An Analysis of Rick Warren’s 40-Days of Purpose Driven Life

An Analysis of Rick Warren’s 40-Days of Purpose
Movement


by

Mike McMullen, University of Houston-Clear Lake

and

William Kilgore, University of Houston-Clear Lake




Presented at:

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

Portland, Oregon
October 20, 2006

Introduction
What would Jesus do? The Left Behind series. Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the
Christ movie. The Prayer of Jabez. American evangelicals, at any given moment, have
minds and hearts captured by one Christian fad or another. It is not unusual to see
carefully crafted evangelical-authored books on the secular best-sellers list. Rick
Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life deserves its place at the top of the list of resources
captivating an evangelical audience.
Warren’s book, however, goes far beyond the above-mentioned fads. Yes, the
book has captivated great numbers of evangelicals and even cornered its share of an
expanding secular market for spirituality. Yet it has also spawned the “40 Days of
Purpose” campaign, a program that has been used by churches across denominational
cleavages. This paper will briefly discuss Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, the “40
days of Purpose” campaign, and provide preliminary analysis of a phenomena that has
managed to introduce an evangelical perspectives into churches of all types. Thus far,
there has been no academic research on Warren or his Forty Days of Purpose (FDP)
movement.
Rick Warren: Ecclesiastical Change Agent
 Warren pastors the 20,000 member Saddleback Community Church, an
innovative Southern Baptist congregation that sits on 120 acres in Lake Forest, California
(Saddleback, 2005). He is the best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Church and The
Purpose Driven Life, the mastermind behind the popular “40 days of Purpose” campaign,
and is now spearheading P.E.A.C.E., a worldwide Christian-based effort to end hunger
and poverty (Abanes, 2005: 22-26; Morgan, 2005). In 2002, Warren was nominated as

“America’s most influential pastor” (Abanes, 2005: 66). Most recently, Warren has been
called “America’s Pastor,” and compared with Billy Graham in influence, actually
ranking second (26%) only to Graham (34%) in a recent poll of pastors to identify those
having “the greatest influence on American churches and church leaders” (“Pastors,”
2005).
 Rick Warren’s beginnings are fairly simple. Coming from a long line of
ministers, including one ancestor who trained under Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892),
Warren was the son of an influential Southern Baptist minister who spent his life
evangelizing and planting churches (Abanes, 2005: 35-38; Mair, 2005: 27-45; Parks &
Stafford, 2003). The Warren household was one that took their faith seriously, and
prioritized their lives accordingly. This is important, as it provides insight into Warren’s
passion to see Christians live out their faith in day-to-day life. By all accounts, his father
represented an example of such a faith throughout young Warren’s life. Both of
Warren’s parents literally died in Christian service: his father passed away while
repeating “One more for Jesus” over and over, while his mother had a heart attack in the
kitchen practicing the hospitality she was so known for (Mair, 2005: 43)
 Even as a teenager, Warren was practicing evangelism in a way that was
culturally relevant, which in the 1960s meant growing his hair long and strumming a
guitar (Mair, 2005: 34). While attending a Bible college in California, several Christian
leaders influenced Warren significantly. None of these affected him more than W.A.
Criswell, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, at the time one of the largest churches
in existence (Abanes, 2005: 40; Mair, 2005: 53). In fact, Warren met Criswell during
those days after hearing him preach:

The pastor didn’t just shake Rick’s hand – he looked at Rick and
proclaimed, “I feel I need to lay hands on you and pray!” Criswell then
said, “Father, I ask you to give this young preacher double the portion of
Your Spirit. May the church he pastors grow twice the size of the Dallas
church. Bless him greatly, O Lord” (Mair, 2005: 54).
It is this moment that Warren identifies as his moment of calling, an intense clarification
of his life’s mission, “inspired by God” (Stafford, 2002). While Saddleback Church
received intense criticism from traditional pastors in the early days, Criswell offered his
unwavering support for the remainder of his life (Abanes, 2005: 53).
After graduating from a Bible college, Warren attended Southwestern Southern
Baptist Seminary (Abanes, 2005: 41; Mair, 2005: 54-56). While there, he was self-
engaged in research on church growth (Mair, 2005: 56, 65-68). Warren’s philosophy of
ministry was already coming together during those early days; he was discovering
principles such as the fact that growth requires change and that only a permanent pastor
can be truly effective in a local church (Abanes, 2005: 17, 43-45; Mair, 2005: 60-61, 69).
Warren had chances after seminary to pastor a large church the easy way. Yet he
was compelled to build a church from scratch (Stafford, 2002; Abanes, 2005: 43-44).
After careful demographic research to determine where he would find an abundance of
unchurched people, Warren and his wife secured permission to begin a new church in
Orange County, California in 1979 (Abanes, 2005: 45; Mair, 2005: 68-70). After
arriving, he conducted a door-to-door survey to determine what type of church would
appeal to his local market (Abanes, 2005: 47-48).

