Church Design Models In addition to considering your sponsorship model, you will also need to choose a Church Design as part of the strategic plan for your church plant. Program-Based Model Description Program-based church planting is the planting of a church driven by program. In other words, its major organizing principle is program. Its strategy to accomplish its mission is program. Its primary value is program. The non-negotiable in the church is the revolution around certain programs. The building blocks of the church are program. If the usual response to new ideas in a church is, 'We've never done it that way before,' chances are you have a program-based church. A program-based, Southern Baptist church historically organizes around, and expresses itself through, Sunday School, Discipleship Training, Women's Missionary Union, Brotherhood, and music programs. However, many other programs have risen to the forefront in recent times. Many churches have branched out to include youth programs, Awanas, visitation programs, TeamKid, First Place, home Bible study programs, college programs, Promise Keeper programs, women's fellowship programs, recreation programs, and many others. When a need surfaces in a program-based church, the church seeks for a program to address the need. Program-based churches tend to be staff, dollar, and worker intensive. Offering quality programs that reach a community, requires much expertise and energy. Churches that succeed in providing quality programming are usually rewarded with growth, recognition, and prosperity. Program-Based church advertising slogans: We are a full service church. A church for the whole family. Program-based churches tend to be clergy-led, building-centered, and institutional in nature. They are usually stable and steady. The Builder generation tends to prefer program-based churches because they best express the institutional and stability values of builders. Suburbia and county seat churches have had great success with the program-based approach. These contexts have the resources and population to sustain good program-based churches. Program-based churches also attract middle-class families. This further explains their success in suburbia. Busy families can be attracted to a church that serves the whole family, offers community, and demands little in return. However, some have accused program-based churches of fostering a Christian consumer mentality. Most church plants today tend to be program-based churches. This is unintentional. Most planters intend to start purpose, seeker, or relationally-based churches; however, the church evolves over time to focus on program. These churches tend to be contemporary in style, but program in nature as Bible study, youth, music, outreach, and other programs define their church. The programs become the defining and driving force behind the church. Planters tend to create what they know from their experience, and most come from program-based backgrounds.
Just because a church has contemporary worship or small groups, does not mean that it is not program-based. In fact, these may become the very programs the church revolves around. We as Southern Baptists have a rich heritage in the program-based tradition. It has been very good to us. When other denominations were in decline, we prospered and emerged as the dominant, non-catholic religious player in America. Our success is in no small part due to the effectiveness of the program-based church design. Program-based churches are believed to be a creation of Arthur Flake from his 1922 book, Building a Standard Sunday School. It is here the five star Baptist church movement (Sunday School, Training Union, WMU, Brotherhood, and Music Ministry) was first espoused. This movement, which reached its apex in the 1940s and 1950s, advocated the consolidation of smaller churches into larger ones capable of supporting a full program. This movement reinforced the practice of churches expressing themselves as program-based. Most Baptist churches today are program-based. In short, program-based churches have dominated the Southern Baptist landscape for 70 years. They reflect an organizational pattern where the church is constructed around various programs. Traditionally, Sunday School has been the primary program, or anchor, which the church revolves. However, in recent times other programs have arisen that are key in the mission of the church. In the right context, program-based churches are effective, stable and still needed. Program-Based Model Examples Total Church Life Church Growth Spiral Sunday School-based approaches Southern Baptist Church Growth Plan Purpose-Driven Model Description Purpose Driven Church Planting is an approach to planting that takes as its foundational insights the teaching of Pastor Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Church. There are several emphases that are distinctive about the approach, or at least were distinctive at the time of the book's release, and have been adopted by others since then. Twelve of these distinctives are: Building on five biblical purposes Advocating crowd-to-core growth Culturally relevant worship style Independent of buildings Targeted evangelism Seeker-sensitive events A simple path to maturity Balanced small groups Progressive commitment Focus on church health not church growth
