New Church Model Isn’t: Multisite Is Regurgitation of the Model They Hated

Forrest ChristianChange, Organizations Leave a Comment

This continues my examination of American Evangelicals’ organization of their churches, both lay and clergy. One of the big things in the Evangelical world, a real “game changer” they say, is the multisite church. You’ll hear them say things like “twenty years ago, the Holy Spirit was moving and doing a big thing. And people listening to Him said, ‘It’s …

Strong Pastor vs. Democracy in Christian Church Groups

Forrest ChristianOverachievers 1 Comment

The church growth industry has led to the highly effective Mega-church model in the United States but has embraced the (actually) new model of Strong Pastor which has led to absolutist authoritarian leadership within the evangelical church growth movement. An examination by focusing on the Christian Base Communities in the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America. Part of a series on Church Organizational Structure and Democracy.

New Webinar: “Why You Hate Your Church”

Forrest ChristianEvents Leave a Comment

Why You Hate Your Church. Sunday, 2009 April 19 at 8pm CDT / Chicago time A good percentage of readers of Requisite Writing are Christians of one sort of another, and a common complaint from them has been about how they feel alienated at church like the feel alienated at work. “It’s all well and good to say ‘find somewhere …

From the Bimbo cartoon “The Bum Bandit” (1931), Fleischer studio- not mickey mouse!

How the Disney World Model Leads to Top-Down Absolute Control

Forrest ChristianGovernance Leave a Comment

Did the American Evangelical megachurch adopt the unchecked executive model because it wanted to emulate Disney World and its fantasy of American small town life? It’s a charge that’s worth looking at because it can shed some light on this issue. I’m going to be unabashedly churchy in this, so comment if you need a translation of the Evangelical jargon. …