Growing in the Life of Faith

Having evolved from Wesleyan-holiness movement and having received great formational impact from many of the 20th century denominations, Pentecostalism inherits numerous church practices. Yet, several practices are historically, culturally and ecclesiastically distinctive from the Pentecostal churches. Among them are:
1. Baptism with the Holy Spirit accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking in tongues (glossolalia).
2. Practicing of the gifts of the Spirit, with the gifts of speaking and interpreting of tongues being predominant.
3. Foot washing services, as a part of the communion service.
4. Enthusiastic and emotional worship involving the whole congregation.
5. Altar services accompanied with shouting, running and trances.
6. Prayer clothes as a part of prayer for the sick.
7. Life of holiness, not only as a personal lifestyle, but as a discipleship model as well.
8. Inspiring the process of uniting and unifying people from different social, educational, economical and cultural backgrounds forming a movement without borders.

The absence of the above practices in Pentecostal discipleship will result in the following negative implications:
1. Discontinuity with Pentecostal heritage.
2. Discontinuity with Pentecostal theology.
3. Mutilation of Pentecostal Practices.
4. Discontinuity with Pentecostal identity and transformation into a new identity distinct from the Pentecostal one.
5. Failure to fulfill the divine calling for the Pentecostal mission.

Indeed, discipleship can exist without the above listed practices and actions, in the same way it exists in other Christian denominations and movements. However, discipleship of this type will not carry a Pentecostal distinctiveness. Therefore, it is clear that Pentecostal discipleship can exist and be productive only when modeled after distinct Pentecostal practices. Only then will Pentecostal discipleship be a cross-cultural and a cross-denominational movement.

It is unfortunate that Pentecostal practices, even within the global Pentecostal community, are disappearing. It is even more troubling that in many congregations and movements they are mutating to create a new identity much different from the Pentecost of the Bible. For example, in the beginning of the 21st century:
1. Baptism with the Holy Spirit accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking in tongues (glossolalia) is often replaced by the modern and postmodern religious experiences like “holy laughter,” “holy rain,” etc.
2. Practicing of the gifts of the Spirit, is a rare appearance often replaced by “prophetic” utterance and leadership of types quite distanced from the Biblical prophetic operation.
3. Foot washing services are not a part of our worship any longer.
4. Enthusiastic and emotional worship involving the whole congregation is more often faked and imitated than genuinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. The reason: great desire for the results without much discipline to go through the process.
5. Altar services accompanied with shouting, running and trances may still occur, yet they often do not fulfill their original purpose: to reconcile both Christians and sinners with their Creator.
6. Prayer clothes as a part of prayer for the sick are practiced as ministry, yet the results of healing are often not there.
7. A life of holiness has been rejected as impossible, impractical and foolish. The few who still press forth for practicing it have been classified as social outcasts by both the world and the global Christian community.
8. The idea of uniting and unifying people from different social, educational, economical and cultural backgrounds forming a movement without borders has been implemented by the world into the idea of a “global community,” yet it has very little presence and practice in the Pentecostal churches.

Leading and Managing a Growing Church

According to George Hunt the three main roles of each pastor of an effective and growing church are:

1. Leader communicating the church vision, purpose, and direction
2. Manager utilizing people and resources, assigning specific roles, jobs, and tasks, in order to achieve the mission’s purpose.
3. Administrator facilitating the flow of the organization and makes sure it is efficient. (p. 26).

The following paper is a basic list of my actions in my present context of ministry grouped according to the above categories.

Leadership

1. Creating, providing and consciously supporting a spiritual environment of prayer for leadership decision-making.
2. Vision: Receiving the vision for the department and communicating a vision through all existing structures to all people in the department without any exception.
3. Purpose: presenting a purpose of the vision – what would be the results of fulfilling the vision.
4. Mission: how does the vision compliment the overall mission of the congregation?
5. Relationships: relating to people s needs, spiritual growth and transformation.
6. Message: in the church context providing a message related to the vision empowering the gifts of the people, encouraging with a hope for the future and at the same time ministering to their present situation personally, in their families as a basic church structure, and in the corporate presence of the church congregation as a community.
7. Interacting with existing systems, structures and hierarchy in the church through providing an adequate leadership model in the assignment department.

Management

1. Creating, providing and consciously supporting a spiritual environment of prayer for management decision-making.
2. Creating an environment for adequate and timely problem solving in relationship to relationships between people and resources or both.
3. Forming and continuously developing a dynamical financial strategy in accordance with the overall financial strategy of the congregation that provides for the ministry needs.
4. Budget planning as a part of the annual church budget presented by the senior pastor and approved by the pastoral/church council.
5. Creating relationships with long and short term sponsors.
6. Providing and implementing long and short term fundraiser strategies.
7. Finding, creating and building resources providing and adequate model for their purposeful usage.
8. Creating annual and/or five-year projections for the further development of the ministry department in accordance with the available resources and the adequately provided leadership plans.

Administration

1. Creating, providing and consciously supporting a spiritual environment of prayer for administration decision-making.
2. Establishing communication with leaders and members through a variety of mail outs, websites, weekly bulletins, monthly newsletters and presentations.
3. Cataloging member profiles in an information database to create a holistic church communication structure, and available for planning an extended church strategy.
4. Forming basic structures and systems to aid the youth ministry:

• Volunteer leaders
• Student leaders
• Small groups
• Small group leaders
• Weekly meetings
• Wednesday night leaders
• Sunday school teen program, etc.

1. Providing training, feedback and communication with the department structures aiming better results and relationships.
2. Participating in church boards, interacting with directors, establishing and executing the proper chain of command.
3. Creating and publishing reports and statistics inclusive of results.
4. Analyzing the available data, structuring the results with proper feedback and providing a strategic plan for further development of the ministry.