Mere Missions

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one form (word or phrase) or another. For our purposes, I will use the Sacred Roots descriptive words. It is the radical minimum in knowing when a church is planted yet knowing that the church will grow and mature. 1. Worship . The Sacraments of Baptism (Matt. 3.13-17; 28.19-20; Rom. 6.1-14) and The Lord’s Supper (Matt. 22.2-14; 26.26-31; 1 Cor. 11.17-34; Rev. 19.6-9) are firmly established within the community of gathered believers. It is the dramatic retelling and reenacting of the story of God. Notice that I do not mention how often or how to perform the two sacraments. The radical minimum is that they are established. The church planter and their sending authority determine these within their shared spirituality. 2. Spiritual Formation. To move from a convert to a disciple of the Lord Jesus is a process. (I will talk more about this in chapter four.) Leadership within the community must also be recognized knowing that eventually some will be appointed as elders. Apparently, Paul’s radical minimum was leaders, was disciples (baptized and obeying what Jesus commanded), who others followed and respected. Looking again at Acts 14.23, Paul went to every church (already established) to appoint elders. We also see this in Titus 1.5 where the Apostle directs Titus to finish up what he did not have the chance to finish, which was to appoint elders. In Paul’s apostolic church planting call and work, he was okay with the radical minimum of leadership, but not content until elders were appointed. In our present-day church planting efforts, we should be okay that leadership has been recognized within the church, but not content until elders are appointed. In other words, there must be a credentialing process for called and gifted individuals to be recognized as shepherds of the community; those who will hold a position of responsibility and authority to