I get asked alot about this topic, so here is an article I wrote.
Developing Missional Church Structure
It’s no secret. The North American Church is declining in numbers and impact as every major research agency has endlessly testified. What are we missing? Do people not understand the mission of the church?
That doesn’t seem to be the problem. Ask virtually any congregation what their mission is and they will tell you something that at least moderately resembles the Great Commission. So if it is not that they don’t understand their mission, then what is the hindrance? Well, maybe they are actually structured to hinder the mission that they say they want to accomplish.
Far too often the church in North America lets its existing structure dictate the extent of its mission endeavor. It seems that for many, ecclesiology (the way in which the church is structured) is the starting point in mission. But for the missionally minded church, ecclesiology doesn’t lead, it follows. Alan Hirsch summed it up well in The Forgotten Ways when he wrote “Christology determines Missiology, and Missiology determines Ecclesiology.”
Stated simply, what we know and understand about Christ and His Mission tells us, as the church, what our mission is to be. It is Christ Himself that gives us our marching orders. Based on that mission, we structure ourselves to point in that direction. The conviction of the Infinity Alliance, based on the revelation of Scripture from its beginning to end, is that the Mission of God is for every man, woman, and child to have repeated opportunities to both hear and see the gospel of Jesus Christ – a gospel that proclaims reconciliation to the Father provided through Jesus Christ.
While no structure is perfect, and while there is no one model for structure, what are some principles for structure that will keep a congregation pointed in the direction of this mission?
I. Be Intentional about your Geography
Though there is much that could, and should, be said about the mandate given to the church in Acts 1:8, at its core is a geographical intention. The Spirit of God forms congregations of believers in various geographies for the purpose of accomplishing the mission of every man, woman, and child in that geography hearing and seeing the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church in a geography exists for that geography. The language and strategy for Infinity Alliance churches is to draw Circles of Accountability – geographic areas around the church for which that church will take the responsibility of engaging the mission with all of its energy and assets.
Understanding this geographical circle, with all of the appropriate research that it requires, will change the way a congregation goes about its ministry in a number of ways. First, the programmatic aspects of the congregation will be based on what is needed to reach that geography – not just based on trends, fads, or traditions. Second, the church will see the need in those geographies to plant additional churches if the mission is going to be accomplished. As well, the vastness of the mission will require more resources than any one congregation possesses, so there will be a need for cooperation (as expressed in the next principle).
II. Partner with Other Congregations
Ephesians 4 is a stark reminder that not only is there one LORD, one faith, and one baptism, but that there is also one body and one Spirit. If there is genuinely only one body, and that truth rises out of the Scripture, then it is the responsibility of the missional church to do more than just agree with it – we must act like it is so.
Within a geography, many congregations of the one Church exist. Though there is a great diversity among these expressions of the one Church in that geography, the one mission still applies to all. So, if a congregation wants to be active in the pursuit of the mission of every man, woman, and child hearing and seeing the gospel of Jesus Christ, that congregation will have to live in the reality that the solo congregation cannot, and should not, endeavor to accomplish the mission alone.
The unity so beautifully expressed in Ephesians 4 was not just for the sake of unity. Viewed within the larger story of God throughout history and revealed in Scripture, the unity God prescribes for His body, the Church, is for the sake of mission.
III. Lead Interdependently
The overarching metaphor for the Church in the New Testament is that of a “body.” There are other metaphors for the Church, but the body seems to loom largest. The New Testament is also very clear that this “body” already has a head – the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ. If the position of the “head” is already taken, then it appears that all followers of Jesus, including leaders, must find a way to fit interdependently in the body.
The idea of a church, or region, being led by only one person to fulfill the mission is foreign to the New Testament. The idea of the singular, stand-alone leader is one that has either been mistakenly projected from the Old Testament to the New (such as Moses on the mountain) or is one that has been created by cultural influences. Ephesians 4 denotes leadership functions (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher) that are designed to work together for the purpose of people empowerment so that the mission can be engaged by all Christ followers.
This principle for leadership is not only one that will more holistically round out the gifts of a congregation’s leadership, but the reality of this leadership should be employed in a region, or geography, as well. Shared gifts and gifted leaders should be utilized in the greater body in a particular region so that the mission can be engaged more effectively.
IV. Make Spiritual Formation a Priority
The Church is a spiritual enterprise. As a result, it must be led and populated by spiritually maturing people. If the goal of a congregation is to mobilize people for the mission of every man, woman, and child hearing and seeing the gospel, then it is imperative to remember that these same people need to be maturing in their faith. Mobilizing spiritually stagnant people will not produce much missional progress. A congregation should at least be committed to measuring and nurturing some “outcomes” of spiritual maturity so that the heart of people is formed more into the likeness of Christ, and, by default, formed more into the mission of Christ for the world. Those basic outcomes of spiritual maturing would be:
- A deepening intimacy with the Father (expressed in Scripture reading and meditation, prayer, and other disciplines that serve as a vehicle to support this).
- Understanding and telling our personal stories of grace
- Identifying and using our spiritual gifts
- Living in all of our relationships in a way that bears the fingerprints of God
When these principles are engaged, it will not make for a perfect church. It may not result in the rapid growth of a particular congregation. It won’t be easy to brand. It may even be hard for people to understand. But it will, at the very least, have you pointed in the direction of the mission of God to see every man, woman, and child have repeated opportunities to both hear and see the gospel of Jesus Christ.
