Purpose Driven Church

Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren

Chapter 7 ~ Organizing around your purpose

            Reflecting on two great preachers Warren points to George Whitefield and the over 18,000 sermons he preached and to the thousands he spoke to and converted unfortunately with little to no follow thru in structure to nurture these new believers. Warren points to John Wesley who also engaged thousands but unlike Whitefield, Wesley was not just a good preacher but structured the Methodist church.

Warren stresses the use of a purpose statement and the importance of communicating and emphasizing it to the church. Unless you have a system in place, giving all five purposes equal balance, if not you may find your church lacking in a significant area and over bearing in yet another.

Among the five kinds of churches is the, “Soul winning church”, the “Experiencing God church”, the “Family reunion church”, the “Classroom church” and the “Social conscience church”. From most of their titles you can see the emphasis in each. Problems arise when the pastor and his gifts and passion do not match with the vision of the church. When there is a neglected purpose a “Parachurch” organization may rise up to focus on that single purpose. There are five major Parachurch movements, the Lay Renewal movement, The Discipleship/Spiritual formations movement, The Worship Renewal movement, The Church Growth movement and lastly The Small group Pastoral Care Movement.  All of these are so vital to the church and the people for growth and understanding.  Warren admits there is no single key to health and church growth. In my opinion perpetual forward motion in unity for the body of Christ is where we should all start. Great chapter I encourage further study.

Chapter 8 ~ Applying your Purpose

This is an exciting chapter if you have actually been doing the things Warren suggests; now he encourages integration of your purpose. Putting your feet into the action of your statement and being committed to seeing it thru. Focusing on progress and not perfection, I love how Warren explains to focus on the outside in rather than inside out, community! The same fifty people that have been running the church and doing the things the same way for the past however many years is not a solid growing church, rather they are stale and stagnant.  Starting on page 138 Warren list ten ways to be purpose driven, he encourages learn from mistakes and build on your experiences. Also he believes it key to not always be looking for the new ideas to bring the people in but rather stay focused on unchanging purposes to grow your church. By staying focused on your key commitments the church grows stronger and feels safe in the soundness of what drives the church. I hope you will take the time to go over these ten purposes I found staffing on purpose to be helpful as well as Educating your people on purpose to be inspiring.