READING 4.

5
WRITING A PHILOSOPHY
OF MINISTRY 1
Adapted from Church Planter Manual, Tim Keller and Allen Thompson. Redeemer City to City, 2002.
In my first pastorate, Tim Keller explains, I led a small Presbyterian congregation which was planted less
than eight-tenths of a mile from its mother church, a body of over 1,000 members in a modest sized
Southern town. In the 1930s, when our church was founded, no one had automobiles and the distance
between the two fellowships seemed sufficient. But in the 1970s we found ourselves right on top of one
another. For years, the large mother church had overshadowed our own.
Nevertheless, despite being virtually adjacent to one another, and despite the highly-churched nature of the
town (60 Protestant churches in a town of just 23,000), both of our congregations began to experience
growth. In fact, we doubled from 140 to 280 in just four years, despite the fact that our community grew by
just two dozen people between the 1970 and 1980 census.
Why would two seemingly identical churches grow in such a small pond? A couple of my friends suggested
to me that the secret lay in the fact that we were no longer identical. You developed a different philosophy
of ministry, and so you are reaching new kinds of people. That sounded interesting, but no one could give
me a clear idea of what a philosophy of ministry was.
WHAT IS A PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY?
SUMMARY
A philosophy of ministry is more specific than the churchs purposes (the Why? of a church) but less
specific than the ministry program (the What? of a church) or even its goals and objectives. Instead, it
describes how a church will go about reaching its community for Christ.
A philosophy of ministry is more specific than the Biblical purposes of the church. All churches should share
the Biblical givens--the marks and duties of the church. All churches are called to worship God, to build up
the saints, to witness to the nations, and so on. But a philosophy of ministry makes the church distinct,
describing a vision for the church which is specific and unique to that congregation. It is even more specific
than a churchs denomination. Methodist churches may have dramatically different philosophies of ministry
and yet all remain Methodist churches.
On the other hand, a philosophy of ministry is less specific than the actual ministry program or goals and
objectives, which are set for one, two, or five years. Goals and objectives are measurable projects with
definite time frames while a philosophy of ministry describes broader visions and modes of function.
Lets think for a moment of four questions: the who, why, how and what of your church.
The Who? question defines a churchs basic beliefs and theological commitments. A church may have a


historic theological tradition, such as Wesleyan or Lutheran. The churchs stance toward the Scripture and
approach to interpretation will determine many of its stands on theological and ethical issues. This includes
the churchs own understanding of what the Bible says about the nature and identity of the church.
The Why? question defines a churchs purposes. It is the rationale for the churchs existence. If under the
who? question, a church determines that it is committed to an infallible Bible, then it will see that God
gives the church a number of purposes or functions. In other words when we understand who we are, we
understand why we are here. We are to evangelize the nations, disciple and build up believers, offer
acceptable worship, care for the poor and needy and so on. All churches share these common purposes.
The How? question defines the churchs philosophy of ministry. For example, though the Bible
commands us to worship, and lays down rules for worship (e.g. dont worship a graven image), it
nevertheless allows a great deal of freedom in how to worship. It does not tell us the style of music, the level
of spontaneity and emotional display in the service and so on. The same is true of our preaching and
teaching, our evangelism, our fellowship or common life and our outreach to the poor. The How? is left up
in good measure to us.
Does this mean that we are allowed to determine the how of our church simply on the basis of our own
tastes and whims? By no means! The hows of our church are controlled by the Biblical whys of our
church. We are to worship, evangelize, and fellowship in the ways which best help us to spread the kingdom
of God in our community, in the ways which best help us fulfill our purpose, to teach all nations to obey all
Jesus has commanded.
Finally, the What? question defines the churchs goals and objectives, its actual ministry program.
Included are the job descriptions of both laypersons and staff, the organization of the church in
departments, committees or task forces and the policies of operation and by-laws.
Dont forget, we havent yet talked practically about the Who? and When? questions. These questions
make up your Action Plan and are dealt with in a separate, strategic planning article.
A philosophy of ministry, then, is the answer to the question: How can we best fulfill our Biblical purposes
in accord with our theological commitments?
There is a parallel with the identity of an individual believer. A Christian knows who he is (justified,
adopted, redeemed), and why he is here (to be an ambassador for Christ, etc.), yet each Christian must look
at his specific gifts and unique calling to determine how he will go about living out his Christian
commitment (I Corinthians 12; Romans 12:8ff.). So, too, every individual church must ask: What is the
specific calling of our church? The answer creates an identity which shapes the churchs character and
makes it unique, even within its own denomination.
Note: the terms philosophy of ministry, ministry design and ministry model or church model are
basically synonymous terms.



