles of Commitment 130 5 Dimensions of Church Growth 49 5 Instructions to the Church 103f 5 Kinds of Churches 122 5 Kinds of Churches (chart) 125 5 Levels of Learning 338 5 M’s (Membership etc.) 107 5 P’s (Purpose, people, etc.) 117 4 Pillars of Lay Ministry 368 5 Purposes (Worship etc.) 103f 5 Purposes (chart) 119 6 Beliefs about Spiritual Growth 343 10 Ways to be Purpose-Driven 138 12 Convictions about Worship 239 A Mighty Fortress is Our God 282 advertising/ marketing 41, 48 -direct mail 41 altar call see commitment to Christ anonymity 170, 259 announcements 274 assimilation 138, 309f, 311f, 324 baptism 45, 105 -ocean 45 -spas 45 balance 14, 49, 127f baseball diamond 129f, 144 (graphic) 140 Bible

-translations 29f bridge events 142 The Bridges of God 29 budgeting see finance buildings 27, 45f, 78 calendaring 150 CARE callers 328 catch a wave 14 cats 28 Christian education see maturity

church growth 60 -Five Dimensions 48f -Five Purposes 49 -McGavran, D. 29f -movement 127 -rules

see Rick’s Rules church health 17, 49 church/churches 122f -driving forces 75f

-foundation of 85f -purpose of 86f

-types (chart) 125 Circles of Commitment 129f (graphic) 130 CLASS 101 44, 54, 132, 315f

-outline 318 CLASS 201 133 CLASS 301 134 Commitment 54, 102, 129,130, 134, 343f commitment to Christ 302ff -model prayer 304 -written 305 Committed 133 communication 111f, 327

-scripture 112 -symbols 112 -slogans 112

-stories 113 Community 131 community survey see survey Congregation 54, 132 see also membership concentration 88f Columbia Record Co. 288 Core 134 Crowd 54, 131, 207ff demographic research 33, 163 denominations 61, 199 direct mail see advertising/mktg directions (to church) 255

disciples, -quality of 50

-quantity of 51 discipleship 49, 106, 128 see also Maturity Disneyland 100 door-to-door see survey Dynamic Bible Study Methods 96 evaluation 93, 151, 275 evangelism 49, 104

see also Mission -approach 196ff

-attraction 234 -cost 201ff -culture 195ff, 235ff -Jesus’ methods 197, 208ff, 219, 224ff,

230ff, 236 -methods 61, 199ff -targeting 155f, 186ff see also mission facilities see buildings fellowship 49, 105 see also Membership felt needs 197,

219, 224

finances 78, 150 fishing 51, 161,

185f, 195ff

Gallup poll -attitude to church 231

-denomination of affiliation 199 -ministry 365

Giant-Killer Award 391 Great Commandment 102 Great Commission 33, 46, 102, 234 greeters see seekers - services Growth Covenant 349 -graphic 350 guests 257f, 260 health see church health hymns 282f see also music

IMPACT 256 Jacuzzis see baptism- spas Kingdom Principles for Church Growth 97 Koinonitis 138 Lay Ministry

see Ministry Lay Renewal Movement 126 leadership training 143 Life Development Institute 142 (graphic) 144 Life Development Process 129, 335 (graphic) 130, 144 Life Perspectives 355 (graphic) 354 Life Skills Seminars 359 longevity see ministry longevity Magnification Team 148 mailings see direct mail maps (to church) 255 Maturity 133,

142f, 331f

-character 359f -Christian education 350ff -convictions 355f -Growth Covenant 349, 350 -habits 348 -levels (graphic) 338 -myths 332f -perspectives 352 see also Life Perspectives -skills 358f Maturity Team 149 megachurches 27, 47 members, transfer 39, 50 Membership 132, 138f, 309f -assimilation 311f, 324 -class 315f see also CLASS 101 -Covenant 54, 319f -sample 321-2

-small groups 128, 133, 146, 325 -value of 312f Membership Team 148

Messiah 283 MIDI see music- MIDI Ministry 49, 90, 104 - 4 Pillars of 368

- Biblical basis 368 -change/ leave 387 -Covenant (graphic) 382 -delegation 387 -interview 134, 381 -involvement 378 -lay ministry 376 -leadership 384 -mission statement 367ff -placement process 381 - resources/ support 390 -SHAPE 134, 369ff -skill 57f -standards 385 -training 383 ministry longevity 26, 31 Ministry Team 149 missionary sending see sending capacity Missions Team 148 music 256, 279ff -composing 288f -MIDI 290 -singing 291 -style 280ff -taped 258 -tempo 287 name tags 263 Nehemiah principle 111, 392 order of service 273 parachurch movements 126 parking 254, 257 Pastoral Care Movement 127 pastors 19f -bivocational 19 -characteristics of 212ff Pastor’s Chat 323 Peanuts 155 The Power to Change Your Life 360 preaching 53, 61 -Biblical 49, 53

