CCS October 2006 Newsletter: Senior leadership and Cell Ministry

I told a senior pastor recently not to begin cell ministry until he was convinced of the cell vision—until he had a burning desire in his heart telling him that this was the direction for the church over the long haul. He needed to be willing to “die on this hill” as one cell pastor so aptly described his commitment to cell ministry. Without such commitment and passion, it’s just too easy to become distracted with other things.

As I researched cell churches around the world, one thing became crystal clear: All of the growing cell churches had one cell director—the senior pastor. The cell system flowed from the senior leader’s authority and the people willingly followed his lead.

Probably the main difference between a cell church and a church with cells is the commitment of the lead pastor and leadership team to the cell vision. I use the term “lead pastor” because some churches don’t believe in the senior pastor role but prefer to focus on a plurality of elders. Yet, even in this arrangement, a lead elder almost always leads the group.

In the growing worldwide cell churches, all staff are organized around cell ministry. Cell pastors serve under the lead pastor and leadership team, and they all have the same focus—cells. Rarely is one pastor over cell ministry. All pastoral staff are over cell ministry under the senior leader. In this arrangement, the lead pastor must fulfill the role of cell minister.

Now I agree with the concept of the “cell champion.” I’m referring to a distinct person who is not the lead pastor but feeds the lead pastor with resources and keeps the cell administrative ball rolling. Yet, I’ve noticed over and over that the “cell champion” simply cannot keep the cell vision focused unless the lead pastor is actively involved in cell ministry. So how can a lead pastor stay active in cell ministry?

The senior pastor (some prefer lead pastor) along with senior leadership team must keep the cell vision on track in light of all the programmatic distractions

John Hunt, lead pastor of an AG cell church in Australia. His name and picture appears at the top but also as one of the cell supervisors, showing his personal involvement in the vision.

Here are some suggestions for senior leaders to keep the cell fire burning:

• lead a cell group to stay in the battle
• continually read books on cell ministry
• visit cell groups and cell churches to stay fresh
• take a cell course (check out below the one I’m doing in Nyack, New York in May 2007)
• join a network of cell pastors, etc.

Most of the lead pastors that I coach are leading a cell to stay in the battle and to have something fresh to share with those under them.

I led a city-wide cell seminar in which I didn’t meet one lead pastor. I quickly realized that the seminar was directed by staff that were appointed to make small groups work in their churches. I noticed frustration among some participants because they realized that cell ministry wasn’t really supported at the top. So what do you do if you’re in a church in which the senior leader is not involved or passionate about cell ministry? Here are a few suggestions:

• pray hard
• feed the lead pastor and pastoral team with good cell literature. And pray hard
• Invite the senior leader to visit a vibrant cell church or go to an excellent cell seminar. And pray hard.
• Invite the senior leader to visit your own group, while praying diligently that he will catch the excitement and vision.

Cell church ministry requires total commitment, and thus, to make it work effectively, it must flow from the main visionaries of the church.

Note 1: David Cho, Successful Home Cell Groups, (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1981), p. 107.

CCS News

• My new equipping series is here! Right now, you can order all five equipping books for the discounted price of $39.95 or each one individually for the sale price of $8.95:

• The CD with PowerPoint and Teaching notes for the entire equipping series is available. The CD offers complete teaching notes in WORD and PDF format for each equipping book (Live, Encounter, Grow, Share, and Lead) and approximately 60 PowerPoint slides for each book-- with really cool slide backgrounds. All this for only $14.95 (regular price is $17.95). Order here.
• Ebooks are available for each book in the equipping series. You can order each e-book for only $5.56 (downloading an ebook might be a good way of checking out whether or not you want to order the physical books). You can find these ebooks many places on the web but click here for one good place.
• On November 2-4 in Kansas City MI, I’m speaking at the American Society for Church Growth’s annual conference on the topic, “The Church Comes Home: Cell Church Principles for a Post Christian Culture.” Contact people: Corly Kallin or Alan McMahan
• On November 14-18, 2006 I’ll be speaking at the Elim church’s annual cell seminar (Elm is the second largest church in the world) in San Salvador, El Salvador. The seminar is free, and you are invited to attend, but you must pay your own airfare and lodging. For more information, contact: conference@elim.org.sv or call (503) 2294-0633 (fax is (503) 2294-4592)
• I would encourage you to attend a 5-day in-depth cell/celebration course I’m giving in Nyack, New York on April 30-May 04, 2007. This is an official course of Alliance Theological Seminary, but you can audit the entire course for $300.00. We’ve also arranged special hotel prices for people like you—and hey, you even get a free book from me! By taking this course, you would get the entire cell package (all I know). If you’re interested, contact: Heather Rosenberg or Jennifer Balk, but also let me know also, so I can give you a pre-course assignment.
• Do you need coaching to help you on the cell journey? CCS offers coaching both in English and Spanish. Check out our website about coaching opportunities.
• Our next CCS board meeting will be February 22-23, 2007 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (one of the board members, Buddy Lindsay, owns a Hampton Inn in Myrtle Beach and provides great room discounts. And why not take advantage of beach!)