Month: May 2010

by Steve Cordle

“We tried cell ministry for a while, but it didn’t work, so we gave that up.”

I’ve heard those words from pastors who once were pursuing a cell-based vision but are no longer. Sometimes their venture into cell ministry lasted less than a year. That indicates to me that the pastor did not think through the underlying values and commitments of cell ministry.

Call me strange, but to me, “trying cell ministry” for a brief time is like “trying marriage” for a little while. Before taking the plunge it is wise to measure one’s commitment level! Since cell ministry is simply an expression of some fundamental theological and philosophical values, it is vital to study those values before adopting a ministry approach based on them. Cell ministry is not mechanical. It is not a “system” that works if you follow the procedures. It is a way of ordering church life to equip all in the work of ministry, to reach the lost in a relational manner, to bring to the saints to maturity through obedience-based discipleship, to live in community, and more.

Are there other ways of pursuing these goals? Yes. But if you take the time to study the underlying values and become convinced that cell ministry is the best way to accomplish them, then it is unlikely you will “try cells” for a few months and move on to something else. If you don’t take that time, I would suggest you are not ready to adopt a cell-based ministry.

So, pastor, how deeply have you studied and prayed through the underlying philosophy of cell ministry?

Steve

by Michael Sove

I’m am in my fourth year serving as cell pastor at Allen Memorial.  I was hired to help our church transition to become a cell church that impacts the world for Christ.  From the very first interview I had many questions.  You see, I had been a church planter and lead pastor for eighteen years.  I knew that my title as cell pastor was really a misnomer.  A better description of my role would be “Cell Champion.”

Sure, I could be a great help assisting the Senior Pastor by focusing on leadership development, coaching, equipping, writing cell materials, helping cells to focus on evangelism and missions.  But I understood from the day I was hired who the real cell pastor was.

The Senior Pastor can never give away his role as cell pastor or visionary if a church is to transition to be a cell church and not just a church with groups.  He must be involved and model himself cell church values like community, personal evangelism, and the importance of making disciples.

Even more important than that, he must be a man of prayer, seeking to be “filled with the Spirit” day by day, meeting God to hear from Him and to receive power, vision and direction to lead the charge.

If you are a Senior Pastor, having someone to function as “Cell Champion” can really make a difference.  They can put all their effort and focus into the cell system and people development, but never forget who the real “Cell Pastor” is.  You are so important to the fulfillment of the vision.  We will stand by your side, pray for you, encourage you and run with you but we need you to lead the charge.  Your example speaks more than your words.  Show us the way!

Comments?

Michael

by Mario Vega

It is easy to understand that in the Bible, God’s work is always related to a particular person. It is difficult to mention a work of God without it being linked to a specific name. In the list of heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11, each of God’s acts of faith is connected with a person’s name.

In a similar way, every cell church in the world is always related to the name of its Pastor. Moreover, we can even be unfamiliar with the official name of many cell churches, but we’ll always remember their Pastor’s name. This truth speaks a lot about the important role that the pastor of the church has within the cell model.

When God is about to do his work, He looks first for the person He’ll use. That person will be the channel through which God will act. This doesn’t mean in any way to despise the role of the church’s members with their respective gifts; on the contrary, it is about recognizing the gift God has given to the Pastor. The name Pastor, itself, speaks of his duty  to guide and direct. Consequently, the pastor is the one who must place himself in front of the cell work. And this is a task that the Pastor cannot delegate.

Comments?

Mario

Translation in Spanish:

El Pastor como lder.

Es fácil entender que en la Biblia la obra de Dios siempre se relaciona con una persona en particular. Es difcil poder mencionar una obra de Dios sin que la misma esté ligada a un nombre especfico. En la lista de los héroes de la fe de Hebreos once, cada hecho salvador de Dios está relacionado con el nombre de una persona.

De igual manera, toda iglesia celular en el mundo se relaciona siempre con el nombre de su Pastor. Es más, podemos desconocer el nombre oficial de muchas iglesias celulares, pero siempre recordaremos el nombre de su Pastor. Solamente eso habla ya mucho del rol que el Pastor de la iglesia posee dentro del modelo celular.

