Thoughts on Movements
This week I’ve been working with a charismatic movement of some 300 churches that were planted out of Ghana (Action Chapel International) led by Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams. They had pulled together several of their key pastors from over the world to work out a structure to allow them to explode throughout the world. The presently have churches in Ghana, Netherlands, U.S., London, Italy, Germany, Benin, Nigeria, Cdlvoire, Sierra Leone and Liberia and are opening churches in Asia and the Middle East. Their goal is 150 new churches in 2009.
They are functioning like a multi site church- one church in many locations. Like many movements that take off explosively they have no way of holding all of the leaders accountable financially and missionally. Getting hole or the financial is the easy part- you just start tracking and holding each church accountable for a certain amount coming back into the movement. Getting hold of the missional is more difficult.
In the mind of the Archbishop, the movement exists to plant churches throughout the world. This means that each church has to be willing to assist in the planting of churches, both with money and with planters.
The problem is this mission has never been intentionally articulated and recast on a regular basis. It has been a practice but not a clearly defined mandate that could hold all the churches accountable.
So we had to nail down the vision of the movement- to make Christ known throughout the world through the multiplication of Action Chapel International Churches. Once that was done I had to say, from hence forth all churches that remain in this movement must be on board with financially and missionally supporting the vision.
Movements have to have two things to survive – trust in the founder and team players throughout the movement. There can be no deviation on the vision. They exist to plant churches throughout the world and everyone must commit to that vision.
The buy in during the second day was incredible. The Archbishop had embedded his church planting gene in his lieutenants. Now they are ready to move forward.
I’ve been thinking and writing about movements now for several years beginning with my book Unfreezing Moves. Lately I’ve worked on a paper titled The Anatomy of a Movement. History hasn’t been kind to movements. The only way they survive is if the founder leaves a fluid system in place that carries on his or her spirit and raises up an Elisha who is as charismatic as he or she is.
I have to say I’m having a ball working with this group and hope to have more opportunities to work with them and to learn from them. They are much different from me but they are on the same mission I’m on- to make Jesus known throughout the world.
I have one more day with the group and then I’m home for a three week vacation. I normally don’t work in the summer, but this summer has offered too many rare opportunities to turn down.
Bill Easum
www.easumbandy.com