-commitment to Christ 302 -expository 128 -guest speakers 301 -outline 298 -purposes 149 -series 300 -style 230, 232,301 -titles of sermons 299 -to unchurched 293ff profession of faith see commitment to Christ programming/programs 78, 141f public profession see commitment to Christ purpose

-application of 137f purpose-driven paradigm 80f purpose

-Arn survey 82 -chart 119

-church 86f -communication of 112ff -defining 95f -personalize 114f -study 96 purpose statement 98f -effectiveness of 100f quality vs. quantity 50f quiet time 133 Raiders of the Lost Ark 28 refreshments 263 Renewal Movement 126 repetition of concepts 117 restrooms 269 reticular activating system 225 Rick’s Rules of Growth 61f Roper Organization 376 Saddleback -First Impression card 211, 275 -history 25f, 40f -Invitation Letter 194 -Purpose Statement 107 -Sam 169f, 253 (graphic) 170 -Samantha 253 -snapshot 152 -sponsors 37 -Vision 43

-Welcome Card (graphic) 261 -Worship Evaluation Sheet 275 -2020 Vision 363 Saddleback Valley 34f SALT 143 seating capacity 32 seeker services 128,

142, 243f, 251f

-anonymity 259 -atmosphere 270f -childcare 254 -comfort of 257f -directions to 255, 258 -environment 265f -lighting 265 -plants 268 -sound 266 -space 267 -temperature 267 -greeters 257 -music 239f, 243f, 251f, 256, 258 -pace 255 -parking 254, 257 -refreshments 263 -Registration Card 261 -seating 266 -times 254 -welcome 262

seekers 79 -acceptance of 210, 216 -communicating to 189f -culture 195f -hang-ups 198f sending capacity 32 see also quality/quantity service groups 146 service times 254

SHAPE see Ministry - SHAPE signage 257 Silent Night 283 slogans (use of) 112 Small Group Movement 127 small groups see Membership – small groups Southern Baptist 33, 45, 199 specifics (use of) 114 spiritual growth see Maturity

Spiritual Formation Movement 126 spiritual maturity see Maturity spiritual receptivity 181 staffing 147f “State of the church” message 117 statement of purpose see purpose statement stories (use of) 113, 232 structure 122, 148 Sunday school 128 support groups 146 surfing 13 survey 39f, 190 symbols (use of) 112 targeting evangelism see evangelism - targeting

Titanic 90 tithing 133 tradition 55, 77 transfer growth see members, transfer transferable concepts 66f unbelievers see seekers unchurched see seekers vision 28, 111 visitors 257 see also guests wave -surfing 13 -catching 14f, 44 -church growth 15 welcome card see Saddleback - Welcome card WORD study 351 worship 103, 239ff see also Magnification -believers 239, 241 see also seeker services Worship/ Renewal Movement 126 Your Church Has Real Possibilities 190

The Purpose Driven Church Scriptural Index

Scripture Page number(s) Scripture Page number(s) Old Testament: Genesis 1:3 266 Exodus 20:3 116 Exodus 31:3 373 Deuteronomy 7:22 335 Deuteronomy 8:18 373 Deuteronomy 11:2 66, 341 Joshua 7 58 1 Samuel 12:20 372 Ezra 10:4 91 Nehemiah 4:6-15 111 Nehemiah 9:38 349 Psalm 21:6 271 Psalm 23 268 Psalm 34:3 103,116 Psalm 35:27 25 Psalm 37:4 372 Psalm 40:3 279 Psalm 42:4 271 Psalm 58 297 Psalm 96:1 288 Psalm 100:2 270,287 Psalm 103:7 352 Psalm 127:1 59 Psalm 139:13-16 370 Psalm 145:4 25 Proverbs 4:23 372 Proverbs 11:27 91 Proverbs 13:17 111 Proverbs 14:12 353 Proverbs 17:22 272 Proverbs 18:13 33 Proverbs 18:15 68 Proverbs 19:21 75, 81,394 Proverbs 20:18 35, 311 Proverbs 20:30 341 Proverbs 22:6 221 Proverbs 23:23 47 Proverbs 27:23 327 Proverbs 28:26 32 Proverbs 29:18 87 Ecclesiastes 3:6 70 Ecclesiastes 10:10 359 Isaiah 6:1-8 242 Isaiah 26:3 87 Isaiah 49:4 88 Isaiah 51:15 13 Ezekiel 37 398