Cuando Dios va a realizar su obra, en primer lugar busca a la persona a quien usará. Esa persona será el canal por el cual Dios actuará. Esto, en ninguna manera significa despreciar el papel de los miembros de la iglesia con sus respectivos dones. Por el contrario, es reconocer el don que Dios ha entregado al Pastor. El mismo nombre de Pastor habla que su tarea es la de guiar y dirigir. Consecuentemente, el Pastor es quien debe colocarse al frente del trabajo celular, el cual, no es otro trabajo, es el SER iglesia. Una tarea indelegable.

Jeff Tunnell

While the Senior Pastor’s role in the cell church is absolutely necessary, allow me to observe from the chair of the smaller cell church’s office.

I enter transition to cell systems with the supreme hope that “this is it, I have finally found the answers to ministry that I have been searching for!”   I have done this before, selecting a new style of ministry every few years in a quest to discover a key to success as designed or required by my governing board, elders, or simply my own entrepreneurial spirit.  It is not new territory, but I am encouraged by what appears to be the LAST change needed.

As the pastor of a smaller-sized cell church most of the work is still in my hands or direct oversight. The varied tasks of counseling, preaching, teaching, day-to-day management of office and communications, worship team direction, youth, Sunday schools and teacher training, etc, etc are a plate full of potential time consuming jobs.

Now I want to add the miracle cure of cell systems and think (or hope) everything will improve rather quickly, thereby alleviating much of the busywork that drains my energy. To my chagrin I find that I now need to add leading a cell and coaching to my list of duties. Simultaneously I begin casting vision to the body in order to transition fully.

Along the way (1-3 years into the project) I am feeling tempted to change yet again or return to program designed ministry. This is driven by two sources: 1) I am not experiencing the growth or transition at the rate I thought was possible and (2) look at all that mail I receive announcing the “next best seminar” or packaged plan for church growth with everything I need for making ministry work with no effort on my part. (ridiculous offers, but they come to my mailbox each week).

Time to get a grip on the reality that preparing the soil, planting the seed, fertilizing the crop, weeding and fighting the pests are all still necessary for bringing a harvest to fullness.  You (and I) may not be good delegators and so we feel the pressure to do everything ourselves and hereby we trap ourselves into a downward cycle of defeat.  The Cell system is a leadership development tool that decentralizes ministry and empowers others to fulfill their calling in God. This will in turn fulfill them as believers who now fully complete the discipleship of Jesus by reaching others with the Gospel and making new disciples.

You are the Senior Pastor, God loves you and directed you to lead His flock into a fruitful field of ministry that will bless them and the city, village or town around you.  Stay with it, you are vital to His plan!

Do you connect with these thoughts and observations?  Let us hear back from you on what you do to stay on task.

by Joel Comiskey

This past weekend I led a cell workshop in a large Chinese Church called Vineyard of Harvest in the Chino Hills area (part of the Vineyard movement). This was my second cell seminar in this church in the space of one year, and I was impressed with the strides the church had made in the past year (check out the portal page to their website). After I finished the seminar, the senior pastor and his wife  pulled me aside and began to ask me hard questions. I sensed by their earnestness that they really wanted to make cell ministry work.

I shared with the pastor that he was the key to long-term success.   The congregation looked to him, to decipher whether the cell church philosophy was a passing fad, or a permanent fixture in our church. Without his modeling of cell church values and principles, the cell vision would surely wither.

I frequently lead cell seminars. More than once I have encountered zealous lay people who get so excited that they want to convert the entire church to the cell philosophy—whether or not the senior pastor agrees. While we can applaud this type of excitement and zeal, we must quickly explain the consequences. Long lasting change requires a point man. As Cho says, “. . . a system must have a control point. The controlling factor in home cell groups is the pastor.” Without him on board, cell church ministry will sink. I tell people not even to begin the cell church transition unless the senior pastor is leading the charge.

Dale Galloway, an early pioneer of cell church ministry in the U.S., says: “No matter who introduces small-group ministry into a church, that ministry will only go as far as the Senior Pastor’s vision for it. The people will watch the Senior Pastor to see if small-group ministry is important to him or her, because what’s important to the Senior Pastor is important to the people” (The Small Group Book, p. 21).

Comments?

Joel