Mobilizing members for ministry Simple structure for decision-making A Scalable Paradigm A paradigm instead of just methods Building the church around five biblical purposes. God's purposes for His church should be the dominant consideration in decisions about the church's activity and how it organizes itself. A study of the Bible led Rick to summarize God's purposes for the church into five overarching purposes, anchored in two passages of Scripture. The Scripture passages are the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. The five summary purposes that come from these passages are: Worship (Magnification), Fellowship (Membership), Discipleship (Maturity), Service (Ministry), and Evangelism (Mission). These five purposes are expressed in a diagram utilizing a baseball diamond to communicate the dynamic of moving people from seeker to reproducing disciple. This concept of moving people toward maturity is implemented by developing at least one major program for each biblical purpose. At least one core leader champions each purpose to ensure the purpose is not neglected. The biblical purposes also shape preaching, the way small groups are organized, the assimilation of new believers and members, the calendar, and the budget. Advocating crowd-to-core church growth. The most effective way to develop a new church is by discipling a crowd-into-a-core, rather than trying to motivate a core to evangelize a crowd. This approach has biblical precedent in the ministries of both Jesus and Paul. Even in cell-church contexts, this distinctive has meaning. There may not be a "crowd," but there should be a sustained effort to gather more than one seeker for each conversation about faith in Christ. Culturally Relevant Worship Style. Purpose-Driven churches are not "contemporary," but culturally relevant. Worship style is shaped to match the target audience. This adaptation affects all forms of communication, including music and preaching. PDC churches "read" their culture and adjust style accordingly, but without compromising the eternal message. This tension is difficult to maintain, but results in increased evangelistic effectiveness. Not Dependent on Buildings. Most PDC plants thrive in rented facilities for years, just as Saddleback did. The PDC philosophy is that buildings are another tool, useful when they become the best way to accomplish the purposes of God. The reality is that most churches build too soon, and some, like cell church networks, will never build and yet remain healthy and reproducing. Targeted evangelism. Planters spend extensive time determining who their target group is. The most common misconception about targeting is that it is a process of excluding people the planter doesn't want to reach. Targeting is actually a process of determining who the planter can best reach most effectively, but welcoming all seekers and expecting target groups to multiply as the church grows. When Rick did this study for the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, CA, he summarized the demographics memorably as a character known as Saddleback Sam. Seeker-sensitive Events. Saddleback is committed to doing things in a way that puts seekers at ease and eliminates unnecessary barriers. Since the average seeker needs multiple exposures to the gospel message before they respond, a Purpose Driven church does things in a way that
keeps seekers coming back. At Saddleback, there is an opportunity to make a conversion decision every week, but there is a strong call to commitment every six to eight weeks. This allows seekers to contemplate the message of Christ and the evidence of changed lives for several weeks before they are strongly urged to make a commitment to Him. Providing a simple path of discipleship. The path from seeker to reproducing disciple produces the best results when people are introduced to God's purposes for their life through processes that are simple, logical, and linear. Saddleback developed a system called CLASS (Christian Life And Service Seminars) to introduce attendees to membership, and members to progressively deeper steps of commitment and maturity. Balanced small groups. The small groups of a purpose-driven church are intentionally balanced around the five purposes. This intentional balancing of biblical purposes has the goal of healthy group life, which leads to growth and reproduction. This is one aspect of the scalability of the PDC paradigm. Developing members into ministers and leaders through progressive commitments to Christian life and service. Each step in the path toward spiritual maturity is marked by covenant commitments. The belief is that people grow as they learn to live out their commitments. One over-arching conviction of Rick is, "a great commitment to the great commandment and the great commission will build a great church." Purpose driven church plants use progressively deeper commitments as a tool of discipleship. As maturity deepens, there is intentional channeling of this commitment into service and involvement in missions, not just deeper knowledge. Focusing on church health, rather than church growth. Balancing the five purposes leads to a healthy church. A healthy church will grow and multiply. This concept of church health is size independent. A planter can have a healthy church, whatever its current size. The use of PDC principles does not imply a goal of becoming a mega-church. Depending on mobilized members to do the work of ministry. The purpose driven church develops its unique ministry in the community as its members discover their unique shaping by God for service in the Kingdom. A purpose driven church is committed to pastors as equippers and laypeople as ministers. Ministries are lay-driven, and they emerge as laypeople find new ways to express who God made them to be. Simple structureand system of decision-making. Time spent in committees and business meetings is time people can't invest in ministry to others. A purpose-driven church is staff-led with congregational input, especially in areas that directly affect members' time and money. Authority to accomplish tasks is given to teams, rather than discussed in committees. There is an underlying value of trust that is at the core of a PDC church. A scalable paradigmused at every level of church life. The five purposes of God determine the emphases and structures of the whole church. This same five-fold paradigm guides the organization, development, and ministry of small groups, both individually, and as they work together in their community. Ultimately, the goal is to build into every member's heart a deep commitment to a surrendered life of worship and service.
