The only thing they do not do is give a 30 minute sermon on Sunday mornings.

Is the guy that trims the sheep a shepherd? Is the guy who put out the feed? A farmer takes care of sheep in a pen. A shepherd takes herds from pasture to pasture. These campus pastors are definitely ministers, no doubt. Pastors? no. They are not looking for the new pasture to take the flock. They are cleaning up after the sheep on the farm.

I am a preacher. My bias is toward preaching. But preaching is what Jesus said we are to go into the world and do. The modern church has figured all kinds of ways around following the teaching of Jesus but that does not make it biblical. And that is the point of the post.

I am not putting forth the argument that Jesus is going to return and condemn video venues. I am just stating that they are far from the biblical model of church.

@John. I think that recorded messages play the same role as the epistles did in the days of the early apostles. They are to spread the revelation gained elsewhere. You may rejoice if one of your members subscribes to Bill Johnson’s podcast. You may be less enthusiastic if they decide to watch the sermon Sunday morning online and tithe to Redding instead of attending service with you, the man who followed the call of God and moved to their city to preach the Gospel.

Great observations BTW re: Apostles, Bishops, Pastors etc.

I’m afraid that I would have to disagree with your conclusion that the campus pastors at each of our sites are not true shepherds. They pray for the sick, they raise up leaders, they counsel, they preach weddings and funerals, they visit hospitals and they teach. The only thing they do not do is give a 30 minute sermon on Sunday mornings.

The interesting thing is that by having multiple campuses we are able to train and deploy many more leaders than we would without the campuses. And we are able to use men with hearts after God who would never be considered effective preachers. It’s odd that skill in preaching has become the only litmus test for whether someone is a true pastor. We are also able to leverage the resources God has instrusted us with to reach and disciple many more people than we could in a traditional environment. (Like the Pentecostal church I grew up in.)

I’m curious, Carl, about your experiences in multi-site churches? What has been your reaction when you have attended?

We were beginning to feel like we were the only people who think like this! You should see the looks we get when we say “Ehhh… once it gets to a hundred, two hundred or so people, we’ll get up 30-50 volunteers and have them go off and plant a new church. Once it gets to that number again, we’ll do the same… again and again. And when the area’s saturated, we’ll go off to wherever the Lord’s calling us to go…”

People think we’re NUTS.

Where in the Bible do folks get the impression that megachurhes are grand and small churches have something wrong with them? Hmmmm…