Discipleship of New Members Through Teamnet Ministries Teams

During the calendar year 2009 Canyonville Church plans to conduct a minimum of two full-message evangelistic series. These meetings will be conducted by our Evangelism Team leaders and members. Canyonville Church is organized as a networking system of individual teams focused on various aspects of church life.
The team responsibilities relating to discipleship of new members are as follows:

• The Evangelism Team will lead out in continuing personal Bible studies with the new members, utilizing the Good News for Today Bible study guides and the gift NKJV Bibles.

• Discipleship Team will encourage new members to active participation in the Pastor’s Bible Class during Sabbath School time.

• Ministry Team will give support to health education, lifestyle changes, and group clinics for victory over destructive habits and addictions as may be needed.

• Fellowship Team will foster integration of the new members into the fabric of the church family by providing safe and wholesome social events and encouraging healthy relationships.

• Worship Team will encourage worship leaders and “up-front” participants to always be sensitive to the needs of new members and guests who may not be familiar with in-house “Churchese.”

• New members will be immediately included in one of the 12 Pastoral Care Parishes led the church elders, deacons, and deaconesses.
It should be noted that although the organizational structure is in place, the responsibilities and relationships outlined above are still somewhat formative. We are growing in our understanding of these ministries, but we believe that by God’s grace we can truly make a kingdom difference in the lives of people in our communities who are hungering and thirsting for the gospel.

Strategic Networking for Kingdom Growth

Introduction: The "Great Commission" Jesus delivered to his disciples on the eve of his ascension still rings in the hearts of his people today. "I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth," he said. "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20 NLT). This is the heart and soul of our calling as Christian believers. It is the key to success in every aspect of every Christian's experience. It is the driving element of vibrant life for every church.

Networking for the Kingdom: The present era of our society can legitimately be labeled "The Age of the Network." More than at any other time in the history of humanity, our world is linked together by countless lines of communication and relationships. Both individually and corporately, we have ties to everything and everybody. John Donne's 17^th century proclamation that "no man is an island, entire of itself" was a revolutionary concept in Renaissance England, but today his poetry seems almost prophetic. Connectivity is the real watchword for today.

A Structure of Mutual Support and Encouragement: In Teamnet Ministries, five main teams focus on five core arenas of church life: Worship, Fellowship, Ministry, Evangelism, and Discipleship. The teams are each supported in their work by the Spiritual Gifts Support Team (formerly known as the Human Resources Council (HRC)) and the Administrative Officers. Each team also has opportunity to encourage and support programs and activities conducted by any or all of the other teams. Team leaders/facilitators are encouraged to share upcoming events and other plans at each Church Board meeting, thereby providing opportunity for all the other teams to contribute to everyone else's success. Working together for a common purpose creates synergy and enthusiasm.

The Primacy of Worship: The bottom line of the Great Commission is to "make disciples." However, the purpose of discipleship, and subsequently fellowship, ministry, and evangelism, is to multiply the worship, praise, honor, and glory that we as created beings bring to our Creator God. Worship is what the church is about. The commodity we carry is hope, and through the gospel of hope souls without hope can be drawn to God and find their life in Him. We must continuously strive for inspiring worship services, which both edify and encourage every person present at every service to connect with the Living Source of life.

Prayer Power

There is great value in using an organization model that is in harmony with the economic realities of our times. Networking is the model that grew out of the emerging information age of the late 20th century. Anything that gets done today in any field is accomplished through some kind of network. As times change, any organization wanting to stay in touch with the times seriously needs to adapt and change the way it conducts its business. A church is no exception.

There is a major difference, however, between churches and other organizations such as businesses. Churches, by definition, include a spiritual dimension. Other organzations or corporations may be able to get along just fine without prayer or Holy Spirit direction. Not so, the church. Prayer is an absolute essential for successful church life. If the Holy Spirit is not resident in the church, the church has no hope of being what it should be.

Specifically, as relates to the subject of this blog, Teamnet Ministries can only work as the entire process of church life is bathed in prayer at every step. This is vital to the success of the mission. As prayer is the life of the believer, so it is also the very life of the church. Without prayer -- serious, constant, and searching prayer, neither this nor any other system of church governance has any hope of success.

Networking Teams

I first discovered the idea of networking teams while on a long train journey from Portland, Oregon to Cincinnati, Ohio during Christmas week, 1994. To pass the time I bought a book I thought looked interesting. The contents of that book revolutionized my understanding of effective organizations in today's world. The core concepts formed the structure on which we would eventually develop Teamnet Ministries. The book was The Age of the Network: Organizing Principles for the 21st Century by Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps, Oliver Wight Publications, Inc., 1994.

In The Age of the Network, Lipnack and Stamps proposed a new type of organization, what they called a "teamnet." The idea is that while teams are the best way to get anything done, a network of teams working together creates a nearly unstopable force. They coined the term "teamnet" to capsulize their idea.

As I read the book, I got more and more excited. I could see a church organized around this principle, coupled with the biblical doctrine of spiritual gifts, and administered by visionary leaders rather than status quo managers. Old-fashioned committees that normally talk more than act could be replaced by lean, focused teams composed of dedicated, passionate church members driven Holy Spirit inspiration. At the next Nominating Committee season in the church I was then pastoring (Hamlet, Ohio) I presented some of the ideas that had been rattling around in my mind since reading Lipnack and Stamps' book. One thing led to another, and eventually the intial organizational structure of Teamnet Ministries began to take shape. In time, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the project, which I defended in 1998, and graduated in June of that year from Andrews University with my D.Min. degree.

Since then, five churches that I have pastored have decided to try the Teamnet Ministries experiment, with varying degrees of success. Some have continued, while others have gone back to a more traditional method of filling church offices. Teamnet Ministries continues to be a work in progress as needed refinements are recognized and corrections are made.

This blog is open for input from people who have experienced working with Teamnet Ministries, for those who want to learn about it, and for those who believe in the potential of a church organized as a network of ministry teams working together for the purpose of God in the earth. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!