Saddleback Church began in Warren’s mind and heart as a very specific vision. It
was fifteen years and seventy-nine different locations before what people know today as
“Saddleback Church” existed (Mair, 2005: 39, 77). After holding several small meetings
in his home while promoting a kind of “grand opening,” over 200 people showed up for
the Easter service in 1980 (Mair, 2005: 75-76). Warren announced right away that he
intended to grow this church to twenty thousand members occupying fifty acres of land
(Mair, 2005: 76). From the very beginning, the church was “purpose-driven,” Warren’s
goal being “to create a religious community that would extend beyond the established
limits of the Christian population to reach ‘the unchurched’” (Mair, 2005: 137).
 Twenty-five years after that first Easter service, Saddleback Church indeed has
twenty thousand members, but sits on 120 rather than 50 acres. Warren preaches simple
to understand, intensely practical messages that meet people where they are, a method he
perfected early in his pastorate (Mair, 2005: 75). His sermons are typically around 45
minutes in length, broken up into 15 minute segments punctuated with contemporary
music – this is done both to appeal to people attending, and to enable Warren to rest a
physical condition that causes him pain when he preaches (Abanes, 2005: 48-49; Mair,
2005: 78). Saddleback also features an intricate small group system with groups for
every conceivable interest and/or issue that meet at various times throughout the week.
 Integrity has characterized Warren’s ministry. He has shunned publicity,
especially television ministry (Mair, 2005: 180). He and his wife give abundantly to
charity and even refuse to take a salary from Saddleback (Mair, 2005: 80). In fact, the
Warrens are “reverse tithers,” giving away 90% of their income while living on only 10%
(Abanes, 2005: 19-20).

 It has been estimated that Warren has impacted over 180,000 pastors with his
methodology (Mair, 2005: 208). Warren’s church growth principles are also
disseminated over the internet through a website designed specifically for that purpose:
Pastors.com. Much of this has been done through Purpose Driven Church conferences:
People from all fifty states and thirty foreign countries have attended the
Purpose-Driven Ministries conference held at Saddleback, including 3,800
for the May 2002 conference. Many of these churches report an increase
in church enrollment of at least 30 percent, while others report
significantly higher increases (Mair, 2005: 208-209).
Despite his focus on church-growth, Warren strives to downplay the “mega-church
pastor” image as much as possible (Parks & Stafford, 2003):
I dedicated The Purpose-Driven Church to bivocational pastors – the guy
who’s working a 40-hour job and then trying to pastor a small church on
the weekend. Those are the guys I care about – not the big megachurch
pastors. Those are the kinds of churches I grew up in – little churches
(Abanes, 2005: 18).
The Purpose-Driven Life—The Curriculum and Methods of the Movement
Warren’s first major book as pastor of Saddleback Church was entitled The
Purpose Driven Church, and explained in detail the methodology that was responsible for
the growth and success of Saddleback. It was an instant best-seller and has influenced
pastors all over the world. His second book, The Purpose Driven Life, has influenced far
more people and has sold multi-millions of copies in twelve languages (Mair, 2005: 8,
140). In fact, it spent 99 weeks on the New York Times best-sellers list (Caldwell, 2005).

