EquippingA Church's Philosophy of Ministry
Wednesday, 23 May 2007 04:07
Shavano Baptist Church
Philosophy of Ministry
Purpose:
The purpose of Shavano Baptist Church is to make disciples who reproduce themselves in others (Matthew 28:18-20 ; Ephesians 2:1-10 , 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ; Colossians 1:9-12 ; Hebrews 10:24-25 ; Ephesians 4:11-16 ; 2 Timothy 4:1-4 ; 2 Timothy 2:2 ; Revelation 7:9-17 ); in order to passionately enjoy and glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31 ; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ; Psalm 37:4 ; Psalm 16:11 ; Romans 12:1-2 ; John 4:23-24 ).
Our product
Our product is a mature, fruitful, growing disciple. We define a disciple as a believer who walks with God, lives the Word, fellowships with believers, contributes to the work of the church, witnesses to the world, and reproduces his/her life in others. (See Appendix 1 for fuller definition of a developing disciple).
Our Philosophy of Equipping and Equippers
1. The senior pastor's role is that of "coach," and his commitment is primarily to give direction for the leadership (1 Peter 5:1-4 ), train leaders (Eph. 4:11-16 ), teach and preach the Word (2 Tim. 4:1-2 ), and be a model disciple for others (2 Tim. 2:2 ). He should seldom perform ministries lay leaders could do unless it is absolutely necessary. The role of the other ministerial staff members is the same as that of the senior pastor in that staff member's area of ministry.
2. The role of our deacons is to be actively involved in serving their specific areas of ministry and to be models in the discipleship process.
3. The role of our lay leaders is to model discipleship , to grow in their own ministry skills, and to equip the rest of the congregation for ministry. All leaders must agree with our doctrinal statement and our philosophy of ministry.
4. The church member's role and responsibility is to grow as a disciple, to be trained to use his/her gifts, to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to directly minister to Christians, and to seek to win those to Christ who do not know Him. The church will encourage individuals to develop and employ their gifts in ministry to be creative, pro-active, and need oriented in disciplemaking. The church will encourage church members to minister according to what God wants them to do (God's call) and will provide resources whenever possible.
5. We recognize that it is as important to serve as it is to lead in building a healthy, disciplemaking church.
6. Within the Body of Christ, the Spirit has gifted and appointed certain members to serve God's people by providing leadership. While those not so gifted and appointed are equal to those who are, they serve a different function and in this sense do not share the same level of leadership authority.
7. All ministry staff, and lay leaders must be growing disciples committed to the church's philosophy of ministry and doctrinal statement.
8. Leaders will be selected during the disciplemaking process by considering character, giftedness, and proven experience, as demonstrated over time through this process.
9. To ensure their spiritual growth and good stewardship of their spiritual gifts, all pastors, deacons, small group leaders, Sunday School teachers and outreach leaders (after completing a Basic Accountability Small Group) will meet in our Ministry Community or with their disciplemaker at least once a month.
10. All leaders of church ministries will take part in appropriate leader training to develop the gifts God has given them.
Our Philosophy of Church Programs
11. In order to promote loving relationships (Matthew 22:39 , Mark 12:31 ), we will establish a healthy balance between Worship Service(s) (Eph. 4:3-4 , Acts 4:32 ),Sunday School Classes (John 13:34 , Acts 2: 42b), and small groups (Acts 20:20 ) to provide the proper group dynamics and infrastructure for the disciplemaking process. We will encourage everyone to be involved in a Worship Service, a Sunday School Class, and a Small Group.
12. The purpose of every activity of our church is to produce and further develop disciples.
13. An indispensable method of making disciples is the small group. We will offer small groups and other ministries at multiple commitment levels to develop sequential growth for disciples. We see one-on-one approaches as valid and sometimes necessary, but only as a secondary method for most in our church. Small groups will be developed to provide relevant Bible study, intimate caring relationships, and outreach that leads to personal accountability and discipleship.
14. While making all our ministries warm and accepting of newcomers, the primary function of our Worship Services will be true worship and proclaiming the Word.
15. Our Sunday School classes consist of segmented open groups developed in order to challenge participants toward maturity in Christ through the study of God's Word, outreach, assimilation, and fellowship.
16. The group structure will be set up so that no one will be expected to attend two groups of the same dynamic, style, and function.
17. The management of all ministries will be delegated to the leaders of those ministries, and accountability will be maintained through leadership training meetings and normal disciplemaking channels.
18. We will seek to minimize the number of our policy makers and maximize the number of persons doing ministries.
Our Philosophy of Methods and Principles to Help Us Best Make Disciples
19. Disciplemaking requires intentionality. (The right things don't happen by accident.) Therefore, we will, at all times, have an intentional strategy to accomplish our purpose.
20. We will primarily make disciples as a church, not just as a collection of independent individuals. Leadership will be unified through prayer, a common vision, and the support of the Philosophy Of Ministry.
21. We are committed to the principle of multiplication of ourselves by evangelizing, discipling. equipping, and leadership training.
22. We are committed to the expansion of ministries by delegating Ministry opportunities to those who are faithful, able and teachable. (2 Timothy 2:2 )
23. We will multiply ourselves and train others using the method of apprenticeship.
24. Loving accountability is an indispensable method in making disciples.
25. Disciplemaking is accomplished through relationships. (People are not looking for a friendly church they are looking for friends.)
26. Evangelism is the starting point and indispensable catalyst to all disciplemaking.
27. We believe evangelism is most effective when practiced as part of our daily lives.
28. We believe that many of the church's most important ministries take place outside of Sunday morning activities, and that each
member of the congregation is responsible for participating in ministry.
29. Each member is responsible to make disciples even though our lives are crowded with other priorities.
30. We believe that God has invited us to share in His work in the world through prayer. We desire to be a praying people.
31. The emphasis of ministry is placed on the product (disciples) rather than the program(s) of the church.
32. Facilities and resources are only important as they serve to enhance the mission of making disciples. God will provide for every genuine need. We will budget for growth.
33. We will be a church that not only reproduces disciples but develops new disciplemaking churches in San Antonio and beyond.
34. Our responsibility to missions starts in our community and extends to the ends of the earth.
35. Our organizational structure and leadership styles will flex and change as we move through different phases of our church's life-cycle .
36. This philosophy of ministry will be pursued with grace during the first 15 months and will take full effect on Auguest 1, 2001
37. This Philosophy Of Ministry will be as binding as our bylaws and can be amended in the same way as our bylaws.
