The ultimate goal of building this kind of community—one built on distinctively Christian love that flows from the distinctively Christian Gospel—is to display God’s glory throughout our surrounding neighborhoods, our cities, and ultimately the world. 

The covenantal, careful, corporate, cross-cultural, and cross-generational love that is to characterize the church and glorify God is at the same time intended to evangelize the world. 

A steady diet of performances by soloists or even choirs can have the unintended effect of undermining the corporate, participative nature of our musical worship.

Fewer instruments on stage or even off to the side means fewer things in front of us competing for our attention and applause.

the absence of a fully wired worship band will help prevent the smog of performance from clouding the atmosphere of worship.

We use a piano, a guitar, and four vocalists, all positioned off to the side so that our attention isn’t drawn to them, and all lightly amplified so that they don’t drown out the voices of the congregation.

Our leading vocalists simply stand to the side and sing into a moderately amplified microphone so that there is a strong lead for the congregation to follow.

variety in worship songs and styles helps prevent people from becoming militantly entrenched in a certain style or period of music. Best of all, musical variety teaches us to glean spiritual profit from many different kinds of songs.

Under a more general paradigm of ministry, all the pastors share all the ministry. Cultivating this healthy sense of shared ownership is good. But the fragmentation that specialized ministries introduce often leads pastors to become possessive over their particular area of service.

retaining a more general paradigm of ministry cultivates unity among the pastoral staff, reduces the chance of ministry being perceived as a professional career, and minimizes the splintering of ministries, pastoral teams, and congregations. But it seems that specialized ministry is almost all there is out there.

some staff will also be elders in most situations—at the very minimum, the senior pastor will be an elder, and so will an associate pastor

The elders decide on the destination. The staff drive the bus. The deacons make sure we’ve got enough gas to get there.

If we want the unity of our church to be fundamentally built on the Word, then the unity of our elders must be built on the Word.

each elder will pray a one- or two-sentence prayer of praise. This is part of how the elders are being intentional about devoting themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:1-4).

Praying for the sheep together as a gathered group of under-shepherds is an excellent way to promote the spiritual health of the congregation, to keep each other as elders accountable to faithfulness in prayer for the congregation, and to lead by example.

Encourage your elders over the coming weeks to memorize Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:16-19; Philippians 1:9-11; Colossians 1:9-14; 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13; and 2 Thessalonians 1:11 12. Lead by example, and pray that these qualities and habits would be characteristic and increasing in the corporate life and testimony of your church.

As we carry out this commitment to the Word and prayer among the gathered elders, we will be encouraging them to trust not in programs or personalities, not in advertisements or physical amenities, but rather in the powerful Word of God and in the promise of His life-giving Spirit.

The elders will also meet with the deacons in leadership meetings, which happen one week before the members’ meeting. This way, whether a member asks an elder or a deacon, all the officers of the church are on the same page, and everyone will be more likely to give the same answers and present a united front to the congregation.

The healthiest way for a pastor to view himself in the elders’ meetings is as a sort of first among equals.