At Saddleback Church, the PDC paradigm is also used to guide the age-related ministries of the church. Children's ministry implements the PDC approach using age-appropriate symbols and terms. The same is true for junior high, high school, and college ministries. This consistency of vision and programming helps keep Saddleback's staff working in harmony. It also ensures that as the children of attendees grow, their kingdom experience remains consistent, biblical, and balanced. PDC is primarily a paradigm, not a set of methods. This last distinctive is perhaps the most important for church planting. The methods of Saddleback can be copied, and the closer the setting is to Saddleback, the better they will work. But when adopted as a way of viewing the church, it becomes a flexible and adaptable framework to guide any planter in any setting in how to develop a healthy, balanced church. The PDC approach to church and church planting has been used extensively in the United States, but often in ways that attempt to reproduce Saddleback Valley Community Church, rather than applying the above distinctives to a given context. As a paradigm, it has been successfully contextualized around the U.S. and around the world. Countries where we know of a PDC church include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, Uganda, Ukraine, Russia, South Africa, and Taiwan. There are probably many more examples that we know nothing about. The most common setting for PDC church plants is in fast-growing suburbs of metro areas. The reason for this is probably due to the setting. Purpose-Driven Model Examples Saddleback Church Relational-Based Model Description What is a Relationally-Based Church? All churches are relational in some way because the nature of almost any regularly gathered group is relational, and because the gospel itself is relational. The relationally-based church, however, derives its name because in its essence, it is built on and through relationship. Just as the Purpose Driven Church structures itself around what it sees as the particular purposes of the church, and the Seeker Church is named because of it's emphasis on being a church for the unchurched, the Relational-Based Church is built principally around relationships. The term is broadly used to define any kind of church that is based on relationships. It is mostly used of smaller churches with loose structures and fluid organizations. The relationally-based networks that encompass the majority of this study are theologically and systemically whole, offering patterns for healthy church multiplication.
Types of Relationally-Based Churches House churches. A house church in its best sense is a basic Christian community. In mathematics, consider the idea of least common denominator, with the church reduced to its essentials, but capable of performing all of the functions of church within itself. It is usually autonomous, and can be either highly egalitarian or very hierarchical. Single house churches, not related to the larger body of Christ, and not reproducing, can become ingrown and lose sight of mission. Intentional Christian communities. Usually this term refers to Christians who live together in a household with a high value on communal life. Some intentional communities have survived the years and provide models from which new groups can learn. Intentional communities, though they might seem unstructured, sometimes move to high structure and formal rules in response to the struggles of living so closely with one another. The community may or may not formalize a regular time of meeting in which others not living in the household are invited. Cell churches. If loosely organized, organic, and less hierarchical, these may be in the category of relationally-based churches. They are usually organized with high value on both community and evangelism, but not necessarily church reproduction or mission to the world. In cell churches, each individual cell is a Christian community, and membership in the cell church may be dependent on membership in an individual cell. All of the above, plus the relationally-based church networks, may have some common characteristics as pictured in Robert Bank's definition from his book, The Church Comes Home (p.6). Relationally-based church networks.these are networks of basic disciple-making communities relating to one another, built around a covenant relationship to Christ in the context of shared relationships between individuals and groups. Participants demonstrate a commitment to follow the way of Christ together and a desire to be on mission with one another. Each church is structurally autonomous, but spiritually and relationally accountable to other churches in the network that have shared values about