New Testament: Matthew 3:8 63 Matthew 4:10 103 Matthew 4:19 185 Matthew 4:25 207 Matthew 5:13-16 96 Matthew 5:23-24 340 Matthew 7:16 337 Matthew 7:16-21 63 Matthew 7:24-27 337 Matthew 7:28 223 Matthew 9:4 188 Matthew 9:10 173 Matthew 9:29 270 Matthew 9:35 96 Matthew 9:36 208,225 Matthew 9:37-38 60 Matthew 10 186 Matthew 10:5-6 158,187 Matthew 10:8 198 Matthew 10:14 187 Matthew 10:16 300 Matthew 11:28 235 Matthew 11:28-29 135,272 Matthew 11:28-30 96 Matthew 12:25 188 Matthew 12:34 372 Matthew 13:3-23 181 Matthew 13:29-30 237 Matthew 13:34 113,208,232 Matthew 14:21 207 Matthew 15:2-3 238 Matthew 15:22-28 158 Matthew 15:24 155 Matthew 15:30 208 Matthew 16:15-19 96 Matthew 16:18 59,85,97 Matthew 17:27 202 Matthew 18:19-20 96 Matthew 18:20 240 Matthew 20:26-28 368 Matthew 20:28 249 Matthew 21:19 62 Matthew 21:43 63 Matthew 22:33 223 Matthew 22:36-40 96 Matthew 22:37-40 102 Matthew 24:14 96

Matthew 25:14-30 64 Matthew 25:34-40 96 Matthew 28:18-20 96,368 Matthew 28:19-20 102,104 Mark 2:8 188 Mark 2:17 39,237 Mark 2:27 272 Mark 3:22 237 Mark 8:34 134 Mark 10:1 208,223 Mark 10:43-45 96 Mark 10:45 368 Mark 11:18 223 Mark 12:37 207,208,223 Mark 12:34 134 Mark 12:37 231 Mark 15:12 53 Mark 16:15 104 Luke 4:18-19 96,224 Luke 4:43-45 96 Luke 5:22 188 Luke 5:38 121 Luke 6:17-18 208 Luke 7:34 208 Luke 8:21 358 Luke 8:42 207 Luke 9:47 188 Luke 10 186 Luke 10:8 195 Luke 11:17 188 Luke 13:1-5 237 Luke 13:5-9 63 Luke 14 235 Luke 14:33 345,349 Luke 16:8 300 Luke 19:26 202 Luke 24:47-49 104 John 1:14 236 John 1:39 135,235 John 1:41 173 John 3:16 319 John 4:23 96,242 John 4:24 239,240 John 6:2 208 John 7:37 235 John 8:31-32 349 John 10:10 229 John 10:14-18 96 John 12:32 53 John 12:49 223 John 13:34-35 96,319,349

John 15:7-8 63,349 John 15:8 62 John 15:16 62 John 17 106 John 20:21 96,104 Acts 16,70 Acts 1:8 96,104,161 Acts 2:1-47 106 Acts 2:6 241 Acts 2:11 242 Acts 2:41-47 96 Acts 2:42-47 49 Acts 4:32-35 96 Acts 5:42 96 Acts 6:1-7 96 Acts 13:36 393,395 Acts 15 195 Acts 17:24 240 Acts 20:24 116 Acts 20:28-29 313 Romans 1:13 63 Romans 6:13 333 Romans 8 371 Romans 8:28 353,374 Romans 8:29 331 Romans 9:20-21 375 Romans 12:1-8 96,367 Romans 12:2 356 Romans 12:4-5 310 Romans 12:4-8 60 Romans 12:5 309,313 Romans 12:10 310 Romans 15:1-7 96 Romans 15:28 63 1 Corinthians 1:10 86,95 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 60 1 Corinthians 3:6 14,60 1 Corinthians 3:9 60 1 Corinthians 3:10 57,85,141 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 81 1 Corinthians 3:10-13 60 1 Corinthians 3:13-14 81 1 Corinthians 5:9-12 217 1 Corinthians 6:15 310 1 Corinthians 8:1 337 1 Corinthians 9:19-22 197 1 Corinthians 9:22 185 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 197 1 Corinthians 10:32 243 1 Corinthians 12 128,371 1 Corinthians 12:4-27 313

