Strategic Plan Building Up the Body of Christ Strategic Planning, Part 3 of 3 [11/07/2003] In this final installment of the Strategic Planning, I would like to touch a bit on the Church Government and organizational aspect of the church. To start with, this will be a church planted under the PCA (Presbyterian Church of America). [The word “Presbyterian” does NOT need to appear on the name of the church though.] As such, we will adopt the Presbyterian form of church government, with (1) pastors & elders for spiritual oversight, and (2) deacons (& trustees) for administration, service and ministry of mercy. In the initial stage, this structure may not be very evident, however, as we mature, we would begin to place the launch team members in more defined roles. As of now, the tentative “pastoral team” (a very loose term I must emphasize) will be consisted of me and a couple of committed seminarians – Maranatha and Brian. The three of us, I foresee, will be responsible for the teaching curriculum and preaching schedule once the church is launched. Conventional (and biblical) wisdom tells us that such an inexperienced core can be a recipe for disaster. Sensing our thorough inadequacy, we will surely seek out other mature Christian leaders (such as Rev. Krispin) for guidance and advice. I am also hoping to recruit a few older couples – godly and full of wisdom *grin* *grin* – to join us so that there will be accountability and support for us, the younger ones =) These older couples will bring godly counsel to both young couples and single adults. Equally important is the role of deacons – here broadly defined as taking care of the administrative duties and developing mercy ministries. We need gifted, committed and godly folks to help organize the community center’s activities, home Bible Study groups, visitations, and other evangelistic efforts. These are all integral part of the church plant. Like Stephen and Philip in Acts, they are expected to bear witness to the gospel in their roles as deacons (though hopefully they won’t get martyred too soon J) Of course, opportunities for service abound with or without an official titles. After all, none of us are here for personal honor, but to glorify Jesus who is the head of the church. The administrative headquarter of the church plant will be located on the 3rd floor of 816 Tasker Street. This is not some fancy business building, but our humble home two blocks from Emmanuel Chapel. Our finished basement provides extra space for meeting and office also. To cut down on budget, at least in the first year, everything will be operated from the home office. Our home will also be used for home fellowship group. We may also have a couple more meeting places within the community open to us. And if some of you decide to move into the community, we encourage you to open your home for both formal and informal gatherings. Concerning Sunday services, while I am still going back and fro with a few options, my present inclination is to start both Chinese and English worship all at once. [We may need to work a bit on the logistics, since Emmanuel Chapel also has their Sunday worship there, but it is a doable option.] The chief rationales are (1) some American Born Chinese (ABCs) or America Raised Chinese (ARCs) in the community do speak good English, (2) some immigrant kids, say ESL students, prefer more exposure to the English language, (3) there are many other non-Chinese English-speaking unbelievers in the community. So we may be pleasantly surprised if we start an English ministry right away. We also seem to have the right mix of people (Maran, Brian and I, who are all bilingual and eager to preach), at least for Sunday preaching. I think the whole picture will become clearer once the launch team is gathered and individual roles can be defined based on gifts and calling. For now, you have to live with my somewhat milky picture of what the church would look like... We may also need to investigate further the short-term and long-term relationship between the church and the community center. Again, there are various models to look at. The good news is that we know we are surrounded by many loving and experienced mentors. People such as Rev. William Krispin, Dr. Manny Ortiz (Professor Emeritus of Urban Missions at WTS) all have shown great interest in the project. And I know we would seek them out as much as possible for their godly counsel. I should also add that we hope to provide a series of training seminars for the eventual launch team. Urban missionaries would come to speak, sharing with us their passions, lessons learned and, most of all, God’s faithfulness in their lives and ministry. I heard from Rev. Krispin that Dr. John Perkins will be in town next March. We sure hope to have him challenge and inspire us. I am also hoping for a visit from Dr. Russell Jeung next April. Russell – a “recovering yuppie” – is a sociologist from San Francisco State University. He and his church friends are living among and ministering to a group of Cambodian and Latino refugees. In my next email, I will present you with a budgetary analysis looking at various staffing scenarios. For now, I urge you to continue to prayerfully consider your (possible) roles in this church plant. “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:11-13 [Home]