Throwback Thursday: Building an Acolyte Corps
Note: This was originally published on February 1, 2021. ~ Ed.
Redeemer enjoys a vigorous acolyte corps. It came about, slowly, with incremental changes and improvements, organically over the last 20 years from seeds that were planted over 50 years ago. It wasn’t actually planned and I don’t know that it can be replicated. Congregations aren’t franchises: they are families. There are no algorithms for success. This is why the “best practices” theories don’t carry through and the language and brainwash of “innovation speak” is so inappropriate. What is needed is not vision, but compassion. The pastor and leaders need to love the people about them, have a deep, intuitive understanding of their family dynamics, and respect one another. When that is in place, even when the institution is failing numerically and the congregation can’t pay their bills, they thrive and grow.