WRITE A BRIEF STATEMENT THAT RESPONDS TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
WHO ARE WE? Your Identity Statement
Sample: We are a body of believers, reformed in doctrine and Presbyterian in polity.
We are a community of worshippers committed to NYC.
We are an expression of the glorious, new creation that Jesus Christ is creating.
Write yours here:




WHY ARE WE HERE? Your Mission Statement
Sample: Genuinely embracing todays generation with love and truth so that together we might know and
passionately live for God. (All Nations Presbyterian Church, Oakland, CA)
We exist to journey with the de-churched in order to become a gospel-centered community (Church of the
Redeemer, Atlanta.)
Write yours here:




WHAT? Your Ministry Program Statement
Sample: We serve Christ through worship celebration, small group community and mercy ministries.
We join Christ in this city by linking people to each other and to God.
Write yours here:







THE IMPORTANCE OF MINISTRY DESIGN

Vital churches have distinct personalities/identities that are clear both to the members and surrounding
communities. These personalities/identities result largely from a ministry design that assumes both Biblical
form and freedom for the church. The key to church growth is a ministry design that is true to the Bible, to
the time and place and to ones gifts.
I belong to a conservative Presbyterian denomination, says Tim Keller, one of a very small family of
churches in which everyone seems to know everyone else. Most of the ministers have gone to one of two or
three seminaries and all subscribe to a very lengthy and detailed set of confessional standards and of church
polity. Under such circumstances one would expect a great deal of uniformity between churches. To some
degree, that is true. But it is among the most vital and effective churches within our own family that the
most dizzying variety is seen.
SOME EXAMPLES
New Li fe Presbyteri an Church in Glenside, Pennsylvania, meets in a converted restaurant. Its
service is marked by spontaneity, humor, expressions of emotion, raising of hands and contemporary
music. Few people are dressed up; many of the participants look like they are from rough and difficult
backgrounds. In just five years, New Life has grown from 600 to over 1200 in attendance in three
congregations.
New Ci ty Fel l owshi p is a Presbyterian Church of some 250 that meets in a poor, blighted urban
neighborhood of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Unlike New Life, the congregation is a mixture of races.
Ministries of mercy and justice for the poor are stressed and given a far higher profile. Racial
reconciliation is a high priority, frequently mentioned and modeled. Although the service is highly
informal as well, the music is a much more conscious cross between a mixture of contemporary rock
and black gospel.
Tenth Presbyteri an Church in downtown Philadelphia stresses expository preaching through
books of the Bible and many conferences, seminars and classes on theological and ethical issues.
Dignified liturgy and historic hymns mark the service of this congregation of 1,000. Though occasional
street people can be seen in attendance, most of the worshippers appear to be executives and
professionals.
The differences in atmosphere are vast and yet they are all conservative Presbyterian churches,
subscribing to the same lengthy doctrinal standards. Of course, this phenomenon is not confined to
Presbyterians. Wagner describes the differences between four Assemblies of God congregations in one
town. One is traditional, well-ordered in its service and appealing to community pillars, while another
emphasizes dynamic evangelistic preaching services of the 19th century revivalist type. A third has a
very family-oriented program and appeals to young professional couples, while another congregation
attracts college professors, students and singles who appreciate innovative worship formats and music.
All are growing Assemblies of God churches in good standing.
VITALITY AND IDENTITY
Every vital church has a sense of destiny. The members usually see their church as different from and better
than other churches and the majority of them can articulate clearly what makes their churchs identity distinct.
The Bible teaches us that no individual Christian has all spiritual gifts, and therefore, each believer must
discern his or her specific calling or ministry, based on the gifts and the opportunities God has afforded (I
Corinthians 12:27-30). In the same way, no individual church has all the spiritual gifts or, at least, no church