The Purpose Driven Life is organized around five purposes: worship (“You Were
Planned for God’s Pleasure”), fellowship (“You Were Formed for God’s Family”),
spiritual growth (“You Were Created to Become Like Christ”), service (“You Were
Shaped for Serving God”), and mission (“You Were Made for a Mission”). Brief
chapters (from 5-8 pages each), one for each of the forty days, amplify the topic of each
section. The daily chapters include teachings concerning prayer, the local church, coping
with suffering, dealing with temptation, and discovering spiritual gifts. Clearly, Warren
designed the book for reflection and group discussion (Warren, 2002). Warren has
basically repackaged conservative, evangelical doctrine in a way that is accessible to the
ordinary Christian, and is attractive even beyond evangelicals (more on this below).
 Beyond the theological factors, and the book’s interdenominational appeal, an
additional note is in order on the growth vs. spirituality debate. Given the amount of
criticism Warren (as well as others) has received for his ideas on “church growth,” such
ideas are conspicuous by their absence in The Purpose-Driven Life (unlike The Purpose-
Driven Church). Warren has claimed to care more about church “health” than growth,
with most of the churches he reaches having between 100 and 200 members (Abanes,
2005: 26-27).
 The book is not without its critics, secular and Christian. Secular critics, mainly
journalists, have hinted that Warren is selling a lucrative product in his brand of
spirituality (Mair, 2005: 179-180). Christian critics have been much more numerous and
can be found especially among Reformed Christians and even among Warren’s own
Southern Baptist denomination. It is most interesting that virtually all of them are

evangelicals, given that Warren has successfully managed to get many in mainline and
liturgical churches to embrace evangelical concepts.
 In general, Warren’s book contains basic evangelical theology and principles for
life. It is simplified greatly, and some critics complain it waters down conservative
theology. More agree that it is a systematic, if not a bit formulaic, presentation of
conservative evangelical Christianity. Yet, Warren stresses preaching the biblical gospel
entails “life application” as well (Abanes, 2005: 55). Most of the criticisms coming from
his fellow evangelicals concern what Warren chose not to put into the book, or what are
considered to be poor methods of presentation for the material (Abanes, 2005: 69-85)
(such as his use of multiple Biblical translations when quoting from scripture—such as
The Amplified Bible, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word Translation, King
James, Living Bible, New American Bible, New American Standard Bible, New Century
Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard
Version, etc.).
 If you live in a fairly well-populated area, you have probably seen the big blue
banners hanging outside of churches: “40 Days of Purpose” in large lettering, with a
smaller question underneath, “What on Earth am I here for?” This banner indicates that
the church in question is participating in a “40 Days of Purpose” campaign based on
Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life. Local churches may participate individually at
any time, or as a part of a geographically-organized campaign involving several churches
across denominational lines.
 The “40 Days” materials are designed to lead an entire church through a
processing of The Purpose Driven Life. Workbooks are available, in either “small group”

or “Sunday school” versions, that are designed to go along with a video curriculum in
which Warren himself offers brief 15 minute talks before each session (Purpose Driven,
2003, Small Group: 2). The overarching goals of the curriculum are to create a hunger
for Scripture, build community, and get people focused on God’s purpose (Purpose
Driven, 2003, Small Group: 3). Warren attributes the power of the campaign to “five
transforming principles”: “Unified Prayer,” “Concentrated Focus,” “Multiple
Reinforcements,” “Behavioral Teaching,” and “Exponential Thinking” (Warren, 2005,
“Principles”).
Each session includes the five elements of fellowship, discipleship, ministry,
evangelism, and worship (Purpose Driven, 2003, Small Group: 4-5). There is also a
memory verse of Scripture for each week (Purpose Driven, 2003, Small Group: 4). Each
section is designed to process the main ideas from a week’s worth of reading in The
Purpose Driven Life. There are fill-in-the-blank sections that go along with Warren’s
video teaching, followed by a handful of discussion questions for the small group/Sunday
school class. Each workbook includes a directory to list group members and their contact
information, a “Health Assessment” test, a “Health Plan” to carry the person beyond the
forty days, and a section to log prayers requests and answers to prayer. The “small
group” and “Sunday school” versions are different colors, but are only slightly different
as to content.
Warren advertises that he is bringing conservative evangelical theology into
mainline and liturgical churches (Caldwell, 2005; Parks & Stafford, 2003; Nelson, 2005).
The official Purpose Driven website features directory pages for “Purpose Driven
Methodists,” “Purpose Driven Presbyterians,” and even “Purpose Driven Catholics”

