What Not To Expect From Church of the Cross (1): Top-Down, Programmatic Ministry

Every church wants you to know what to expect when you come. But perhaps it might be a bit more helpful sometimes if churches communicated what not to expect. After all, despite many of our attempts to “be different,” let’s be honest: many churches appear the same on the surface. How do we pull back the curtain a bit and get a real understanding for how each local church approaches being the church? To that end, we are beginning a series here at the Church of the Cross blog letting you know what not to expect from us. This isn’t meant to be off-putting (unless you’re looking for the things we don’t offer I guess), simply honest. We want you to know the church we believe God is calling us to be.

For example, don’t expect “top-down” ministry from Church of the Cross. In other words, “ministry” doesn’t come from only from the leaders in the form of programs. This conviction comes largely from Ephesians 4:11-16:

11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Notice particularly, in verses 11 and 12 that God have pastors “to equip the saints for the work of ministry.” Who does the work of ministry? The saints! This is a very different approach from what we have come to find in many churches. In many churches, the paid-staff is responsible for solving every problem and bearing every burden, but as Paul says in Galatians 6:1-2, we are to bear “one another’s” burdens.

What this means practically for Church of the Cross is that we stress living in community rather than a programmatic approach to discipleship. Gospel-growth happens in the context of relationship, not in a classroom. Our leaders are here to equip you to do the work of ministry, not to do ministry for you.

This means that we will look to meet needs through you rather than for you. We will urge you to try to live in Gospel-centered community with other believers, letting them know you, see your struggles and find opportunities to bear one another’s burdens, to speak the Gospel into one another’s lives. This means that, though we might have less on our official calendar than some other churches, the expectation may actually be higher. This means infinitely more than simply providing academic opportunities for you to learn more about the Bible. It means providing opportunities for God’s truth to lead to worship that fuels obedience.

None of this is simply in the pursuit of being different for the sake of difference. But if the biblical model is actually what Paul says in Ephesians 4, then maybe, just maybe we should stop expecting other people to do the work of ministry for us. Come join us at Church of the Cross in exploring just what this means for our church family.