Philosophy of Ministry

Philosophy of Ministry

History shows that in the course of vast resurgence and large arousing, religious sections have grown. These sections have become more and more planned and prearranged as time passed by. Instead of the Christ and the people requested to serve for him, the focus slowly got shifted to that of organization and leadership. These shifts lead to very less work for the people and more work for the leaders. Hence, leaders overworked and people dried up which ultimately resulted in inactive gifts of God. Leadership, in a conventional hierarchical construction is located at the apex of a pyramid structure. Everybody glance at the leaders as the spotlight is on the leadership. This can lead to ignorance of people at the bottom, as they are not the focus. The ministry chooses an unusual method or philosophy. This method is an inverted pyramid wherein leadership is placed at the bottom. Here the focus is upon the individuals who were ignored earlier. They become the center of notice and commence getting enlarged nourishment, concentration, transfer of pat, and development of their spiritual gifts. The function of leadership then becomes one of a catalyst, one who makes space for, assists, and backs the exercise of gifts and other's ministries. (New Beginnings)

Philosophy of Ministry:

In order to praise God's glory, churches exist. When people approach Christ and become tied into His image, the praise of God's glory take places. The demonstration of the glory of God's heavenly spirit happens by means of rescuing errant people and making them like God's Son. Hence, the chief role of church is to fetch people to Christ and see them changed to His character. A church must strongly follow three chief objectives. They are: Praising the Lord: The church must first and foremost praise and respect the Lord; Preparing the Saints: "Preparing" is one of the principal ways to help people to be like Jesus Christ. This is achieved as the gifted people of the church dispense their lives into others and they in turn reach out to others with the dream of every supporter a minister and an ambassador; Evangelizing the Lost: A church is not satisfying one of the great motives God has left her on this planet if it is not reaching out to the lost. When we do not evangelize, we turn into stone. (a Biblical Philosophy of Ministry)

Setting objectives and working for them enables us to achieve our goals or purposes. Specific vehicular objectives were established by God, which will carry us toward God's ultimate designs for the church. However, we must know what they are and be steadfast to their use. The two types under which the church should function are: the church is to be assembled for instruction, enlightening, worship and fellowship; the church is to be scattered throughout the week for the purpose of evangelism and ministry. Frequent evaluation should take place by the church with regard to meeting the objectives and the church should not get lost on its way to institutionalism. Ministers are the people of the church and they need to be educated for the kind of growth in the Word that leads to altered lives and ministry. A group of fellow priests or ministers should be lead by elders/pastors who are talented, trained, and skilled believers and a minister has to lead a group of untrained audiences. (a Biblical Philosophy of Ministry)

The philosophy of ministry according to me are as follows: Though Jesus uses all of us, His disciples in order to liberate each other and set us free, the power of Jesus lies behind all ministries. When I am weak then I am strong. This means when I can acknowledge the weaknesses of my human nature, then, I have time and again found a fresh strength which is not my own but a reward which has been given, frequently through others, from a kindhearted God. (My Philosophy of Ministry)

Discipleship:

Disciple tutors Christians the principles of the Bible, which include prayer, set of guidelines, affiliation, Christian living, service, and adoration. Most Christians will not appreciate how to live out their faith if discipleship is absent from our churches. In case of absence of disciples, Christians will not be able to tackle troubles, observe, distribute their faith, or develop effectively spiritually, because no one is molding, or presenting them the way. A discipleship covers more than just inviting Christ in, and goes much beyond baptism. The entry into the faith and Christian life starts with our conversion, our recognition of Christ as Savior, our election. An effective church is one, which ensures mentoring, creating relationships, and teaching the members by others, caring about people, who are being trained, encouraged, and guided. The role of church is to shape leaders who produce other leaders as a consequence of their growth. The leader disciples and prepares others is one who is living the faith for themselves and making goals for their personal development before they create aims for others. As they are attempting to be a better child of God, their talents and capabilities are growing them to be a better worker. There are three main principles in discipleship: "Relationships and Mentoring; Teaching; Service." (What is Discipleship?)

Principles of Leadership:

Elders and deacons are the two groups of leaders in the church. Not much is known about deacons but substantial scriptural direction is given relating to the role and duties of the elders. Deacon's role appears to be that of assistants to the elders in the work of ministry. However, we should not restrict the work of deacons to just physical things for some of these men as Philip the evangelist and Stephen were talented and performed in the communication of the Word. (a Biblical Philosophy of Ministry) group is guided towards its goal with the help of a leader. Leaders are characterized by their push and willpower and perhaps a greater focus of positive qualities than non-leaders. As the leadership behaviors are abilities that can be learned, the concept of born-leaders has become obsolete. Compassion is one of the most significant talents a leader wants; compassion refers to an admiration for and knowledge of others needs. Compassion comprises both the ability to unearth needs and sensitivity to those needs. A compassionate leader is supportive; is willing to confront problems, and has a variety of problem-solving tools he can handle. Positive qualities of leadership include following behaviors: exuberance, passion, vigilance, integrated character, purposeful will control, adventuresome, and absence of doubtful nervousness. The leader recognizes three key functions in his role: Authority which is the power to make decisions; Responsibility which is the role to achieving an objective; Accountability is accepting success or failure. (Principles of Leadership)

According to Leighton Ford, true leadership receives power from God and uses this power to serve people in God's way. This type of leadership makes an eternal differentiation. (Leadership Principles from Peter Drucker) New Testament provides the principles of leadership as servant-hood, stewardship, shared power, ministry, modeling behavior and a membership in the body. (New Testament Principles of Leadership)

Great Commission Ministry:

The foundation and the power of our personal lives and our ministry is the God's poise through Jesus Christ. Our ambition is that our ministries will be discernible by an unconditional devotion to God, through prayer and by studying, abiding by and teaching His Word. To achieve the Great Commission, the local church is God's medium. In order to win people to Christ, build them to adulthood, elevate leaders, and to plan church planting teams to be sent out for the extension's kingdom, the church is the best place. Precedence is placed on developing pastors and other leaders of Christ-like character inside the local church. All Christians are not just the pastors, but are authorized through the Holy Spirit to be workers in the church. Hence, each of us has to endow every other member to use his/her spiritual gifts to serve others. Reaching the whole world with the gospel of Jesus Christ and making disciples of all the nations is the eventual goal and mission. (Core Ministry Values)

Smaller Church Paradigm and Other Paradigms:

paradigm is a collection of viewpoints that act as a model for one's sense of actuality. One's actions are wrought eventually by this model or belief system. That is a person will do what he believes. Yet another way to appreciate paradigms is to see them as a collection of established value judgments, which exist at the core of one's being. This is usually referred to as a world wide view. When we are talking about paradigms, we are exploring models of thinking which decide your behavior and way of life, irrespective of whether you realize it or not. (Paradigm Shift 1992)