has all the gifts in equal proportions. No local church is an island unto itself, but is rather a part of the
connected whole. Only the total body of Christ reflects all of the gifts, graces and ministry power of Jesus
Christ himself. Thus, each congregation needs to discern its own specific calling, based on the gifts of its
leaders, members and the opportunities in its community.
FORM AND FREEDOM
Scripture does give us certain absolutes for the form of the church, but it also leaves us free in many areas to
design ministry creatively. The church is neither a jelly fish (with no set form) nor a statue (with every
aspect fixed). Rather it is a body with set limits, but which can be arranged and moved into a variety of
settings and shapes.
Francis Schaeffer put in a nutshell the Biblical basis for the building of a philosophy of ministry.
Anything the New Testament does not command in regard to church form is a freedom to be
exercised under the leadership of the Holy Spirit for that particular time and place.
We must distinguish between those Biblical absolutes for church structure and form which God has laid
down for the church at all times and those vast areas of church function and practice where we are free to
shape ourselves in order to reach our communities for Christ.
Schaeffer recognized that there would be many, many disagreements over which church forms were
Scripturally prescribed and which were not. But he called us all to agree that the Bible does not provide a
complete guide to what a church should look like. Instead, it sets boundary conditions and that within
them there is much freedom to meet the changes that arise both in different places and different times.
Schaeffer believed that at the end of the 20th century, the church needed to grasp this principle as never
before. Why? Because the accelerating change and upheaval of our age necessitates that the church be
constantly changing in order to communicate the gospel and spread the kingdom. In a rapidly changing age
like ours...to make non-absolutes absolute guarantees both the isolation and the death of the...organized
church.
CHURCH GROWTH AND MINISTRY DESIGN
In the late 1970s, a young church planter came to the college town of Charlottesville, Virginia. The moderate
size city was, like many southeastern U.S. communities, highly churched with both conservative evangelical
churches and mainline churches by the score. The new minister courteously visited a number of the pastors
in the area to describe his goal of beginning a new congregation. He was quickly told that the town was
spiritually stagnant, that the existing churches were having trouble finding new members and that other
evangelical church planters had failed miserably. But within a month from the commencement of worship
services, the new work was drawing more than 200 people.
Within a few short years, there were more than 1,000 worshippers in attendance. During the past 20 years,
this kind of story has been repeated all across the country.
How can we account for the fact that dramatic, explosive church growth often occurs in places littered with
the wreckages of failed, dying or stagnant churches?
New books annually seek to distill new sets of church growth principles. The lists usually contain
anywhere from six to twelve factors which must be present for church growth.
Let me be so bold as to suggest there are only three:
1. Sound doctrine.
2. Continuous renewal by the Holy Spirit.


3. A contextualized philosophy of ministry.


THE GARDEN ANALOGY
To put it more clearly, imagine a tomato garden. What growth factors are there for a successful garden?
There are three. First, the seeds must be real tomato seeds--already with incipient life in them. It will not
work to plant rocks or pebbles! Secondly, the weather and soil conditions must be conducive to growth.
Thirdly, the gardener must be skillful in planting, watering, fertilizing, weeding and harvesting.
The gardeners level of control over these factors varies. The most basic factor, the living seed, is not
something the gardener can create, but it is something that he can discover. The second factor appears to be
the least under the gardeners influence. What can a human being do about the soil or the weather? Actually,
however, the gardener does have a responsibility to place the garden in a region where conducive soil and
weather conditions exist.
But the most controllable growth factor is gardening expertise. This is a matter of getting the proper training
and of applying the proper diligence. The gardener is more personally responsible for this factor than the
others, even though it is probably the least fundamental and important.
If a garden is successful, who or what is responsible? Despite all the gardeners work, the glory must go to
God. His creative work (the seed, the soil) and his providential sustaining work (the weather) is the real basis
for growth. After all, plenty of food grows on the earth without a gardener at all! Yet for a piece of ground
to bear the kind of fruitfulness of which it is capable, the skill and industriousness of a gardener is
necessary.
I have been developing a parable. A growing church is like a fruitful garden, as Paul himself says in I
Corinthians 3:5-9. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
The first factor, the living seed, is sound doctrine--the truth as it is revealed in the Word of God. This is the
Bibles own image. The gospel of the kingdom is a seed that bears fruit a hundred-fold (Matt.13:19, 23). We
are born of imperishable seed, the living and enduring Word of God (I Peter 1:23). In most lists of church
growth principles this is omitted? Why?
The tacit assumption is that, since many churches with wildly divergent doctrinal stances grow, we cannot
consider soundness of doctrine a growth factor. That is dangerous. If we do not make Biblical truth a
growth factor, then there is no way to discern God-given growth (I Cor.3:6) from the growth of Muslims,
Mormons and even McDonalds hamburgers. Soundness of doctrine alone does not produce growth (any
more than the mere possession of tomato seeds produces a garden). But Biblical truth is necessary for God-
given growth, as Matthew 13 and I Corinthians 3 attest.
The second factor, weather conditions, is God blessing his Word through the work of the Holy Spirit. It is
only as a church is continuously renewed and anointed by the Holy Spirit that it will be fruitful.
NEED FOR INCARNATION.
In Philippians 2:6-11, we are told that Jesus Christ did not hold on to his heavenly culture and identity, but
submitted himself to our form and became a servant for us. Paul insists that we all imitate the incarnation,
telling us to not only look to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (v.4)
There are two kinds of churches:
+ One kind says to its community: You can come to us, learn our language, learn our interests, become like
us and meet our needs.
+ The other kind says to its community: We will come to you, learn your language, learn your interests, join
you in your life and try to meet your needs.


