Today in class, we were visited by Nick Warnes who is part of a church planting team in the North East LA area.
I really appreciated hearing Nick's story today in class, though the kind of church they are planting is not what I want to plant. I do greatly appreciate that they have thought through what they are doing, and their thoroughness challenges me to be as thorough in my thinking.
Someone asked Nick today what would happen if he left, implying that if the church would struggle without him at the helm, then something perhaps isn't right, as if a more successful plant would be one in which he could leave without the church suffering.
I disagree with that. I think if a person, any person, leaves a church, the church should feel it. The church shouldn't be able to continue as normal if a person is suddenly gone. Imagine you lose a foot or a finger. The body would feel it and have to change. I'm antisympathetic to organizations, and especially churches, that can perpetuate without the people who make them up.
I agree with your concern about amputations.
ReplyDeleteI also think (perhaps influenced by my day job as someone who is paid to encourage sustainability within the movement) that if a church hinges too much on one personality, if there has not been adequate internal leadership development, then there will be a problem at some point.
Peace,
James Watson
I totally agree with that, James. I just wanted to offer the counter-argument to the one implied in class, and I wanted to offer it for my own benefit more than for anyone else's. In my pursuit of decentralized leadership, I tend to forget the other side of things.
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