Skunk Works
The Perfect Storm
Throughout history the next great movement has consistently emerged from the convergence of the perfect storm of factors brought together and preordained by God in his unique plan. What if the next great movement, possibly an awakening of historic proportions, stands knocking at our door? What if we are being called to serve as catalysts and stewards of this next movement of God? What if that faint knocking coincides with the growing discontent of a growing number of our leading prevailing church leaders? A discontent that has been difficult to even verbalize.
In the past 30 years the number of mega-churches has increased from under 100 to over 7,500. In the past 10 years the number of multi-site churches has increased from under 100 to over 2,000. By the numbers, these prevailing church models are movements and these churches enjoy the national platform, the national voice, and the resources to profoundly impact the Kingdom.
But to what end? In spite of the rapid growth of these prevailing churches we are losing ground. Some estimate the percent of people living in the US who will never be reached by prevailing church models to be in excess of 60%. Numerous studies and books are being written documenting the flight from and frustration with the institutional church. Yet the local church is Jesus' plan for reaching the world.
A growing number of our mega-church and multi-site church leaders are experiencing what Bill Hybels calls a holy discontent. Some would say a mid-life or Halftime crisis. A large percentage of our prevailing churches are lead by founding pastors at the mid-career point. After growing large churches, starting campuses, planting churches, and doing the externally focused thing, a growing number appear to be experiencing a discontent rooted in the urgency that there must be a more leveraged impact than simply growing bigger.
The prevailing church is strong at "catching" and converting. The holy discontent described above also includes a dimension that we need to become better at "releasing." Jesus said "as the Father has sent me, so send I you." This holy discontent causes us to wrestle with this command to be more than catchers of men but also to be senders. Unlike boomers who generally are comfortable contributing to ministry, the young emerging leaders seek to be ministry; to live missional lifestyles.
These young emerging leaders are demonstrating a strong idealism rooted in service. Their scorecards are different. They measure success not by the size of buildings or budgets or staff but by their sending capacity, their relationships, and their impact in improving lives. These leaders are likely to respect the structures and strengths of the prevailing church models while at the same time resonating with the paradigms of more incarnational ministry approaches.
In recent years a growing schism emerged between those calling themselves incarnational leaders and those leading prevailing church models. The conversation has focused on what Jim Collins calls the "tyranny of the OR" rather than the "Genius of the AND." However, a growing number of leaders are seeing the possibilities that exist in the "AND". Specifically, the potential impact of applying missional / incarnational AND prevailing church models.
The rapid growth of social networking and online technologies is changing the way we connect. From Internet campuses to faith communities meeting in homes, the Internet has opened a whole new opportunity for churches to reach the lost. Technology becomes one of the greatest tools available for the prevailing church to release its leaders and engage in more incarnational faith community approaches.
If the storm of factors discussed above were not enough, our economy is in what some experts call the greatest challenge in our nation's history. Most mega-churches and multi-site churches in existence today have only enjoyed strong economic times. The staff driven / lead values of the prevailing church are already being challenged by the downturn in the economy. Many churches have made the painful decision to layoff staff. We now face great challenges that are likely to cause a renewed focus and call for volunteerism in our churches.
God is at work amidst all the uncertainty. The faint knocking is increasing in intensity. A growing number of leaders sense it. We sit on the leading edge of a great movement of God. A movement we seek to cooperate with him in.
Our "skunk works" initiatives are aimed at leveraging this perfect storm as an opportunity for advancing the Kingdom through new church work. Examples of initiatives include:
Kingdom Multipliers
Significance Seekers
A platform that attracts high-capacity, Kingdom-minded entrepreneurs looking to engage their time, talent and treasure in results oriented Kingdom initiatives. Our goal is to see a rapidly expanding number of these leaders experience the joy of participating in the most entrepreneurial work in the Kingdom (that of new church work). Elements of this platform include (1) an entrepreneurs club that starts and runs for-profit business enterprises as a source of funding for high-impact church plants, (2) a mentoring program for entrepreneurs to come alongside emerging church leaders as they start their churches, (3) a connecting place to discover how your experience, gifting, and passions can best be leveraged for 100X impact in new church work.
Converge Online User Community
A unique online software application that wraps project management functionality in social networking. This commercial grade software has been under development for over 2 years and has the potential to transform the way church planting organizations coach, equip and supervise their planters.
ExponentialChannel
The equivalent of an online television network for church planting. The channel features coverage of national church planting events and allows any leader to create their own channel in minutes.
Compassion by Design
We are working closely with this ministry to pilot a hybrid approach to planting that combines the best of incarnational methods with the best of attractional methods.
2 x 2 (best of multi-site meets church planting)
We are looking beyond to the future beyond multi-site planting and championing an approach that integrates the best of multi-site planting with the best of traditional church planting methods.
City Movements
We are looking at ways to create synergies within four different movements (generosity, Halftime, externally focused churches, and church planting) for the purpose of transforming communities
Beyond Prevailing Church Models
We are experientially exploring the possibilities in marrying the mega-church / multi-site prevailing church approaches with the emerging missional / incarnational faith community expressions (i.e. leveraging the strengths of the large church platform, voice and resources with the strengths of the emerging incarnational approaches). This is an R&D / "skunk works" type initiative that could have profound and strategic significance into how the church will move into the future especially in North America and potentially for the church in the West. Click here for more information.