Which of these approaches imitates the incarnation? Of course, its the latter. And it is this latter kind of
church that is likely to adapt its shape in such a way as to communicate most effectively with the people God
has called us to reach.
The most vital, obedient churches will exhibit the most creativity and diversity of philosophies of ministries.


CLARIFYING YOUR PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY
1. Identify the characteristics in a vital church tied to form and others tied to freedom.
Form characteristics:




Freedom characteristics:




2. In what ways can ministry design fail to be true to the Bible? Give examples.





3. In what ways can ministry design fail to identify with the culture? Give examples.





4. According to Keller, what are the non-negotiables to church growth?




THE PROCESS OF MINISTRY DESIGN

SUMMARY
Proper ministry design arises from reading the Bible and asking, How can we obey the Bible here and
now?
HERE AND NOW
Our philosophy of ministry must be Biblical, yet it must be distinct. For the purpose of ministry design, we
must ask, How can we be a Biblical church here and now? We must ask this question because all Scripture
is covenantal revelation. That is, nothing in Scripture is revealed simply to be known abstractly. Rather,
everything is revealed to be obeyed in our concrete situation (Deut.29:29). This is because the Creator-
creature relation is a covenant relation, a Lord-servant relationship.
When we ask the question, How can we be a Biblical church here and now? we should notice that there are
three parts to it.
First, we are asking, How can we obey the Bible? We must be thoroughly Biblical in our ministry design.
Biblical ecclesiology is incredibly rich. The church is a family, a kingdom, a temple, a dwelling/house, a flock,
a new nation, a priesthood, a communion, an army, a body, an organization, an organism, and much, much
more. Our goal is to incorporate all that the Bible says about the church into our philosophy of ministry.
Second, we are asking, How we can obey the Bible here and now? The particular sins, particular needs and
specific opportunities of the community we are seeking to reach will determine how the Biblical aspects of
the church are incorporated and which aspects are brought out most prominently.
For example, in a college town, many non-believers are caught in intellectual confusion and skepticism. A
church may need to emphasize a very strong teaching ministry, with an extensive program of opportunities
for the community to see how Christianity applies to the arts, the sciences, to political questions and ethical
issues. However, in a working-class urban neighborhood where drug and alcohol addiction is rampant, the
church may need to emphasize counseling, fellowship and accountability.
Third, we are asking, How can we obey the Bible? Each person has particular gifts and thus specific
kingdom work that he or she is called to do. God may bring a group of people together to form a church who
are extremely strong in gifts of mercy to the poor. They should locate near the needy and make use of their
gifts by designing a church that puts special emphasis on the ministry of compassion.
THREE PERSPECTIVES.
We see then, that this one questionHow can we be a Biblical church here and now?is really three
questions, which are:
1. What does the Bible say about the church?
2. What can I learn about the nature, trends, needs, sins, strengths, challenges and opportunities of our
culture and community?
3. What can I learn about my (our) own gifts, talents, strengths and weaknesses?
These three perspectives for ministry design correspond to the approach of John M. Frame. He argues that
to know anything always involves this same tri-fold process.
Human knowledge can be understood in three ways: as knowledge of Gods norm [the Bible]; as knowledge
of our situation; and as knowledge of ourselves. None can be achieved adequately without the others. Each
includes the others. Each, therefore, is a perspective on the whole of human knowledge.



