| Chapter 1 - The Importance of Teams
Introduction
This chapter presumes that two structures exist in the New Testament for the extension of the church; the church itself which ought to reproduce locally and spontaneously and church planting teams which are sent beyond the local area to start new churches. Church planting teams would correspond in the New Testament to apostolic bands. Church planting teams are made up of church planters who are itinerant in that they will work to plant the church and then move on as soon as possible to plant other churches. Both church planting teams and churches have authority which enable their members to fulfill their God given call. The goal of this chapter is to distinguish between the operation of these two authority structures and show why they are important.
By virtue of their calling, church planters enter and leave local church bodies regularly. Each church represents a God-ordained authority, and a church planter must understand the limit and scope of that authority upon him and his ministry. Church Planters work on church planting teams which also have a sphere of authority that needs to be clearly understood by both church planter and church (Cf. 2 Corinthians 10:8-18). In this chapter we will look at the authority of the commissioning church, the authority of the team, and the authority of the church being planted.
God delegated authority to His church to reach the world for Christ. God enables men to carry out this work by giving them abilities to shepherd and evangelize (Eph. 4:11f) equipping the church for every good work in this tasks. The Church is responsible to fulfill the great commission by penetrating the surrounding community as well as sending church planters (serving on teams) to the regions beyond.
God uses the church's authority to confirm those called to local leadership as well as to church planters called to the regions beyond. Although an individual himself may have a deep sense of calling, God's Holy Spirit will normally confirm His calling through the church's recognition of it. In the New Testament, the church recognized men whom God had called to church planting, laid hands on them, and sent them off to do the work (Cf. Acts 13:1-4). This is traditionally referred to as a missionary's "commissioning" by the church. A church planter may live by faith, having his financial needs provided from God by the offerings of the saints. But he may also provide for his physical needs through gainful employment in the area where he is church planting (tentmaking). This has the benefit of enabling him to develop normal relationships through which the gospel can be transmitted. He will also offer a good model for the saints and future leaders of the churches (especially house churches) who will normally be self supporting. (Cf. Acts 20:34f. For more on the subject of self-supporting church planters versus those living by faith see appendix 1.).
Commissioning, then, involves a church's recognizing God's call upon a man to the ministry of church planting and sending him out as part of a team. The church planter is thus called by God and then commissioned by a local assembly. The confirmation of authority to do the work of a church planter does not come from the church planter himself but is normally recognized by a local assembly through the laying on of hands and exercised within a team of those with like calling. In this way, the church planter does not fall into the trap of "commending himself" (Cf. 2 Cor. 10:18). The church planter is accountable to the commissioning assembly for carrying out his commission. In this way, the church retains what we will call "commissioning authority."
Commissioning authority is important for the church planters protection. He cannot do whatever he wishes. Instead, he is accountable to the commissioning assembly to engage in activities which are in keeping with his commission to plant churches.
The accountability inherent in commissioning authority also protects the church planter in the discouragement and spiritual warfare he regularly faces. A church planter may often want to quit. But since his commission was not confirmed by himself, he cannot decommission himself. Rather, he must return to the commissioning church for counsel if he desires to be decommissioned as a church planter (which amounts to a change in calling). The church confirms the Spirit's calling on a church planter and will likely also confirm the Spirit's direction if a person is no longer called to the work of church planting. In such a case the church planter will doubtlessly require help and encouragement from his commissioning church to restore him to another fruitful ministry and ensure that he not become a permanent casualty of spiritual warfare. Therefore the church planter will normally return to his commissioning church in the event of a change of call. (This would not be true if he receives a call to be an elder in a church he has planted. But he should still seek confirmation from his commissioning church. More on this below.)
Commissioning accountability also protects the church planter from doctrinal or moral impurity. The commissioning church, upon hearing of any rumor of misconduct, could recall a church planter and, if the problem so warrants, would no longer recognize his commission. This could also occur if his efforts were not in accord with his commission.
On the other hand, a church planter retains the authority to disavow the commissioning of the church if it becomes doctrinal impure, or if the church planter senses that the church is failing in holding him accountable. If the church planter were to do this, however, he should seek another assembly to commission him. If he can find none, perhaps he should reconsider whether, indeed, the Lord has called him to his ministry.
An additional protection of such an arrangement between the commissioning church and a church planter is that another church could not require the church planter to alter his call unilaterally, for this would violate the authority of the commissioning church. For example, if a church being planted by the church planter called him to remain on as an elder, the church planter is protected in that he would first have to consult with his commissioning church.
The commissioning church thus retains accountability for a church planter as far as fulfilling his commission. The commissioning church retains the right to no longer recognize the commission of the church planter if it believes that he is failing to carry out his commission.
When a church planter goes out to plant a church, he labors where a church authority does not normally exist. The Holy Spirit provides another (though temporary) structure for accountability. In the book of Acts, church planters did not operate independently, but rather as a band or team. So, as in the New Testament, a team of at least two commissioned church planters provides the day to day accountability that both of them need as they set about the task of planting the church. We have found two to be manageable as a team, but three is much stronger (We are talking family units here, a husband and wife being a unity and therefore not a team in the church planting sense). Teams of more than 5 we have found to be unwieldy especially if most of them are self-supporting tentmakers with families. It becomes very difficult to schedule meetings where everyone can be present and the team derive the benefit of deliberating as a community over the problems and opportunities of the work.
