Transforming Church

These are all generalizations but they speak to any church's need to maintain balance. Warren's observations were not radically new. They are based on scripture. He just wrote about them in a pragmatic way.

His sequel, The Purpose-Driven Life, examines these same themes from the perspective of an individual's life. The book has been a record breaking phenomenon. 23 million copies have been sold (largest selling devotional book in history). Rick Warren recently told his staff "it's not really a great book." He just happened to write a simple book about some great themes. It speaks to many people's spiritual hunger.

The "40 Days of Purpose" campaign was built around this book. I was reluctant to try it at first. As a former research engineer, I have an aversion to trying the first version of anything. I prefer to let someone else work out the kinks! I was wrong. Very wrong. I soon heard from respected colleagues that the campaign had remarkable impact on their churches.

I was amazed at the comprehensive nature of the campaign materials when I actually examined them. I thought I knew campaigns! After all I was once a coordinator for the ELCA Mission 90 campaign. We even won some awards for that work. The campaign was designed to be an emphasis for an entire decade. Unfortunately leadership lost interest after just two years.

I"ve come to realize that denominational offices are not the only source for good campaigns. 40 Days of Purpose is an excellent example. The kit comes with easy to follow instructions and a wide range of flexible options. Congregations are encouraged to adapt. As a parish pastor I appreciated the way it empowers laity to share in leadership. This shared ministry actually added excitement to our parish and activated many new ministries (they are still going strong).

I know it's hard for many liturgical churches to get beyond the first chapters of the book. Many of us have many different views about predestination. All that aside, we used the book as an opportunity to discuss religious differences. Our people loved the opportunity for comparative theological reflection. Members mentioned they had not read a religious book in years and now that's all they read. The Purpose-Driven Life primed their spiritual pumps for further study and growth.

During the campaign I was also amazed by the many visitors. Studies show that significant numbers of The Purpose Driven Life were bought by the unchurched people. Many folks are now logging onto www.PurposeDriven.com to specifically find churches that are addressing these issues.

We also began to network with other Lutheran churches to share ideas at www.PurposeDrivenLutherans.com This enabled us to learn from pioneers like Chris Nelson (Bethlehem, Minneapolis) who was recently featured in Time magazine. Over 800 Lutheran churches have participated in campaign (also 2000 Methodist, 800 Presbyterians & Reformed and 100 Episcopalians).

I've found the Purpose-Driven staff quite open to suggestions. They earnestly want to partner with all churches. They even asked a group of us to adapt campaign materials for liturgical churches (including re-writing Rick Warren's sermons for lectionary based congregations).

Recently we led national conferences for hundreds of Catholic leaders looking for practical suggestions for sharing the Gospel. One event was held in parish that Catholic Digest called a model parish for the nation. The priest was the author of the official American Catholic Missal on Evangelism. I was stuck by the desire of Saddleback staff to equally learn from the Catholics. These events are a new form of ecumenical dialog.

Rick Warren has shown himself to be a humble servant. He teaches that we need to embrace a "theology of the cross." He donates book proceeds back into ministry. He's challenged his church to spread the Gospel, openly work for peace, feed the world's hungry, eliminate illiteracy, and fight aids. This has become an ecumenical worldwide ministry.

Saddleback staff often talks about the importance of being spirituality transparent. They don't want to hinder others from being transformed by the power of Christ.

Augsburg Fortress has published Eric Burtness' Lutheran guide to adapt these resources (he teaches a course about Purpose-Driven paradigms at Luther Seminary). Details are at www.LutheranVoices.com Saddleback even encouraged me to write a "Lutheran" Bible study based on The Purpose-Driven Life themes.

Saddleback realizes many churches can not afford the original fees charged for the 40 Days of Purpose campaign ($500 to $1100). Recently they announced that alumni churches could help sponsor other churches for only $100 (cost of materials). Contact me for details.

Consider Newton’s Law "A body at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force." Purpose-Driven ministries are just the kind of force that will help propel congregations into exciting new ministries.

Bottom line; our church is a more exciting place to serve now. There is a real sense of shared ministry and excitement. We are soon planning to open a satellite mission. Giving and attendance is way, way up. Life is good. I wish for you the same.