[Insert image]
Church Vision that Overflows through Cultural Replication
The following post is an excerpt from God Dreams: 12 Vision Templates or Finding and Focusing your Church’s Future.
In part three of the book I walk through the 12 templates starting with a simple definition and providing a personal snapshot from my point of view as a vision consultant. Then, I explore the template biblically, providing historical and contemporary church examples and metaphors for communication. For the complete guide with team assessment questions, I recommend that you buy the book. You can also see all of 12 templates in one visual overview or visit the God Dreams resource site.
Quick Definition
Your church’s vision is to replicate its model, whether via multisite or other forms, spilling over to many places, new franchises, and new brands of “our” kind of ministry. You might state it as, “We will expand our influence by starting more campuses or church expressions that carry our ministry philosophy, unified vision, and brand.”
Personal Snapshot
What does it feel like to be a church with the ability to do cultural replication? Unique! Let me introduce you to Ken Werlein, pastor of Faithbridge Church in Houston, who pastors what is currently the fastest-growing church in the United Methodist denomination. Ken doesn’t just empower others, but he does so with as a cultural-savvy style. You might describe the Faithbridge fusion as a blend of Wesleyan spirituality that brings fervent prayer together with an amazingly transparent leadership style and disciple-making zeal. Faithbridge is truly one of a kind. While they are involved in church planting efforts in their city, their greatest contribution is to expand by replicating the Faithbridge DNA. Ken is a cultural architect in the truest sense. He doesn’t build with wood and steel but with values, leadership philosophy, and brand reputation. Some of the skills Ken embodies include a big-picture perspective but also attention to detail, a bias for action but a sensitivity to people. Most importantly Ken releases other leaders to represent the Faithbridge culture to keep it “overflowing” to others.
How does Ken champion and protect the culture? Like all the churches I serve through Auxano, Ken has developed a Vision Frame that captures the unique mission, values, strategy, and mission measures of the church. But Ken is particularly adept at continuing to emphasize the culture itself, allowing the time for each new wave of staff to deeply process and rehearse how Faithbridge has become who it is.
People in the city love Faithbridge. One public school, aware of the interest for church plants to rent their space, actually invited Faithbridge to apply as a renter.
While Faithbridge is not in a hurry to franchise (true cultural architects rarely are), there is no question that cultural replication will be their long-range template.
Biblical Reflections
The New Testament offers many healthy examples of imitation and modeling, such as the church in Thessalonica: “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia” (1 Thess. 1:6–7, emphasis added). In the next chapter Paul commends them as “imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea” (1 Thess. 2:14).
In like manner Paul established consistent teaching among the churches he planted. “This is my rule in all the churches,” he said at one point (1 Cor. 7:17). He likewise also established similar structures among all church plants, such as appointing elders “in every church” (Acts 14:23). Paul also directed his followers like Titus to follow suit: “Appoint elders in every town as I directed you” (Titus 1:5).
The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:1–35) was a watershed event in the life of the early church as leaders prayerfully wrestled with whether the requirements to follow Jesus should be the same for both Jews and Gentiles. One major question was which Jewish practices Gentile believers would need to follow. The decision was to define a set of universal qualifications, which were then to be replicated across all new congregations. These issues were difficult ones as many New Testament chapters, such as in Galatians and Romans, had to keep showing believers how to walk in the freedom of grace without abusing it.
Starting Point Metaphors
The image shows a DNA strand, which carries the components of life, containing everything necessary to replicate a culture an infinite number of times.
###p
Still other images that convey this idea are a restaurant franchise system, a chain of department stores, seashell fractals in nature, a message being retweeted on Twitter, or a fish or other animal that can birth dozens if not hundreds of near-identical babies.
Historical Examples
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, started in 1965 in Southern California, has birthed an association of more than sixteen hundred churches, all recognizable as examples of cultural replication. Whichever Calvary Chapel you visit, you’re likely to find the same characteristics: an emphasis on the teaching of the Word of God, typically using an expositional approach, accompanied by a strong emphasis on worship. See Donald E. Miller’s Reinventing American Protestantism for more on the Calvary Chapel approach to training prospective pastors and raising up new churches.
Contemporary Examples
Some of the more well-known and codified church cultures that have turned into franchise models include Northpoint Ministries pastored by Andy Stanley, LifeChurch.tv pastored by Craig Groeschel, and Hillsong Australia led by Brian Houston. At the time of this writing, Hillsong has thirty-six sites in ten countries. Northpoint Church has its “Northpoint Partners” which includes thirty-two churches, most of which are in North America, and LifeChurch.tv shows forty-eight churches, mostly in North America.
The advantage of being a NorthPoint Partner illustrates the value of being a franchise. The leader doesn’t need to articulate the ministry philosophy or strategy from scratch but can utilize, for example, the language of strategic environments (foyer, living room, kitchen), the five faith catalysts, and a host of other curricula (Starting Point, Orange) as well as frequently beaming in Andy Stanley himself for the Sunday morning teaching event.
Realizing Your Own Vision
Are you ready to move away from the
>>>>Buy God Dreams >>>>
>>>> Visit the God Dreams Site >>>>