(“Purpose Driven Churches,” 2005). Apparently, significant numbers of Seventh-Day
Adventist pastors are also attending Warren’s seminars and using his strategies, though
not without inter-denominational controversy (Kirkpatrick, 2005). Some of these groups,
encouraged by Warren himself, make slight changes to fit their own denominational
context (Nelson, 2005). However, we found in our research that while about 15% of
participating churches were not either Baptist or non-denominational, the vast majority of
responding clergy identify their congregations as either conservative or evangelical.
 Warren’s Purpose Driven curriculum is also being used in other venues. For
instance, “Saddleback Church donates materials to any prison that agrees to incorporate
the plan into its rehabilitation regime” (Mair, 2005: 155). Likewise, Warren is now
working with the President of Rwanda to make the country “the first purpose-driven
nation” (Morgan, 2005).

Research Methods
 Starting with Saddleback Church’s websites that includes listings of churches who
have participated in the 40 Days of Purpose (FDP) curriculum (see: http://www.saddleback.org/,
http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/, http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/, http://www.purposedriven.com/, and
http://www.pastors.com/), we compiled a list of Texas churches who reported having
participated in the FDP program between 2002 and 2006. We mailed out our
questionnaire to 403 Texas churches in April 2006 to be filled out by the
pastor/minister/priest, then sent a reminder email to those churches with email addresses.
Finally, in August 2006, we sent out a new paper copy questionnaire to those who still

had not responded. In total, 142 questionnaires were returned, resulting in a response rate
of 35.2%.
Results
 While this research is only preliminary, several interesting patterns have thus far
emerged in our analysis. We found that most churches surveyed conducted the FDP
program in 2004, just two years after Warren published his book The Purpose Driven
Life. Table 1 gives a summary of the motivations for the church’s leadership to
implement the PDL curriculum.

Table 1. Motivation for a local clergy to have a FDP campaign in their church (check all
that apply).

Motivations for Percentage
Using PDL Respondents

Local minister read Warren 63%
Contact with other local ministers
 Who used PDL 36%
Organized campaign in area 19%
Encouragement of
Denominational Leaders 8%
Denominational literature 6%


As can be seen in Table 1, by far the most influential reason for using the FDP
curriculum was an individual minister’s contact with Rick Warren’s book (reported by
almost 2/3 of respondents), and then contact with other local clergy who read The
Purpose Driven Life (another 1/3 of respondents).
Table 2 gives a summary of data that indicate the ways in which the local minister
advertised the FDP program to the church congregation.




Table 2. Ways local minister advertised the FDP program to congregation (check all that
apply).

Advertisement Percentage
Methods Respondents

Weekly church bulletin 97%
Word of mouth 88%
Posted flyers 85%
Weekly sermon 85%
Church newsletter 84%
Mailout to church families 61%
Other advertisements 30%




As can be seen in Table 2, clergy made ample use of multiple advertisement methods to
let parishioners know about the FDP campaign.
Of the churches who responded to our survey, overwhelmingly most were
theologically conservative. Table 3 indicates that only 19% of responding ministers said
their church was theologically moderate, and just over 2% were either “somewhat
liberal” or “very liberal.”



Table 3. Theological Outlook of Congregation as reported by clergy.

Theology Percentage
Reported by clergy Respondents

Very Conservative 26%
Somewhat Conservative 53%
Moderate 19%
Somewhat or Very Liberal 2%




Table 4 reports the number of respondents who self-identify using the following
theological/social labels. By far the most often reported label to describe the congregation
was “Evangelical” at 70%.


Table 4. Theological Label of Congregation as reported by clergy (check all that apply).

Theological Percentage
Label Respondents

Evangelical 70%
Mainline 39%
Liturgical 12%
Fundamentalist 6%


Table 5 reports the number of respondents who indicate various types of worship
styles for those utilizing the FDP curriculum. As can be seen, there is an equal mix of
contemporary and traditional styles in participating churches (sometimes both found in
the same church).


