Recently, I caught up with Kevin Joyce of Imagine Fellowship in San Antonio, Texas. I would call him the lead pastor but he actually goes by the title “Lead Life Changer”. And I would call Imagine Fellowship a church, but it’s more like A.A. And that’s what they want to do, duplicate the model that A.A. has leaned on since the 30′s to help people all over the country. A very ambitious and inspired vision that Kevin shared with me.
You see Kevin has a hunch that “God is trying to change the church model” and in conjunction with that leading, Imagine Fellowship has made a pretty amazing change to their model. In Kevin’s words:
We have decided that we are stopping our weekly Sunday service (starting the end of November). We will meet once a month to do a big community service project on Sunday, and will only have one Sunday service a month. What will we do the rest of the time? We will meet weekly in groups, serve our community in creative ways, and love God and people with all of our hearts.
They put “all the purposes of the church in groups.” A small group setting is basically their “main church” and through a discipleship process they call “1on1″ new leaders are raised up. Kevin commented that “most people will share their life with one person or one couple” and it’s in these settings that real relationships are built and life is really experienced. By identifying a series of ten opportunities the 1on1 process helps people and potential leaders open up and really experience change. After this 1on1 discipleship process, the new leader is encouraged to start a new group. And just like AA, they want to have groups all over the country, not just in San Antonio. According to Kevin the vision is “less about a local church and more towards a movement.”
This past Sunday was Imagine Fellowship’s last corporate worship until January 3rd. What will their members do without a church service on Christmas? My guess: love God and people with all their hearts.
What do you think about this? Do you think that God is trying to change the church model? If so, how does the church embrace this change and prepare for the future?
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Absolutely God is working to change the 'western church' model. I doubt He plans to diverge from the one He gave us through the apostles. Paul continually reminded the churches of how he lived, labored and suffered affliction on their behalf, as a nursing mother or loving father would. His glory and joy was wrapped up in the lives of the people – not in being a great teacher or having a massive 'ministry'. Great post, Matt!
Thanks Adam
We as a communtiy do not need to sit in church every Sunday. Jesus did not do that. He was out in his communtiy helping others. So that is what Imagine will do. Serve our communtiy and love God. I think it is an awesome solution to church every Sunday. Serving our community every Sunday not ourselves.
Toni
Pretty awesome to think about how much actual service can take place out in the community and people's lives every Sunday morning. Thanks Toni!
Wow, great points Len. I wonder how much technology will have to play a part. I'm thinking about e-tithing and online giving. Thanks for the insights!
Len, I think, sadly, that you may be correct in this analysis. The only way to the truth is discipleship. The fellowship must be shown that the goal of the church is not buildings, programs, etc. As a matter of fact, if God has not given them the money, why are they presuming that He wants them to construct a building on debt?
All gifts are from God, for the purpose of edifying the saints. The work in the community is for the purpose of spreading the gospel and making disciples, which are then edified by the gifts of the saints. I don't mean in this that money cannot be spent, or other gifts used on non/not yet believers. Money should be used to feed the poor, clothe the naked, house widows, believers yet or not. If the fellowship is out Sundays doing this, and are truly aware of the needs of those around them, how can they help from using their gifts, including money, for the real work of the church?
I'm not sure I agree with this approach. Many churches have a corporate worship service (or more) on weekends and also have small groups (or Life groups).
Meeting in groups, serving the community and loving people is all well and good. But where are people going to get their biblical teaching? That's the true role of a Pastor. It is to preach and teach the word of God. Pastors study God's word constantly. In seminary they are taught Hebrew, Greek, biblical history, etc. Why? So they can preach it and also have the ability to break it down for people in the congregation so they can learn and fully understand God's word. I don't see how they're going to do that with this approach.
The bible lays out pretty specifically what the role of a church leader is in Acts, Titus and 1 Peter. Verses may refer to 'elders' but the term is interchangeable with 'pastor.' 1 Peter 5:2a "Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers."
I'm all for churches stepping outside of their comfort zone and doing things that are outside the box. But we must remember that maturity as Christ followers comes from not just reading the bible, but learning and understanding what God's word says. A person who is being loved will appreciate it. But at some point the people that are meeting in these groups are going to be questioned about certain things. They're going to be asked "What?" "Where?" and "Why?" and the answer will be found in God's word. But if the people being asked don't know how to answer, what then? I know everybody's situation is not the same. What worked for Kevin may not work for somebody else.
As for going to a church service, there is one tried and true way that works better than anything else at getting somebody to attend: Inviting them.
I could be wrong as this is all short on details, but I'd like to see more of what Kevin plans to do in order to see that people are taught. That IS extremely important and should not be written off.
Jay, thanks for this comment. Teaching is a very important part of the work of the church, and must not be neglected. I am very much of the mind that their are only two things we must be doing: serving and teaching. Christ came to serve and to teach in order to glorify His Father and restore us to a right relationship with Him.
It's interesting that the Bereans did not receive a letter from Paul. They saw the importance of studying the scripture themselves, in order to verify the things that Paul was saying. They did not appear to need correction. Other churches did. Other than Romans, Paul's letters were dealing with misunderstandings, encouragement and enforcement of the things he taught them while they labored together. Teaching can be effectively done in the field. I do not say this because I think you said that it could not, or to discredit your concern, but to help fill out the discussion on this subject. Also, I am convinced that we SHOULD be in corporate fellowship, and doing it on a day of Sabbath rest works well. I would favor people giving up their Saturdays over leaving regular Sunday edification. As a friend of mine said, 'Their heart is in the right place', but as you suggest, it must not allow them to neglect the study of the Word.