The effect of the three perspective approach is to keep united what has traditionally been separated
meaning and application.
Over and over, preachers (and others) try to proclaim the meaning of the text and then its
applicationthe first part is what it means, the second what it means to us. . . . [But] every
request for meaning is a request for an application. . . . the one who asks doesnt understand the
passage well enough to use it himself. . . . A person does not understand Scripture, Scripture tells us,
unless he can apply it to new situations, to situations not even envisaged in the original text
(Matt.16:3; 22:29; Luke 24:25; John 5:39f.; Rom.15:4; II Tim.3:16f.; II Pet.1:19-21in context).
Frames argument: Scripture cannot be understood unless it is being obeyed, and it cannot be obeyed except
in a concrete situation. Therefore, theology is application. When we use this approach in ministry design,
the results are radical. Many Biblical scholars have tried in their study to distill from the Bible a single, pure
ministry design or church structure which must then be faithfully reproduced wherever one goes. Frame
argues that this is a misunderstanding of Scripture as covenantal revelation. Instead, the Biblical absolutes
which give the church its form must take different shapes as they become expressed in different times and
cultures. There will be many church models and many ministry designs, all very Biblical.
A phi l osophy of mi ni stry, then, resul ts from the i nteracti on of three el ements:








We see, then, that our goal must be two-fold in developing a philosophy of ministry. We must a) seek to
make it Biblical since the Bible gives us absolute norms for church structure and function and b) seek to fit
the model to our situation and gifts since the Bible gives us freedom to be creative in order to reach our
communities for Christ.
Many church leaders today are divided into two camps, the traditionalists and the practitioners. The
traditionalists are concerned about conforming their ministry to the Bible, but they do not grasp as clearly
the need to obey the Scripture in the present time and place. Thus they simply teach the Biblical doctrine of
the church to their people without administering these truths for spiritual renewal and without
contextualizing these truths into an appropriate philosophy of ministry (often because they fear a
relativizing element). Instead, traditionalists usually find the idea of a philosophy of ministry distasteful.
They may insist that there is just one Biblical ministry design for the church and that they are achieving it.
But this does not mean that traditionalists have no philosophy of ministry. Rather, they tend to uncritically
adopt favorite historical models of ministry (from Calvins Geneva English Puritanism, 19th century
Our theological and
ecclesiological commitments
The needs and capacities of the
Culture & context

The calling and capacities of the
church planter (and leaders)


revivalism or the traditional parish method from the old country).
Practitioners, on the other hand, are most concerned to be relevant and effective. Often this can become a
bald success-orientation. They usually discover some effective church or they have been involved in such a
congregation. The ministry design of that church becomes the absolute required way to run any effective
church. As a result, they will tend to reproduce this model wherever they go, without regard to their own
gifts or the culture in which they function.
The problem is that practitioners are just as blind to the importance of ministry design as traditionalists. But
the root of their problem is different. Practitioners are not theologically grounded and reflective enough to
tell the difference between the principle and the application.
And just like traditionalists, practitioners run immediately to church growth techniques without considering
renewal dynamics. Without renewal dynamics, church growth techniques can become merely marketing
techniques that attract a clientele rather than building a congregation.
In summary, there is not just one absolute Biblical model of the church. Each church is just one model of the
true church. Without this understanding, one can become proud and see ones own tradition or experience
or insight as the final, absolute reality, instead of a model. A minister/leader who does not grasp this insight
can only reproduce the same ministry design wherever he goes, regardless of context or new insights from
the Bible. But a leader who understands this concept can become a sensitive theologian-minister who is able
to distinguish principle from method.
REFLECTION QUESTION
Take Frames triangle and apply it to your situation. At the top (what the Bible says about the church), list
items that are Biblically required. At the bottom left (what I know about my culture/community), list specific
needs, sins, strengths, challenges and opportunities of your target community. At the bottom right (what I
know about myself) list gifts, talents, strengths and weaknesses that describe you.












John F. Thomas; Vs. 1.5; 5/12/11