Table 5. Types of worship style of Congregation as reported by clergy (check all that
apply).

Worship Percentage
Style Respondents

Contemporary Worship Style 58%
Traditional Worship Style 57%
Other Worship Style 29%



Clergy reported that the median number of participants in FDP was 245, the
median size of participating churches was 600, and the median proportion of each
congregation’s members who actively participated in the FDP program was 60%. Table
6 gives a summary of some of the demographic characteristics of participating churches.


Table 6. Demographic characteristics of participating churches.

Demographic Percentage
Characteristic Respondents

Median weekly attendance 325
Median yearly church budget $500,000
Mean percentage members white 88%
Mean percentage members
with college degree 45%
Mean percentage who conduct services
in language other than English 9.9%


When asked if their church’s participation in the FDP program encouraged
additional activity in their church’s life, nearly 80% of responding clergy indicted it had.
The comments overwhelmingly indicated that internal small group activity accelerated in
the aftermath of FDP. Over 85% of the comments indicated that small groups were
formed such as Bible studies, home study groups, Stephen Ministry programs, adult
Sunday school classes, support groups (singles, divorced, etc.), visitation programs for
shut-in church members, and other spiritually-oriented Christian courses, such as the
Alpha Course. Several respondents noted that their congregation was planning to conduct
Forty Days of Community, the follow-up program also developed by Rick Warren. Less
than 5% of respondents indicated that FDP resulted in church growth or increased
membership. Finally, less than 10% of responding clergy revealed that FDP led to an

outward orientation of the church community. Only a few indicated that greater
evangelism activities intensified as a result of FDP, or that mission work or other service-
oriented activity (such as hospital visits or food pantry assistance) strengthened.
Discussion and Conclusion
 This preliminary analysis of data is the first study we know of that analyzes the
impact of Rick Warren’s 40-Days of Purpose curriculum on the life of congregations who
participate. By and large, those churches which participate are medium-sized with
members who are predominantly white, middle-class, and identify as evangelical
Christians. In this sense, the curriculum of FDP fits well with an evangelical worldview,
emphasizing personal spirituality and a congregation’s inward-looking concerns. No
responding clergy indicated that greater political activity resulted from FDP programs,
reinforcing Warren’s contention that his mission is spiritual development, not political
activism.
 Additional comments provided by responding ministers frequently used terms like
“engaging and inspiring,” “transformational” (for the individual), “rejuvenating,”
creating “vision and unity of purpose,” “generating excitement and enthusiasm” and
“deeper commitment” among participants, and was comparable to an “effective revival.”
Several ministers reiterated the impetus for the congregation to begin small group
ministries which focus on the needs of parishioners. Other respondents said that the FDP
program “gave our church a boost but the lasting effect is minimal,” and that “the book
was difficult to adapt because we are a liberal church.” Finally, one minister said that “25
percent of the congregation said it was life-changing, 25 percent said it was a good
experience but not life-changing, and 50 percent are just glad its over.”

 Data indicate that in many ways FDP had an impact on individual participants,
but the activity generated by the campaign was inwardly-focused. This reaffirms what
social scientists from Wuthnow (1988) to Putnam (2000) have said about the core of the
small group movement: that it reinforces the individualism in much of American
Christianity. In fact, Putman (2000) says that evangelical churches are effective at
creating what he calls “bonding social capital” that reinforces ties to existing group
members, but tends to not generate “bridging social capital” that forms links between
church and the wider society. Given the characteristics of churches and their participants
revealed in this study, and the fact that according to these data, very few churches
actually grew as a result of FDP, it is not surprising that the effect of FDP in our sample
was limited for the most part to internal (inwardly-focused) small group development in
participating congregations, and had little or no effect on the outward looking mission of
the church.
References
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Why Churches Fail Part I