On another note, I attend a fellowship of 4 elders and 10 or so teaching men. As one of the teaching men, I have never been to seminary, nor do I read Greek or Hebrew. It was difficult to hear as a new believer that the Bible has secrets that can only be unlocked by men of pedigree, or by learning a dead language. Certainly God is able to speak to us in our own tongue. Modern translations are as much as 99.99 percent accurate in their conveyance of meaning when placed next to the most reliable copies of scripture. Please understand – I do believe that everyone should have godly counselors and teachers in their life, men and women who have gone before them and have devoted themselves to the Word and to prayer. It's just that the closer we can be to those men and women while we serve God's purposes, the more real all this becomes. Think of the nations throughout the world that do not have universities. Surely churches can be planted and elders appointed in a very short period of time, as faithful men full of the spirit are identified.
I hope this comes across in the spirit I intended it! May God continue to use diverse people in diverse ways to accomplish all that pleases Him.
Adam, thank you for sharing this detail. Lots of wisdom in this…
I have always thought church should be like an A.A. meeting rather then a surface level meeting.
It seems that in A.A. everyone is joined together under the idea that we all are addicted and struggling.
In church it seems the opposite can be preached, but in all reality we are all gathering and admitting that we are addicted to sin and struggling.
I love this idea. It is not a new thing God is doing. It's what God has wanted all along. Here is the question that a lot of pastors will need answered. Where will the money come from?
Our church did a Sunday called, "The Church Has Left the Building." We did not meet that Sunday, but instead did various community service projects around the area. It was wonderful. Everyone enjoyed it. But income that week was way down, if almost non-existent.
The main reason churches keep meeting on Sundays is, truth be told, the offering. There are bills to be paid. Do you have a church building? Mortgage on the church? Utilities? Stop meeting and people stop giving. How do we do this "new" movement and still get the bills paid. There has to be a way.
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Very encouraging to read these posts! Thank you Matt for your heart and your vision for Memberhub!
It's a blessing to serve with all of you!
God … This post is just messing me up.
Do you think that God is trying to change the church model?
I think God may be bringing us back to what was there all along. I don't think anyone would deny that God has moved and continues to move in the corporate church on Sunday mornings. Godly teaching and community building can certainly occur and often do. However, It's been my experience that "Sunday Morning Church" continues to be our image of church for several reasons:
1. It's the only thing we've seen modeled to us. It is familiar and comfortable. Ask people, both those who follow Jesus and those who don't, to define church and this is typically what you'll get.
2. I would agree with the notion of Churches needing to meet as a means of financing the church itself. Again, I think this is something we do because it's the only way we've seen it modeled. I don't think most church leaders are sitting back in there chairs thinking of ways to get more into the offering plate but I think that most are trying to be creative and keep the church "running." I too think there are other ways we can be creative with our approach to giving and sustaining the church. Without a building you don't have a huge electricity bill.
3. It allows us to be apart of something without really being apart of it. This maybe the biggest influence in my opinion. I think everyone draws a line in the sand when deciding the level of involvement they are going to have with activities and people. Everything up to that line, I'm comfortable with. Beyond that line are things that will cost me my time, my money, my vulnerability, my image, my energy, etc. People want to participate as long as they don't have to cross that line. Could that happen in a small group or home church set up? Sure can…but only for a while. Larger SMC seems to enable detachment and a "clock in, clock out" mentality. These are things that don't last long in a healthy small group. You have to participate and there is nowhere to hide…and you don't need to!
I love the idea of focusing on smaller community groups that get together every now and then to serve and celebrate corporately. The smaller group allows people to connect on a much deeper level and for discipleship to occur. People don't get lost in the crowd and needs are met. I think one reason church doesn't happen like this is because it requires much more than what we are willing to give. We are not just opening up our schedules for a Sunday morning or Wednesday evening, but we are opening our entire lives (much like Paul). It doesn't just cross the line we've drawn in the sand…it takes a running start at leaping right over it.
wow – i am very encouraged by this post and the comments on the page, whether I agree with all of them or not. you should check out my friends blog on discipleship at imitatingjesus.org
I have thought about monthly "services" as well. I think its cool to see someone have the guts to do it. Even though I would probably do something different, I think its a refreshing thing to see God changing his people.
I think that the word Model is part of the problem with church to begin with. We try to emulate what others are doing rather than listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit for our spritiual communities.
I think the MODEL should be family. Everyone has a family, but everyone's family is different (we could argue the same thing for each church, I realize that). We should really be focusing on how to disciple and lead our families and bring others into this. I wonder how preachers lead their families. That is part of their lives i would like to be a part of.
My friend (whose blog i mentioned above) was a pastor for 30+ years (with a seminary degree). He was studying one day and saw that one of the "qualifiers" for eldership was Hospitality. This discovery has lead to his change in ministry philosophy over the past 10 or so years. He is rejuvinated and reading the Scriptures differently now. AND it all started because he started having people in his house.
though i don't disagree with Jay's comment above, I think that we have put too much weight on "Preaching" and not enough weight on loving. If we truly love people, we have no choice but to teach them the Scriptures. I also have no choice but to learn the Scriptures. Even Jesus said that the entire law can be summed up in this LOVE.
you should also check out D.A.Caron's message from a Desiring God conference from a few years ago. He really gives insight to Jesus' prayer in John 17 and the astounding call for his followers to LOVE AND BE ONE as he and the Father LOVE AND ARE ONE. http://www.desiringgod.org/Events/NationalConfere...
Thanks again. I will continue to watch your blog and look up the above mentioned church.
Thanks for joining the conversation and please do come back.
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