Like the elders in Acts 20:28, a church planting team is mutually responsible for its members. Each has the responsibility of watching out for the others. Although there may be a team leader (as Paul seems to have been), the leader does not exert autocratic authority over the team members. The team is much more like an eldership (For more on eldership see Manual For House Church Planting in Networks, Chapters 16,17). A team leader's authority is primarily for the purpose of assuring that the team is moving ahead and functioning smoothly as well as coordinating interaction with other teams, churches and agencies.
In addition to being responsible for one another, a team is also to be submissive to one another. Decisions on the team would either be delegated (usually according to giftedness) or would be made by consensus as the team endeavors to discern and carry out the will of the Spirit. One must be wary of mistaking unity for consensus. Teams are not committees where no one takes responsibility or has authority. Rather, teams are more like elderships where different elders have different gifts and are called to lead in different areas. The other teammates respect this and will normally yield to a teammate when they are functioning in their area of leadership. For instance let us suppose a gifted evangelist on the team sees an opening for a network of people to come to Christ and brings this opportunity to the team asking for help of one of two other teammates. The team would not be skeptical in his evaluation because of his gifts. If there were teammates available they would go with him and explore the possibility. Say, however, all the team was busily engaged in what each thought was profitable ministry. In this case the Team Leader would likely have to exercise his leadership if he felt that this priority should displace other priorities. He may have to influence a couple of teammates to see that their present work, though important to them, is less important to the team and the work than the new opportunity. This seems to be Paul's approach (Cf. Philippians 2:19f, I Corinthians 16:12). Strong team leadership is often necessary in a crisis.
In this way, team members are mutually submissive to the team. Gifts we have found important to recognize on a team are: evangelism, discipleship, leadership development, visionary, administration, peacemaker, etc. A member may have more than one gift and will likely need to exercise different gifts at different times. When that gift needs to lead, the team needs to submit to it's leadership. One of the most important gifts we have found is that of peacemaker. Since often team problems focus on the team leader, the peacemaker will often have to take a leadership position over the team leader in times of conflict. He often acts as a mediator. Teams need to recognize and affirm this gift since the person who exercises it may often appear retiring and passive. He will have to grow in order to effectively overcome his flesh which often desires a peace at any price.
Thus the team as a whole has authority over the individual members of the team. But because the team does not have commissioning authority, it normally receives members who have been commissioned by a local assembly. The team also has the right to reject a church planter that a church may commission and recommend to the team. The team may receive non commissioned members such as Luke (at Troas, Acts 16:8-10) but the norm would be Timothy (Acts 16:1-3). In the case of a non-commissioned member of the team, we try to get the first church they are involved in planting to confirm their calling and commission them. This also gives new churches the opportunity to have an outward vision as they become bonded to ones the labor among them and then move on.
The team also has the right to exclude a member whom they believe (through prayer and seeking the mind of the spirit) is no longer sufficiently helpful in the task of church planting to warrant their continued participation. The commissioning church should be notified by the team and should give guidance to such a member. The team cannot revoke a church planter's commission, only the commissioning church can do that. When disciplinary exclusion occurs, the commissioning church should be informed of the particulars so that they can shepherd the person back to health.
A team member can also initiate leaving the team when he believes the Holy Spirit is so leading. Again the commissioning church should step in to give confirmation at this point. We are strongly convinced that church planters should not operate solo.
Church planters are sometimes left behind to complete the final stages of getting a church reproducing (as with Titus and Timothy). If local, God-ordained leaders are functioning within the assembly, these elders must have the authority to make decisions regarding the church. Church planters can instruct and encourage, but should not usurp the leadership's responsibility to make decisions. Church planters must be aware of the divisive and undermining potential they represent, and make certain they function within the parameters the church sets.
So, once a church is established and leaders appointed, remaining or visiting church planters should function under the authority of that leadership (as a consultant to them). If a church heads in a direction contrary to what the church planter believes the Holy Spirit might be directing, he ought to meet with the leaders and prayerfully attempt to persuade them of such. But if they disagree he has only two choices: to submit and trust the Lord is leading through the leadership or to leave and entrust the church to the care of the Spirit (even disciplinary care).
Local church authority is limited to local church matters. Thus, the newly established church cannot direct the church planting team with regard to its mission and calling since the team functions extra-locally to plant new churches (even though they may be relatively close geographically). The local church exercises authority only in matters concerning the church. As noted before, the new church cannot dictate or change the calling of the church planter, since this authority is reserved for the commissioning church.
Sometimes a newly planted church may believe that God has called one of the church planters to remain on as an elder in their church. They should submit this sense of calling to the team and then to that church planters commissioning church for confirmation.
As church planters we have found the mutual accountability and support of a team is essential in sustaining the effort and energy necessary in keeping the shoulder to the plow. There have been many times when each of us would have quit without the help of the others. Weekly time together praying and worshipping our Lord, venting steam when frustrated, brainstorming when blocked and seeking counsel when stumbling, and other team activities have been crucial as we till resistant soil, whether in New England, Morocco or Malaysia.
We believe that commissioning authority, team authority, and church authority all exist to hold the church planter accountable and afford him protection in his effort to establish churches. Each authority has limits and, in the event that they may clash, every effort must be made to maintain the unity of the Spirit, that the testimony of Christ not be compromised. If we follow Scriptural guidelines, God will be glorified through the effective extension of His church. 1. What is the distinction between commissioning authority, team authority, and church authority?
2. How is a church planter accountable to his commissioning church?
3. How does team authority protect the church planter?
4. What should the church planter's attitude be toward the authority of the local church? In relation to the sending church?
5. How is the commissioning church responsible to the church planter? |