Why Churches Fail Part I
By Dr. Richard J. Krejcir

The problems of Church can be solved and used for His glory!
The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
I was teaching at a pastor’s conference recently. So many pastors were literally crying on my shoulder because of the overwhelming problems they face. This is no surprise; usually, I am the one crying! However, the surprise here was the focus (or the lack thereof) from these pastors. Most of them did not consider effective Bible teaching or discipleship important for their church. Furthermore, discipleship was considered useful for attracting people, not for mentoring and teaching them. Most of them did not think prayer was important; rather, it was about crafting a catchy sermon with a catchy title to draw people into to their church. And, it gets worse from there.
When I led a workshop on “Biblical Church Growth,” I spent some Q & A time with these pastors. And of course, they had “real” reasons why their churches were declining and in decay. One was the trend that since the early 70s, white, Protestant churches are no longer vogue in American culture. Many sited statistics and research about how churches grow only when the pastors can attract congregational members with similar attitudes or connect with church members during times of crisis and life changes (which are valid and effectual reasons, but miss the main point). And, most felt that prayer and even faith decisions are deep, nevertheless personal and not an essential component to building a church. And yes, this was for a main-line church conference. I challenged them with my statistics on why churches failed. It was like I was speaking with three heads. Prayer, Bible literacy and its relevance, and discipleship were considered juvenile to them. Yes, their despair was sincere; they just could not make the connection that real church development has to do with focusing on who the church is for—and that is Christ! Most thought the church was for their own amusement and agendas. Seriously, how do pastors miss the point so significantly?
Faith is what moves a real effectual and effective church!
In my first doctoral dissertation on “why churches fail,” I tracked over 1,000 churches for over 10 years. I looked for the marks that caused people to leave. I found the top four reasons why a churchgoer leaves their church.
1. The number one reason why people stop coming to any given church, (your church) was reported by over 91% people citing the significant factor or main reason being conflict and gossip! (James 3:5-6)
2. The number two reason that people leave a church is the hypocrisy and judgmental attitude and actions of people. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of people who left a church stated they experienced church people being judgmental to them, the hypocrisy they witnessed especially by pastors and leadership, or the hurt by church members they experienced. Another significant factor in this category was the poor “people skills” of the pastor and/or leadership! Why? Because they do not manage the judgmentalism, conflicts and/or gossip! (Matthew 5:9)
3. The number three reason why people leave a church is because they wonder, where do I fit in? They experience a lack of hospitality and concern or care from the leadership or people in general. Sixty-six percent (66%) reported that if people do not feel they belong, they leave. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
4. The number four reason why people leave a church is the unwillingness to deal with sin. This creates strife and factions in a church for which sixty-two percent (62%) of people reported to be the reason they left. The atmosphere of contention they feel is the primary basis for factions—the dissatisfaction, disagreements, and dissention (if they stay), all because they do not feel at “home,” having a place to care and to share. Thus, the poor “people skills” of the leadership, the unwillingness to deal with and resolve conflict, and the lack of seeking Christ first and foremost cause the majority of conflicts between the people in the church and the pastor. (Matthew 6:33)
These top four problems cause the vast majority of people to leave a church, over ninety-one percent (91%): unresolved conflict, gossip, no teaching, and inhospitality that prevent “connection.” (This statistic discounts people who move for a job or school change, which is around nineteen percent (19%); this was removed from statistical relevance in the percentage hierarchy.) Over ninety percent (90%) of people surveyed and interviewed felt a significant, overwhelming lack of courtesy, absence of Fruit, and bad character that led to broken relationships and the flight from their church. Over eighty-five percent (85%) reported no one ever called, visited them, or asked why they left within the first four months after leaving. Eighty-two percent (82%) stated that if they were visited and given a reason and/or an apology, resolving the conflict or action was taken to resolve it, they would return. Over seventy percent (70%) of them were in leadership of some kind, and thirteen percent (13%) were pastors! These reasons led to over ninety percent (90%) of feeling shunned, feelings of rejection, and/or not feeling wanted or cared for there. This prevented them from getting anything significant or spiritual out of church, so they left.
My personal observations were simple; Ephesians 4:1 - 5:2 was not applied or sought by the leadership. This comes from a lack of quality, biblical understanding from the leadership. This Bible illiteracy and feeling that it is not relevant resulted in a lack of quality expository or exegetical Bible teaching. In addition, discipleship was not considered important nor was Fruit being modeled by the church leadership.
Of the churches and people surveyed and tracked that were satisfied and healthy, the Bible was taught effectively, the church was healthy, and when problems came, they were met and turned into happenings of connection and learning. After that, the congregation was better able and willing to put God’s precepts in practice with real, authentic Christian character and faith. Problem churches turned around and factions ended simply by seeking Christ first. It starts from the leadership. People do not know the Word or the precepts of our Lord because the Bible is not taught in such a way that it is real and can be applied to their lives and situations. Sheep who are not being fed will feed upon one another and not love one another! The Church is called—even mandated to equip and disciple its people, not just in the basics of the faith, but also in how to be Christian in their families, work, school, and relationships. When churches do not engage in this vital call, they create ineffective Christians who do not seek to live their lives to His glory (Psalm 119:9-12)! After a while, the church stagnates to nothing and eventually will close its doors.
