AG District
Superintendent Survey
On October
4th and 28th, 2006 a survey was sent out to the U.S. District
Superintendents of the Assemblies of God. In the survey I
identified myself, the Assemblies of God church I belonged to,
and that I would be taking a position against the use of the Seeker
Sensitive, Church Growth Movement strategies in a letter to
the General Superintendent. There was a good response to the
survey and persons took both sides of the issue. Many of the
responses provided explanations. Some of these are shown
below.
Survey Questions
1)
Do you have churches in your district that employ Seeker Sensitive
church growth strategies promoted by such men as Robert Schuller of
Schuller Institute, Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Association, and
Rick Warren of "Purpose Driven" fame?
2)
Do you personally approve of using these methods?
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For many years I pastored a soul winning congregation
by teaching them to be sensitive to seekers. My Lord taught me those
principles as I saw how he responded to the woman at the well, Nicodemus,
the woman caught in adultery, the tax collectors and a host of others. It is
in the record, He was condemned for being " a friend to sinners." People who
show little fruit in soul winning seem to love to attack those who do. Is it
personal guilt? Jealosy? or a Pharisaical spirit? Jesus rebuked the
Disciples for correcting others who were acting in His Name saying, " If
they are not against me they are for me"
Did God commission you to correct his servants?
I think not.
V Marks
Vernon J. Marks, Superintendent
Assemblies of God, Oregon District
(503) 393.4411
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
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Dear Brother,
Thank you for
your care for our church.
I do not take
a stand against any Biblically-based ministry model. We are endeavoring to
coach and train our leaders to understand and implement healthy church
structures that provide a balance between the activities of Worship,
Fellowship, Evangelism, and Discipleship as described in Acts 2:42-47.
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1) Do you
have churches in your district that employ Seeker Sensitive church growth
strategies promoted by such men as Robert Schuller of
Schuller Institute, Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Association, and Rick Warren
of "Purpose Driven" fame?
NOT THAT I KNOW OF…
2) Do you personally approve of using these methods?
NOT IF THAT “SEEKER SENSITIVE” MEANS THE PRESENCE, GIFTS AND/OR FUNCTIONS OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT ARE IGNORED OR SURPRESSED.
--------------------------
Thanks for the follow up and
your patience.
-
Yes we do have churches in our district
that employ “some of the strategies” promoted by those you’ve mentioned.
-
With strong caution I urge them that do
use this information to make sure they sift the information through our
Pentecostal perspective.
Hope this helps.
--------------------------
Response to question #1 No. Some have studied these strategies but do
not use them.
Response to question #2 No. I believe we have better methods! Those given
by the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. |
