The Business of Church

Almost halfway through The Prevailing Church. So what has happened so far? I have to say I am a little disappointed with this book. In Chapter 2 Pope has made further reference to Matt 16, drawing out four marks of a prevailing church. This is about as far as biblical study goes. There does not seem to be any more!

The following chapter rehearses the six marks of a growing church. (Thankfully, one of those is not a vibrant youth work!) These are described as ‘widely recognised’. I think this reveals his controlling paradigm for church planting. This is to look at the features that seem to be evident in growing churches. The reader infers that they need to be evident in any church he in turn seeks to plant. Perhaps this explains his lack of biblical consideration in the book.

The first mark is for the church to possess a biblical theology (that is, a biblically based theology, not the academic discipline of ‘biblical theology’) and polity. This seems good, so far. The next three deal with the spiritual life of the church (including ‘Spiritual Renewal Dynamics’. Is there a verse for that?!) The last two concern the availability of the necessary resources. There is no biblical analysis in any of this – just bold assertion.

The one missing element, in Pope’s view, is the need for an ‘Effective Ministry Plan’. This is Pope’s contribution to this discussion. This idea has grown out of his own experience in church-planting. There are 10 elements, each of which are considered in the next 10 chapters. I have completed the first three.

The sequence begins well. One must have a ‘God-honouring purpose’. He draws on the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism for guidance: What is the man’s primary purpose? …to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Sounds good again. However the remainder begins to read like of a business management textbook strangely peppered with spiritual language. The business of church is a very modern enterprise.

So. On to the second half…