When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Psalm 27:2
So, how are churches run?
The great American way of doing church these last ten or so years is to do church in the ways of the world and business community, and not in the Way of God. In so doing, we have been crafting and creating our own problems and dilemmas. These place the church outside of biblical principles because we seek our ideas outside and away from Christ, resulting in individual, then collective failure. We fail as Christians, then as churches, and then as an effectual and effective Church for the Kingdom of God. So, what are we doing instead of placing Christ first and teaching others about Him? Crafting the trends and formulas to grow a church and be successful are:
· First, find a pastor with the right vision and upbeat, contagious, charismatic personality. He or she can lead by a force of will and/or charisma. (The Bible calls us to be led by the character, call, and precepts of Christ!)
· Second, add in a clever marketing strategy from “door hangers” to TV spots. Make your church look good and appealing. (Painting a rotten fence does not fix the fence!)
· Third, dumb down the Word of God so people get “pop” psychology and self-help rather than biblical instructions. If you teach too deeply, people will get frustrated and leave. You can’t attract people with teaching the Bible; you must use other means such as stories, life issues, entertainment, and relevant psychology. (Yes the Bible is an offence; however, our call is not to please people, but to please God and love the people!)
· Fourth, use the best, most modern means of communication so to be flashy and catchy. If you do not have the best power points and plays, forget about getting people to come to your church. (Fluff does nothing when there is no substance!)
· Fifth, no longer make the goal of the Church to be authentic worship and discipleship; it is the goal of being more “contagious” to be like Dr. Phil and Oprah and not like Spurgeon or Schaeffer. We win by our numbers and not by our authentic maturity in Christ. We worship by modern music secular people know and can relate to. Worship is about your people, not about praise to God. (The point of worship is our praise and gratitude to God; He is the audience—the One we seek and please!)
These pastors attended another conference seeking to copy the great big church and the great pastor guru they admired, but it was not working. Instead of putting their resources in the winning channels of prayer and spiritual growth, expository preaching, counseling for the hurting, and training for those who help and serve, they decided to compromise their training and legacy. They cut back on their personal, spiritual growth to have more room for marketing and trend-setting. They read self-help books and gleaned ideas for the sermons from them and not from His Word. They spent their church budget on advertisements, not on missions and real evangelism; then they wondered why it was not working.
Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. Psalm 27:3
This trend-based way of doing church may sound good, and we can do some of it without compromising the Gospel, such as advertising, finding out what people need, and helping them as long as the gospel is presented, His Word is not compromised, and discipleship is commencing. But, what usually happens is that all the time and resources are spent on the fluff and none on the substance. There is nothing greater a church can do than praise and be grateful to God, then seek and worship Him. And, there is noting wrong with being a good communicator as long as you are communicating biblical, real, life-changing truth. But, most churches are not doing that!
Unfortunately, I was one of the people making up this stuff and propagating these trends for years as a Church Growth Consultant. ashamedly, I admit my mistakes. We have created trends, inclinations, and traditions that are not rooted in biblical precepts and have turned our churches toward skewed agendas. This has caused our churches to be turned into merely civic centers without real depth or function for the Kingdom of God. We are no longer the haven of rest because we exchanged the Word and the training grounds for Christian servers and worshipers for God’s glory into theaters of entertainment and complacency that fuel self-satisfaction and immaturity. We created gossipers and legalism, handcrafting our own dysfunction and strife. We have become churches of “pew-sitters” who have become mere consumers of church and not builders or owners who grow in Christ and build His Church.
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4
The dilemma is that this formula has, for the most part, actually worked and people are coming to the mega churches that have been born from these guidelines. This trend of doing church has become front and center for whom and why we are to do church. The essentials are mostly good. For the most part, these categories of formulas have some good to offer us. We want to be contagious for the Gospel, we want to attract people, and we want to communicate effectively. But, what we do not want to do is water down the message or forsake the training and equipping of His people so we can gather more consumers, and not participators in His Kingdom. When we dilute and dismiss His Word, we end up trading in our beautiful “classic car” of our Christian formation for an impaired vehicle that has a great paint job and looks good, but it does not run or function or take us in a direction that glorifies our Lord and builds His Church.
Thus, the sheep starve for food; we bite on one another, creating chaos, engaging in gossip so that the desiccation of our call becomes our meal replacement, resulting in infighting instead of the spiritual growth needed if outreach and missions are to be possible.
For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:5
Our churches fail when we fail to know and grow in Christ, when we fail to follow Him and Him alone! It is His Church; we are the stewards of it. We must act like it. All we do is for His glory, not ours, or even for the people in our neighborhoods!
Churches fail when we fail Him—Christ the LORD!