community, mission, and a simple lifestyle of following Christ. It is this type of relationally-based church networks (may be networks of house churches) that the remainder of this material considers. Relational-Based Model Examples House Church Movement Cell Group Churches Koinonia Groups Meta-Church Model Seeker-Sensitive Model Description Since the birth of Willowcreek Community Church twenty-five years ago the seeker church movement has been gaining momentum. While the seeker church certainly contains many of the components found in any New Testament church, they are unique for the degree in which they focus on an unchurched/unsaved target. Willowcreek is a perfect example of this. While their vision is for creating a Biblically functioning community, they are committed to accomplish it by
turning irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Christ. For them, at this point in time, the seeker service is the best tool for accomplishing their mission. With this in mind it is important to note that the defining element is not a certain type of service, but it is the relentless focus on reaching seekers. The beginning point for the seeker church is the seeker. In a very true sense the seeker church can be defined as "a church for the unchurched." The Evolving of Terms for a "Seeker-Based" Church Seeker-Driven When American evangelicals began to give notice to the ministry of Willowcreek Community Church the model was described as a "seeker-driven" model. This term seemed to indicate that the direction and focus of the ministry was determined (driven) by seekers. Leaders soon realized that "seekers" could not determine the purpose and direction of the church, by which its very nature was a community of believers, therefore, a new term was needed to identify this unique way of doing church. Seeker-Targeted The next term that leaders began to hear as they dove into the meaning and purpose of this model was the term "seeker-targeted." This term seemed to more accurately describe what was meant by their methods. A seeker-targeted church would orient its vision, mission, and strategy to reaching the unchurched/unsaved seeker. For many years this was the term that leaders around the world heard as they went to conferences and read books about Willowcreek. Outreach-Oriented In recent days, another term has been tossed around describing the same model; "outreach-oriented." An "outreach-oriented" church is much more palatable to the target audience, which includes the unchurched/unsaved person. It has been discovered that most seekers do not like to feel as if they are target practice for a church. Therefore, when a church says its mission, vision, and strategy is to be "outreach-oriented," then it is saying they are thinking more about reaching out than reaching in towards themselves. The student of this model is likely to hear and use all of the above mentioned terms when they study a seeker-based church. The vision statement of Willowcreek Community Church now states that they are a place "where the doors are wide open to people from all backgrounds, regardless of where they're at on their spiritual journey." (www.willowcreek.org) Another way of looking at the seeker church is on a continuum. The degree in which a church is seeker targeted is the degree in which it becomes believer hostile. While on the other hand, the degree in which a church becomes believer-targeted, it becomes seeker hostile. While many may disagree with this, it is the tension in which purely seeker-targeted churches operate. Just as all seeker churches are not the same, neither are all seekers the same. However an understanding of seekers is absolutely essential in seeker churches. One choosing this approach to church planting may want to consider the Engle Scale as a useful tool for gaining an understanding of what it means to reach seekers. Developed by George Engle as a tool for understanding traditionally pagan cultures, it is becoming an excellent and essential tool for understanding large segments of unchurched/unsaved people in North America. While North America is often viewed as a Christian nation and thus, a harvesting field, that may no longer be true. Many believe that our nation is fast becoming a sowing field. George Hunter suggests in his book How to Reach Secular People, as a church we use to enjoy a home court advantage, but today we at best play on a neutral court and often on a hostile court. Many people, if not most, are beginning their journey toward Christ with their backs toward the cross. He goes on to state that there are at least 120 million secular people living in the United States (ages 14 and up). While he suggests there are at least seven different types of secular people, he zeros in on three.
