Ministry News

Are You a 'One-Stop Ministry Shop'?

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Monday, 02 November 2009 18:17

QUOTE: "A pastor used to be viewed as the one-stop ministry shop. The pastor served on every committee, volunteered at every event and made all the hospital visits. I think that is changing and I think that is healthy—both for the pastor and the congregation. In a sense, I think we've cultivated a co-dependency in our churches. We expect the pastor to pray for us, study for us, disciple our kids for us. That isn't healthy. I want to empower people to take responsibility, use their gifts and make a difference. … For the record, when I first started out in ministry, I was trying to be a pastor. Now I'm trying to be myself. And there is a big difference!" —Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church (NCC) in Washington, D.C. After 13 years of meeting at its central campus in the movie theaters at Union Station, NCC recently received a six-day notice that the Capitol Hill multiplex was shutting down. In typical fashion, the church—which now meets in multiple locations around the district—is hopeful for the future. "A church is not a building; it's not the location where we meet," Batterson said. "A church is made up of its people. … When we were just starting out and we lost the school we were in, we trusted God to open doors for us. What He provided was so much better than we could have imagined. Now we're just trusting God in the same way. He'll provide." [christianpost.com, 10/29/09; washingtonpost.com, 10/20/09]