In light of recent issues it behooves all of us who are in the full-time ministry to make sure that we have good accountability structures in place. Will this stop all problems? No, but like Haggards former pastorate, they dealt with the issue swiftly, and were able to remove him from a leadership role. Unfortunately, that would not happen in many churches i.e., Swaggart.
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Following a lead I got last week, I watched a mega church transform before my eyes Sunday morning.
Crossroads Community Church is a "mega-Calvary" in Vancouver,WA just across the river from Portland, OR.
Pastor Bill Ritchie laid out some radical changes in church governance that appear on the surface to address everything that we have spoken about for two years here on the Phoenix Preacher.
Using 1 Cor 12:27 as his text, ( "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.") Ritchie laid out the following changes designed to create an "organism" instead of an "organization".
Ritchie than laid out a plan to transform his huge church from "marbles that roll in and roll out, to grapes that grow in a cluster, coming together and being squeezed together to make great wine"
While he cautioned that the ideas are not completely fleshed out , Ritchie said the governance part is already in place.
Instead of a traditional board, Crossroads will go to a "Servant Leader Team".
This team will oversee various aspects of the ministry of Crossroads.
The ten man team will include 5 pastors, as well as 5 rotating members of the congregation. Read More.
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