You can turn around your church; all you have to do is know Christ and follow Him. Jesus knows us intimately; He knows our situation, our struggles, and our opportunities. He wants us to take hold of His grace and love so we can focus on Him and lean on Him both in our jubilations and in our struggles. The key in these passages is to stay faithful in our Christian identity and our leadership of others, and to remain loyal to Christ. We are not to allow our doubts, fears, state of affairs, or our whims, ideas, and aspirations to occupy His place in our hearts and minds.

A Process For Parish Development

1. a process for parish dev

1. shared leadership and responsibility

1.1.  bounded by routine: what would u do if u were not afraid?

1.2.  learning from others: training pastor on leadership, the church as a family, chosing leaders from among the families, training this leadership from among the people

2. strategic planning

2.1.  what is happening within our organisation and what is happening outside our organisation which might impact on what we want to do?

2.2.  what are the strengths and weakness within our organisation?

Strengths	Weakness
Pro-active parish, good range of parish organisations	Lack of volunteers, declining church attendance, declining church collection
Opportunities	Threats
Make more use of church venue, develop special program for young people, celebrate good marriages	Loss of workers, continuing failure to attract volunteers, continuing scandal in church.

2.3.  what are the opportunities and threats we may face?

2.4.  what changes do we want to effect? In other words what is our vision for the future?

Make sure you will go to heaven	Take as many people as possible with you to heaven
Live a life of holiness	Preach the gospel throughout the world
Plant churches in every nation of the world

2.5.  what is our mission, why do we exist, what is our purpose?

2.6.  what aims or goals might we set ourselves as we try to achieve our vision?

2.7.  what tasks need to be accomplished if we are to realise those aims or goals?

2.8.  what resources will we need to enable us to carry out the tasks we have set for ourselves? Where and how might we access these resources?

2.9.  when will we carry out our task? What is our programme of work?

2.10.                    how will we monitor and evaluate our progress

3. summary of process

2. working at the parish dev

1. calling the community
2. consulting the community
3. gathering the community
4. empowered by the community

3. partnership

1. seven habts of highly effective partnerships
2. partnership with the pastoral council
3. partnership through the pastoral council

4. evaluation

1. is it all worthwhile?

5. resources

1. starting up
2. pastoral council feast
3. books and media
4. other useful materials

6. spirituality

1. rooted in the scriptures
2. the disciples on the road to Emmaus
3. the person of Christ

7. church

1. the wedding feast at cana
2. the transfiguration

8. evangelisation

1. the prayer of jesus at the last supper
2. the commission of the disciples

vision statement

1. people first
2. everyone who wants to be involved can be involved
3. everyone feels valued and welcomed
4. pastors and people work in partnership
5. we have the courage to invoke change
6. we care for everyone
7. young people play an active role
8. our faith is strong and vibrant
9. we have good relationship with other churches.