Missional Strategies Used by 21st Century Church Growth Practitioners - Essay Example

MISSIONAL STRATEGIES USED BY 21ST CENTURY CHURCH GROWTH PRACTITIONERS By of the of the of the School State Introduction  A missional strategy is modelled through dialogue and engagement with the settings and the neighbourhoods individuals live in (Roxburgh and Boren, 2009). A major point to recognize is the dramatic and simultaneous change in the church, which has had an influence on the missionary movement. This means that the movement of Christianity can no longer be understood from a cultural, geographic or confessional view. Key to the life of the church is mobilizing people into small groups, which is the role of a church head. The 17th and the 20th century was a time of the continuation of biblical interpretation based on the research of the biblical scholars (Walker, 1985). The 21st century saw the resurgence of the allegorical methods. Initially, Christians resisted the gospel community, but at the end of the century, Christianity spread rapidly. The growth was due to the level of education system and the indigenous church structure. This growth was as a result of the native evangelists and missionaries who went to the unreached and neighbouring villages. During the twentieth century, Christians continued to increase rapidly. The method mostly used to grow Christianity was through education at the low level in schools. Here, leaders were trained and consequently, they went to teach the unreachable and the people who had little or no knowledge about Jesus. Missionaries have aimed to develop methods to help in the growth of the church and many ways have been used in its development. The growth of the church depends on its ability and how it nurtures its believers. According to Hunter III, “a local church experiences expansion church growth when people enter the church’s ranks and become new members” (2009, n.p.). The church can experience three kinds of growth namely biological, transfer and conversion growth. Biological growth occurs when parents bring their children to the church and the children grow in that church, rising through the ranks, until they old and bring their children. Transfer growth occurs when members of another church move into a church and are received there. Conversion growth occurs when new Christians from all over the world become members of a church. Strategies used by Missionaries in the 21st Century to Grow the Church Through media: The earliest Christians didn’t have churches or buildings to worship in. They instead worshipped in homes or under trees. They neither had public ceremonies nor mass media to share information. Before the development of the internet, there were great barriers and challenges to passing information. Due to the advanced technologies that are characteristic of the 21st century, the church development has continued to advance and grow. The church has a great interest in the internet. The use of media has become the easiest and fastest way to communicate and give information to people within large geographic regions. The mass media has been used to post the church services; churches have been posting their services and schedules online, in bulletins and other forms. Churches also post quotes from pastors. These quotes have been beneficial to the people who view them and this expands the church (Sogaard, 1993). There has also been the creation of blogs for the churches. People in different churches blog about the sermons and services, which gets them informed and expand the church, by reaching to those who read the blogs and opt to join the churches. Radios and televisions have been used to spread the gospel to people around the world. This form of media has been the most effective and easiest way to expand the church especially during the 21st century. Churches have embraced social media where they use platforms such as Facebook and twitter to spread the gospel and make Disciples of Christ. Training the next generation: The church is focused on nurturing the young people. The reason why the church wants to nurture the young people is because they are the church leaders and missionaries of the future. It is a fact that in recent years, the young or the youth have come to view the church as boring and have hence lacked the interest in it. This has caused a reduction in the number of youths attending church services. The reasons why the youth feel this way is because of science has come to change how the church is viewed, they tend to feel they are disconnected with the church because of the tension between Christianity and science point view. Hill, Mann and Fitzgerald support this by asserting that young people who are unable to engage religious leaders and advocates in genuine and open conversations “about the meaning of particular doctrines or practices, and about the tensions between science and faith, sometimes are left feeling disconnected from faith life” (2011, p. 137). The church has therefore made effort to instil faith in the young adults, so that they can spread the gospel to the other people and especially fellow youths, who do not have the same faith. Children are therefore the greatest people in growing the church although they are often overlooked. The future of the church and that of nations is based on the children. If the church is unable to reach the children, it suffers because there is no future generation to continue preaching the gospel. The church believes that every child’s heart should know the heavenly father. Therefore, in the generation, the child connects with God through having the gospel communicate to him in such a way that it will get the attention of his heart. Claydon points out that “children are not only the ones who follow, but the ones whom God sends to lead” (2005, p. 316). The churches have developed children’s programs to help the children develop their faith and nurture them in the church. The children ministry is one of the most fruitful and developing ministries in the body of Christ. This ministry doesn’t only bring the children close to God, but also helps them become better people in future. Training and nurturing the young generation has helped the children accept Christ and make sense out of life. This also helps in the continuation of the gospel from generation to generation (Hunter III, 2009). The church has struggled to teach the gospel from one generation to the next generation. The twenty first century church is in fact made up of a generation of leaders who have been taught about God since childhood and over the years, have come to deeply know God. Developing spiritual leaders to build a strong congregation: In the past years, the people rarely turned to the church, as a solution to and answer to problems in life. In African nations for example, witchcraft was held in higher regard compared to the word of God. This point of view has however been gradually altered by missionaries who have over the years preached the gospel to these people. The Christian crusade to Africa was spearheaded by Italian, French and