What is a Core Team?
Definitions matter. And church planting lingo is rarely defined consistently. You will find a different definition of a “core team” with each planter and his adopted methodology for establishing a new church. I think it will be helpful for Redeeming Grace Baptist Church to be upfront and clear on what we mean when we reference a Core Team: who makes up the Core Team? What are the requirements for joining the Core Team?
Two Models
Two basic models of a core team will help us establish a more precise definition for RGBC. First, a core team can function as a leadership team. In this model, the core team is composed of a smaller number of individuals who will be leaders in the new church. This would include paid staff leaders and lay leaders alike. The leadership team would include any elders, deacons, and ministry leaders.
A model of planting that gathers a leadership core team may at the same time gather a “launch team” of individuals who commit to serving the church, especially by attending the first services. And depending on the membership model, the launch team may or may not become the membership of the new church while the core team becomes the staff and lay leaders within the church.
The second basic model for a core team is a membership model. In this case, the core team is composed of all the committed future members of the new church. When the planter asks someone to join the core team, he is asking him or her to join the new church without promising a leadership position or an extra formal commitment beyond what the church would require of members.
The membership model does place one caveat on who can join the core team: in general, a core team member should be a mature Christian from a church of like faith and order. The membership core team is designed to transplant the cultural DNA of the plant’s partner churches. That means a Christian who is devoted to the idea of planting in general but is not convinced of this particular plant’s DNA should probably help another church plant. DNA transmission is the core team’s goal.
The qualification “a mature Christian from a church of like faith and order” restricts those eligible to join the core team. For example, a brand new Christian may be better served as a member of an established church that can care for and disciple him or her. I would encourage a new Christian to have a conversation with a church planter and the pastor of his or her church before committing to a membership core team.[1]
To be clear, both models of core teams restrict who can join. A leadership core team is composed only of leaders (while the launch team may be open to anyone willing to commit to help). A membership core team is composed only of Christians committed to the same DNA.
RGBC is pursuing a membership model for her Core Team. Let me briefly lay out the reasoning behind that choice.
Why Chose the Membership Model?
Let’s start with church membership. We believe that meaningful church membership is a biblical and wise practice. We guard church membership from irrelevance by emphasizing a church member’s responsibility to his or her brothers and sisters in Christ. The principle of responsibility in membership begins with Jesus’ charge to his disciples in Matthew 16 and 18. From these texts and others we see the principle of congregational authority within the church. Church members have the responsibility to vote on key issues such as the statement of faith, the budget, the elders and deacons, and all formal church discipline. These responsibilities are the formal responsibilities of membership.
But not only are church members the final human authority within a church, but they also bear the responsibility for ministry. The ministry that members undertake is an informal responsibility. Paul in Ephesians 4:12 makes clear that the “saints” (that is, church members) are “equipped for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ…” Pastors/elders train members for ministry (4:11) but church members do the ministry alongside the pastors.
Church members are vital to a healthy church! No pastor or group of pastors can accomplish what God intended the local church to do. In fact, we believe that a church needs the gifts of the members that God brings to the church. And the individual member needs the church and the gifts of other members. 1 Corinthians 12:14-20 says,
“For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.”
That is the beauty of the body of Christ. God chose to send members to a church to provide crucial gifts to the body. The body needs eyes and ears! And God brings you to the church for the crucial gifts the body has to minister to you. If you are an ear, you need eyes, and vice versa!
The gifts that a future member brings to the Core Team are essential for the health of RGBC. And those gifts are not only the easily visible gifts of leadership, administration, teaching, music, children’s ministry, and service. Church members carry out ministry to one another with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). Those are the gifts we long to see displayed between members and outside of the church. We not only need administration, but love! We not only need teaching ability, but kindness!
Conclusion
To summarize: Because church members are the final authority within the church, a church plant core team must have committed future church members. Because every church needs the members (and gifts) that God provides, a church plant core team cannot rely only on a specialized leadership core. Therefore, RGBC is praying for a Core Team of future church members who embrace their membership responsibilities and who exemplify the fruits of the Spirit.
[1] If you are a new convert to Christianity and wish to participate in the church planting process, we encourage you to reach out to us. We want to ensure that you are well cared for and discipled as we undertake the task of planting a new church. Jesus wants you to be a part of a church and we would love to help you find one!
