A New Kind of Big

Can a church be head and heart healthy (theology and passion for missions & worship), while the hands are “conspicuously missing?”  Randy Pope, senior pastor of Perimeter Church, Atlanta, GA, says it can and that Perimeter was once just such a church.

In his new book, A New Kind of Big: How Churches of Any Size Can Partner to Transform Communities, Chip Sweney, Perimeter’s Next Gen and Community Transformation Pastor, tells how Perimeter transformed from a “heart and head” church to become fully engaged in their community.  In the foreword, Pope identifies two characteristics of a healthy church:

• The church must be committed to “influence” rather than “success.”

• To be a church of influence, the church must have a strong head, heart, and hand.

The heart (or should I say hands?) of this book is serving your community, especially your urban community.  In 2001, Randy shared with the church that a healthy church paradigm is:

head (theology) + heart (passion) + hand (external ministry) = health

The problem was that Perimeter had a strong head and heart but was missing hands.  The journey to extend hands out of their theology and passion led not only to direct engagement in the city, but it also led them to join with 125 other churches and launch UNITE!.  UNITE! is a collaborative effort of churches to “transform our community by reaching the least and the lost.”

I am privileged to be part of the UNITE! leadership team for Gwinnett County.  I admire the labor, humility, and love for Christ displayed by these men and women.   One of the beauties of UNITE! is that it mobilizes and networks churches in a way that allows them to maintain their identities and theological convictions.

This dynamic of UNITE! reflects the heart of Perimeter’s approach to community transformation.  It is local church focused.  Therefore, A New Kind of Big is a good primer for local churches, big and small, on how to engage the physical and social needs in their cities.

As Perimeter extended its ministry out into the community, criteria by which they would establish partnerships with churches and ministries became necessary.  I found Chip’s (Perimeter’s) list helpful, so here they are:

1. We will initially focus on partnerships within the twelve-mile radius.
2. We will focus on relational partnerships.  We will not give money until a key leader and a number of our people are involved with the partner (people before money).
3. We will focus on partners who are addressing needs within our four major areas of focus [education, poverty, justice, women & families].
4. We will give preference to partners who allow both word and deed ministry.
5. We will give preference to partners who focus on restoration and development of people as opposed to relief (but we will do both).
6. We will assess the return on our investment with partners-consistent with biblical parables of the soils and talents-as a way to select partners.
7. Partners must have a proven track record at the leadership level.
8. Partners must not violate biblical ethics.
9. Partners must be open to financial accountability.
10. Our preferred strategy will be to partner with an existing ministry/organization, but we may start teams that focus on needs that are not being addressed by ministries.

I know Chip’s heart and passion for transforming communities.  It is centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ and displayed through local churches.   A New Kind of Big will be worth your time and will provide a wealth of insight about how your church can bring kingdom influence to your city.