Irish missionaries, who were mainly Catholics. It is because of the effort of these missionaries that Catholicism got to be known in Africa. Protestant missionaries were also not left out in spreading the gospel of Christ in Africa. Protestant missions were different and are different to this day. From the beginning of their missionary work and to this day, missions greatly cooperate and this is the key aspect that has led to the success of Christianity all over the world (Gerloff, Adogame and Hock, 2008). Leadership is a complex practice, which despite being most observed, it is the least understood. Blackaby H. and Blackaby R. point out that “unless they clearly understand their role, leaders as well as their followers are destined for confusion, frustration, and failure” (2011, p. 31). Faithful practices and discipline develops strong spiritual leaders. Character reflects the heart and the soul of the spiritual leader. The soul develops and establishes the leader’s character and Christlikeness. The character of a person shows the right leader and how he will deal with his or her congregation. Having a skilled and spiritually upright leader develops the congregation and this helps in the growth of the church. Once there is trust in a spiritual leader, the members the church increase and the members continue to help in the development of the church. Having spiritually upright leaders develops a spiritual congregation. The leaders bring the lost to the church for them to be saved and gain spiritual maturity. To have such skills and qualities, one must have good knowledge of the gospel and the power of the word (Hemphill, 2009). The church comprises of people who are willing and ready to love their neighbours and are willing to walk in the Lord’s ways. Leadership is a virtue that is trained or acquired. Leading a congregation of people is not easy even in church. Spiritually upright leaders lead their members in a proper way and this brings about the growth of the church. Many people go to different churches and the outcome of the members in the society reflects the leaders of the church. Strengthening expositional preaching: Jamieson defines expositional preaching as “preaching that takes the main point of a passage, makes that the main point of the sermon, and applies it to life today” (2012, p. 29). Therefore, over time, all the books of the Bible are covered through this kind of preaching. The pastors and spiritual leaders explain what the Bible means and clearly explain the meaning of the scriptures to the congregation (Jamieson, 2012). This preaching is used to bring the meaning of the scripture in people’s lives. The Bible is the only source of divine authority for the sermons in church. It is unique and stores records of historical information. Preaching inspires vision to the people and helps create a close relationship between God and the people. After receiving the gospel through expositional preaching, many people chose salvation as it gives them an assurance of eternal life as well as peace and a sense of belonging and this enhances the growth of the church. Effective evangelism plays an important role in the church. It is considered more important than worship and praise. The role of evangelism has continued to help in the growth of the church. This is especially because the Bible gives hope to the hopeless (Turner, 2007). Many preachers have enhanced their preaching by the use of real life scenarios and the incorporation of stories in the preaching. This tries to prevent boredom in church and encourages more people to attend church services. Preachers have been using the gospel to change the world and people. During the time of the early Christians, the missionaries used to preach in different communities and this enhanced the growth of the church. Preaching has been one of the most important drivers of church growth. Prayer training: In the growth of the church, the role of prayer is vital. Prayer is also very important in people’s lives. Different people have different needs that needs to be addressed and one way of having the needs met is by communicating with God. Prayer training has been used to improve the faith of the members of the congregation. This helps the individual members to grow spiritually. When early Christians faced threats or any evil experiences, they always prayed and so do modern Christians. Before Jesus preached, He always prayed and Peter and John always prayed before healing the sick. All biblical teachings teach how important prayer is and what it can do. Prayer training is very important for the lay leaders as they develop spirituality through communion with God. Through this training there is obedience and faith to the word. With this kind of training, the pastors help the members of the church understand the goal and vision of the church growth. Years ago, very few people took the church seriously and very few attended church services. Pastors and priests became worried and wondered why people hardly attended church. They came up with a prayer training sessions to help the people know the importance of spiritual communication with God. Conclusion Over the years, church has continued to grow and develop. During the 21st century, many methods have been used to expand the church. Then first is the next generation strategy where the churches and missionaries train the young since they are the spiritual leaders and missionaries of tomorrow. Others include the use of the media, developing spiritual leaders to build a strong congregation, strengthening expositional preaching and prayer training as discussed in this paper. Word Count: 2085 words References Blackaby, Henry T. and Blackaby, R., 2011. Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to Gods Agenda. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group. Claydon, D., 2005. A New Vision, a New Heart, a Renewed Call, Volume 2. California: William Carey Library. Gerloff, R., Adogame, A. and Hock, K., 2008. Christianity in Africa and the African Diaspora: The Appropriation of a Scattered Heritage. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Hemphill, K., 2009. You Are Gifted: Your Spiritual Gifts and the Kingdom of God. Nashville: B&H Publishing group. Hill, Nancy E., Mann, T. and Fitzgerald, Hiram E., 2011. African American Children and Mental Health [2 volumes]. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, LLC. Hunter III, G., 2009. The Apostolic Congregation: Church Growth Reconceived for a New Generation. Nashville: Abingdon Press. Jamieson, B., 2012. Hearing Gods Word: Expositional Preaching. Illinois: Crossway. Roxburgh, A. J. and Boren, M. S., 2009. Introducing the Missional Church (Allelon Missional Series): What It Is, Why it Matters, How to become One. Grand Rapids: Baker Books. Søgaard, V., 1993. Media in Church and Mission: Communicating the Gospel. California: William Carey Library. Turner, J., 2007. The Sacred Art: Growing Faithful Disciples in the 21st Century. New York: Tate Publishing, LLC.  Walker, W., 1985. History of the Christian Church. New York: Scribner. Read More