Methodology

From Neoredemptive

The Neo-Redemptive methodology is a collection of guidelines, bits of shared wisdom and best practices pertaining to theology, hermeneutics, leadership, and the various other disciplines which constitute the building of a fruitful and scripturally faithful church.

The Neo-Redemptive Methodology

At the heart of our methodology lies a collection of best practices, not for doing ministry, but for thinking about how to do ministry.

• Devising a ministry plan (at any scale, from a "congregational vision" to policies for the clean-up crew) must never be an exercise in cutting and pasting a "successful" model from another "successful" church. Uncritically co-opting what appears to have worked, for a time, under the nurture of different leaders with distinct gift mixes and vocational callings from God, amid a different cultural context (sometimes wildly so, sometimes subtly) is unmitigated foolishness.
• Uncritically co-opting anything (whether music, leadership advice, marketing gimicks, or anything else) from an unredeemed culture is a risky move. That is not to say that it is unusable - far from it! - but it, like everything else unregenerate, must first be redeemed to be useful to God (and, therefore, to us).
• Our plans are snapshots of ongoing conversations that must begin with the gospel and with scripture, but which then must proceed to engage with who we are in Christ (our redeemed and being-redeemed personalities, gifts, strengths, weaknesses, etc), who our team is in Christ, the living and active revelation and guidance of God available to us through prayer and the prophetic gift, and an honest and sober assessment of the cultural contexts in which this ministry will operate.
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Observations

• It is popular in some evangelical circles to say that the only methodological guidance that is needed is the Gospel (or, more broadly, scripture). This claim is, frankly, disingenuous; what invariably follows it is a presentation of a methodology, metamethodology, or methodological guidelines which may or may not reflect the full counsel of the gospel or of scripture, but which clearly does derive in part from a (hopefully healthy but usually unconscious) engagement of self, others, the living word of God, and ministry context. (see, e.g., The Deliberate Church)
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