by Steve Cordle
Since the cell church flies on the two wings of cell and celebration, it is important to keep them in balance.
A celebration service takes a lot of time, energy and resources to do well. In the U.S. most people equate “church†with “worship service.†So if they are not careful, leaders can end up giving nearly all of their time to planning and preparing for the celebration, letting the cell work starve for attention.
However, neglecting the celebration in favor of the cell assures that we will not fulfill our redemptive potential as a church.
Here are few questions for balance:
- As a pastor, do you get equally excited about high attendance in the celebration as you do about good numbers at cell?
- Do the staff members understand that their primary role is to develop and multiply group leaders?
- Is the celebration service done with excellence, understandable to guests, and filled with God’s presence?
- Do you spend as much time evaluating and planning for cell work as you do for celebration?
- Do you celebrate cell ministry in celebration, and vice versa?
- Do worship leaders in celebration participate in cell ministry, and are cell leaders visibly active in the celebration?
Can you think of other questions that could be measure for balance?
Steve Cordle
Spanish blog:
Manteniendo nuestro equilibrio
Por Steve Cordle
Desde que la iglesia celular vuela en las dos alas, la célula y la celebración, es importante mantener el equilibrio.
Un servicio de celebración se lleva bastante tiempo, energa y recursos para hacerlo bien. En los EE.UU. la mayora de la gente equipa la “iglesia” con “servicio de adoración.” As que si no tienen cuidado, los lderes pueden llegar a dar casi la totalidad de su tiempo a la planificación y preparación para la celebración, dejando que el trabajo con las células muera de hambre por la atención.
Sin embargo, dejando de lado la celebración en favor de la célula aseguramos que no vamos a realizar nuestro potencial redentor como una iglesia.
Aqu hay algunas preguntas para el equilibrio:
- Como pastor, ¿Te emocionas igual con una alta asistencia en la celebración como lo hace con un buen número en la célula?
- ¿Los miembros del personal entienden que su función principal es desarrollar y multiplicar los lderes del grupo?
- ¿Está el servicio de celebración realizado con excelencia, comprensible para los huéspedes, y lleno de la presencia de Dios?
- ¿Utilizas la misma cantidad de tiempo en la evaluación y la planificación de trabajo de la célula como lo hace para la celebración?
- ¿Celebras el ministerio celular en la celebración, y viceversa?
- ¿Los lderes de adoración en la celebración participan en el ministerio celular, y son lderes de células visiblemente activas en la celebración?
¿Puede usted pensar en otras preguntas que podran ser de medida para mantener el equilibrio?
Steve Cordle
Great points Steve! One concept or thought or is “how well are small group leaders highlighted in the celebration time every week?” As the Small Groups Pastor at our church I did away with the “Altar Team.” We have only our Pastors and Small Group Leaders perform “altar ministry” but there’s no team. Now, every week at the end of service our Senior Pastor verbally calls up the Small Group Leaders to the front (highlighting Small Group ministry indirectly). The church gets familiar visually with the leaders. And when they pray with people after service, they are trained to ask people if they’re attending a small group. We’ve found it’s been a great way to integrate the small group leadership into the weekly service. Also, because it was difficult to get our committed leaders to come to an altar team training meeting, I just touch on altar training principles for 3-5 minutes each time I meet with all of our small group leaders (4-5 times a year) as well as including it in our new small group leader training. Sorry for the long comment!