Editor’s Note: Rev. David Runnion-Bareford has extensive experience in mainline church renewal. He is the President of the Association for Church Renewal. ReformationUCC.org requested an interview to follow up on this article which originally appeared in the Faithful and Loving Newsletter. Many churches have no idea where to begin. Here, a prescription for servanthood is offered that minimizes conflict and maximizes the unique personality of individual congregations.
Frequently in historic churches you are one of only a handful of folks in the congregation who have a real passion for Jesus Christ and want to see the body of Christ be alive in the Holy Spirit. Or at least it seems that way. Your small group of 6 – 8 seems powerless to move an institution resistant to change or a pastor with a different agenda or leadership that sometimes seems to be practicing some other, more nominal religion.
Our first mistake when we seek to create change, is to focus on the barriers of greatest resistance. The result is that pastors and lay leaders in historic churches are all too often preoccupied by their ‘war stories’ of conflict in the church. Conflict is not really surprising given that spiritual warfare has always been and will be a challenge for the body of Christ until Christ victoriously returns. But serving our Lord Jesus Christ can be strategic as well as sincere.
What if you gather with your small group of 6- 8, assess your spiritual gifts and calling, and focus on just one area of church life in which no one else takes much interest. Let the deacon board or trustees or whatever the power center is in the church alone for the time being. Focus the attention of your entire group on teaching Sunday School – with excellence. Or volunteer as a group to do Jr. High youth ministry, or missions, or the ministry of hospitality. Choose an area in which not much has been happening for a while or where the plea for people to lead is getting no response. Do not spread your 6 – 8 folks out as minorities on different boards or ministries where you will invariably become the focus of conflict.
Holy Spirit powered, prayer fueled ministry in just one area of the churches life will in a relatively short time become transformational for the whole church. In one church on the way to renewal, this kind of “team” quit all their other church roles and took the homeless feeding program. Two years later, they are feeding over 100 a day, people are coming to Jesus (and to church) and the whole city knows “Seacoast” as the church that feeds the poor. In another church they all heavily committed to the under 12 Sunday School program. Not for a 6 week turn, but every week, with family follow up, prayer for the children, and a passion for every child to know Jesus. Two years later families with young children are filling the sanctuary. Meanwhile these “teams” are experiencing the joy of the Lord. Rather than war stories, they are sharing testimonies to what Jesus Christ is doing.
THIS WORKS!
Originally published in the Faithful and Loving Newsletter, a Ministry of Biblical Witness Fellowship (c) 2008 Rev. David Runnion-Bareford Used by permission.
You may read ReformationUCC’s follow up interview with David Runnion-Bareford here.
Click here to read Part 3 of this series.
4 responses so far ↓
1 All Crossed Up - Michael Horton // Mar 25, 2008 at 12:32 pm
[...] XHTML ← Church Renewal – Where Do We Start When There Are Only A Few Of Us? [...]
2 Church Renewal: What Do We Do When There Are Just A Few? Part 2 // Apr 7, 2008 at 9:37 am
[...] Editor’s Note: This is a follow up interview with Rev. David Runnion-Bareford on how historic churches can, with God’s help, be renewed to vital mission and ministry. Pastor David is the Executive Director of Biblical Witness Fellowship, a church consultant, and a member of ReformationUCC’s Board of Reference. To read article that prompted this interview, please visit here… [...]
3 Church Renewal: What Do We Do When There Are Just A Few? Part 3 // Apr 7, 2008 at 10:29 am
[...] In the previous installments in this series of articles, here and here, Pastor David Runnion-Bareford discussed how to begin when there are only a few. In a [...]
4 How I Became Involved In Christian Release Time Ministry And You Can Too! - Paul Humber // Jun 30, 2008 at 6:39 am
[...] Note: Recently we ran an article on “Where Do We Start When There Are Only A Few Of Us?” in addition to our other articles on Church Renewal. That article focused on how to start with a [...]