What is the future of denominations? I believe the future for denominations is for them to be credentialing organizations for pastors. Beyond that, there really isn’t a purpose for a denomination. Local pastors can volunteer to be on credentialing panels that hold pastor’s accountable for morality and doctrinal accuracy. With this model, there is not a need for large fees to be imposed on pastors or churches. A minimal annual fee of $200-300 annually in 2010′s economy would be plenty to pay for the small expenses a volunteer group of pastors would need.
With a new denominational model, there is no more need for:
- Full-time bishops, overseers or superintendents
- Institutional Giving
For example: The Assemblies of God pay for missionary’s equipment through a program called “Speed the Light”, which has a significant percentage of the donations used for administration. People today don’t want to give to Speed the Light, they prefer to just send the money for a projector straight to the missionary.
- Marketing programs, publications or Sunday School quarterlies.
There are a variety of companies that provided services to churches based off the ‘free market” approach. If pastors and churches find material helpful, they buy it. If it’s ineffective, it dies.
I am excited about how God can use the existing relationships within denominations, and redefine them into a powerful network based off friendship, joint leadership, empowerment and mutual accountability.