The seeker church understands that while seekers see the church as 1) lacking credibility, 2) boring, and 3) irrelevant. They have a favorable disposition toward Christ. Lee Strobel shares some light on the seeker church approach to evangelism in his book, Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary. He suggests that people are in one of three camps when it comes to their disposition toward Christianity. Camp A represents those who have no inclination toward Christ and the church. Camp B represents a group that is not convinced of Christ's significance, but are at least open to honest investigation and inquiry. Camp C represents those who are convinced of Christ's significance and his church. In dealing with those in Camp A, he argues that there is no advantage to being in Camp A, and therefore, invites those to take a step of faith to Camp B. He is convinced that honest inquiry most often leads to faith in Christ. The seeker service is designed for those who are considering that move from one camp to another. If its target primarily defines a seeker church, then it is important that we understand how the seeker church sees its target. There are four basic targets to which churches aim. They include: Unchurched/Unsaved those who have no Christian background and often have no Christian memory. Unchurched/Saved those who have a conversion experience, but are outside the local church for a variety of reasons. Many who fit in this category are those who failed to see their childhood faith as relevant for today. Others dropped out while moving from place to place. A large number have experienced some kind of hurt in their life related to church and their faith. Churched/Unsaved referring back to George Hunter, this group represents those he would refer to as nominal. They have a knowledge of the Christian message, but the implications of the gospel go right over their heads. Often, they are a product of a religious culture instead of conversion. Churched/Saved obviously there are those deeply committed followers of Christ in his church. This group sees themselves as being on mission with Christ. It is important to note that any seeker church must have a large number of these folks to effectively impact the unchurched/unsaved arena. Seeker-Sensitive Model Examples Willow Creek Church Willow Creek Association Church Marketing approaches Ministry-Based Model Description In North America and around the world, a great number of people are in need of a touch by Jesus. An alarming number of people in North America, over 200 million, have yet to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. What if the same number of people in North America were dying with AIDS? Being abused? Dying of starvation? The outcry of God's people would be tremendous! Yet, there are no headlines announcing the tragedy that many people are dying in their sin. A church planter who will be effective in seeing the lost saved, must be
concerned, like Jesus, with the whole man. It is important for the church planter to understand the needs of the lost person in order for them to hear the gospel. But the question is, "How can the church touch hearts and meet the diverse needs of so many?" The church can be involved in meeting needs if the church planter will take time to get to know the community. The church planter needs to know, not only real needs, but felt ones. A felt need is "an issue or concern that is perceived by a person that inhibits in meeting a variety of needs." Historically, Southern Baptists have been involved in meeting the needs of people, and starting new churches whether the focus of the ministry was a social one or an evangelistic one. Ministry Evangelism Based church planting is the planting of a healthy church through meeting real, felt, and anticipatory needs. The rational is that people are hurting, and they need to know God loves them and wants to meet their ultimate need, a personal relationship with Himself. However, the meeting of real or felt needs in the person's life serves to demonstrate the compassion of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ met many needs, whether it was healing the blind, feeding the hungry, casting out demons, or even raising the dead. The ministry evangelism based strategy accomplishes its purpose by understanding the needs of the community and implementing an evangelism strategy to meet those needs. This strategy could be effective in many communities, but especially in urban areas and enthic groups. The new church must "fit the needs of the people. Culture, language, and education should all affect the ministry and structure of the church," according to Oscar Romero. Ministry Evangelism Based church planting is personal evangelism, which is suitable for the urban context. The implications of reaching people with the gospel through meeting needs, means the church planter will have to minister to people in their world of relationships. The failure of the church in urban and ethnic areas is related to the lack of effective evangelism and discipleship. Many churches go on mission trips and do many worthwhile projects; however, there is no follow-up. Consequently, many of the same children are "being saved" over and over again because is never any follow-up, which helps them understand the assurance of their salvation. Ministry Evangelism based church planting is also effective in reaching people from disadvantaged communities. The church cannot serve in poor areas without offering hope - the good news of Jesus. There are many social programs and agencies in such communities, but they have not changed way of life. Caring for the personal needs of the poor, is a part of evangelism. It is also an opportunity to reach them with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ministry Evangelism based church planting is a holistic process. The underlining desire is for fellowship and social interaction. Many people today are seeking the benefits of God, rather than a personal commitment to Him. They want peace, joy, hope, love, and acceptance, but not an experience resulting from surrender to Jesus as Lord. Only Jesus can offer the ultimate fulfillment. Ministry-Based Model Examples Ministry Evangelism Models Community Ministry Models Social Ministry Models Community Development Models Community Action Models Base Ecclesial Community Models