1 Corinthians 12:5 373 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 310 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 96 1 Corinthians 12:18-22 368 1 Corinthians 12:27 368 1 Corinthians 13:1 212 1 Corinthians 13:8 26 1 Corinthians 14:19-20 248 1 Corinthians 14:23 243,251 1 Corinthians 14:40 276 1 Corinthians 16:15 63 2 Corinthians 3:17 272 2 Corinthians 4:5 276 2 Corinthians 5:17-6:1 96 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 116 2 Corinthians 8:5 319 2 Corinthians 11:3 233 2 Corinthians 13:5 93 2 Corinthians 13:9 331 Galatians 2:7 155,158 Galatians 5:13-15 96 Galatians 5:22-23 360 Galatians 6:1-2 96, 313 Galatians 6:9 394 Ephesians 1:22-23 96 Ephesians 2:10 115,365,368 Ephesians 2:19 106,115,309,313,314 Ephesians 2:19-22 97 Ephesians 3:6 97 Ephesians 3:14-21 97 Ephesians 3:18 353 Ephesians 3:21 393 Ephesians 4 371 Ephesians 4:11-12 368 Ephesians 4:11-16 97 Ephesians 4:12 104,331,365 Ephesians 4:12b-13 106 Ephesians 4:13 335,359 Ephesians 4:14 331,355 Ephesians 4:16 60 Ephesians 4:29 227,293 Ephesians 5:8 337 Ephesians 5:21 313 Ephesians 5:23-24 97 Ephesians 5:25 395 Ephesians 5:29-30 395 Philippians 2:12-13 333 Philippians 3:5 177 Philippians 3:13 89 Philippians 4:15 91 Colossians 1:6 63

Colossians 1:10 62 Colossians 1:24-28 97 Colossians 1:28 106,362 Colossians 2:19 17 Colossians 3:15 114 Colossians 3:15-16 97 Colossians 3:16 282 Colossians 3:23-24 277,368 Colossians 4:5 188,243,251 Colossians 4:5-6 293 1 Thessalonians 1:3 97 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 69 1 Thessalonians 5:11 97 2 Thessalonians 3:4 137 1 Timothy 1:5 360 1 Timothy 3:15 71, 314 1 Timothy 4:7 334 1 Timothy 4:12 115 2 Timothy 1:9 368 Titus 2:1 360 Titus 2:10 269 Hebrews 4:15 237 Hebrews 5:12 332 Hebrews 5:14 353 Hebrews 10:24-25 97,313,339 Hebrews 10:25 271 Hebrews 12:12 353 Hebrews 13:7 97 Hebrews 13:17 313 Hebrews 17 97 James 1:3 353 James 1:8 88 James 1:22 342,358 James 2:15-16 221 James 2:18 337 James 3:13 337 James 4:6 69 James 4:17 338 1 Peter 1:3 115 1 Peter 2:9-10 97,368 1 Peter 2:21 115 1 Peter 3:8 271 1 Peter 4:10 115,368 1 John 1:5-7 97 1 John 1:7 339 1 John 3:14 339 1 John 3:16 319 1 John 4:7-21 97 1 John 4:8 208 1 John 4:20 340 Jude 1:3 61

Dan Morgan Page 38 5/25/2004

The Purpose Driven Church Quick Index

Subject Page Number 4 Basic Complaints about Church 191 5 Benefits of Purpose 86f 5 Circles of Commitment 130 5 Dimensions of Church Growth 49 5 Instructions to the Church 103f 5 Kinds of Churches 122 5 Kinds of Churches (chart) 125 5 Levels of Learning 338 5 M’s (Membership etc.) 107 5 P’s (Purpose, people, etc.) 117 4 Pillars of Lay Ministry 368 5 Purposes (Worship etc.) 103f 5 Purposes (chart) 119 6 Beliefs about Spiritual Growth 343 10 Ways to be Purpose-Driven 138 12 Convictions about Worship 239 Baseball Diamond 130, 144 IMPACT 256 Life Development Process 130, 144 Membership Covenant 321f My Church Family Gives Me… 117 Rick’s Rules 61f SALT 143 SHAPE 370 Small Groups 128, 133, 146, 325f WORD 352