Totally agree! I started what was, at the time, a new kind of Baptist church, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention but organized as a ministry to the non-churched, the church burn-outs and worn-outs, those who'd been missed by the evangelism nets cast by traditional churches. We caught the interest and needs of people from all walks of life, presenting the positive, uplifting and life changing Gospel in ways that could be applied to everyday life. The convention watched with cautious optimism. Some of our innovative ways must have given them pause, yet our success was obvious. Movers and shakers, leaders from all aspects of business, people from many other denominations and backgrounds came to worship alongside one another. Starting with two families, we grew to over 1,000 members. Within 21 years we constructed, on 10 acres of strategically located property, an Activity Building (housing Bible Study, AWANA, Christian School), and a 25,000 sq ft., 1600 seat, state of the art Worship Center with offices, etc. Innovation must be allowed by mainline denominations. Failure of start-up ministries must, while not planned for or encouraged, be allowed. For often, out of failure will come great knowledge - like making certain your innovation is begun only after due diligence, studying the demographics where the new ministry is to be located, making certain you have the "right" kind of leadership available to you, an agreed upon Mission Statement and Philosophy of Ministry plus a host of other important things. Check out my youtube video introduction for more on the subject.
Great blog!
David
http:www.strategicbookpublishing.com/
ABCsOfMinistry.html
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