Catalyst 17: Dave Ferguson

From 1/2/07

Dave Ferguson is the lead pastor of Community Christian Church in Naperville where is well known for creating an sustainable healthy culture of leadership. They are one of the pioneers of the multi-site church model where they're attendance went from ~800 to upward of 5,000 within a short time of expanding to other satellite locations. He has a heart for facilitating not only church planting, but for creating whole networks of reproducing churches. Dave does this through the NewThing network that supports, resources, and catalyzes church planters and leaders of young churches.

DNA of Growth
When asked about what contributed to the growth of their church, which was planted in 1989, Ferguson cited Two Critical Decisions:

1. Identifying Apprentice Leaders. Specifically this happened within the context of their first small groups. From the start, groups had a leader and an apprentice who was being trained to eventually lead their own group. In this way, multiplication was built into the DNA of the church...sounds like 2 Timothy 2:2, eh?

2. Being Proactive about Growth. This is in contrast to waiting for growth to happen. Or, better said, "If you build it, they will come." Essentially, they didn't wait for the people, they waited for the leadership. When leaders were ready, they created space for a second service...and the people came! Proactive...

Multi-site
Ferguson offered an interesting and compelling reason to consider the multi-site model. With multi-site, the limiting factor is no longer real estate, rather it is the presence of leaders and artists. An entire new building and land need not be purchased, space needs to be rented to accommodate the technology. And, of course, the people, which are available because of intentional apprenticing and proactive growth.

Change
I thought this was a perspective on confronting "change" in a church or organization. The context is of a young church planter creating a new experience from that of the sending church, that may have traditions that will not be incorporated. He notes that it's easy to rationalize the need for change by pointing out what is wrong with the current situation. Instead, perhaps a more tactful approach is to frame the new direction as "building on the positives of the past." Keeping this perspective in mind just might save a bridge from being burned while maintaining a healthy and productive relationship with an established partner in taking part in what Ferguson calls the Jesus Mission!

One Big Idea
CCC intentionally strives to broadcast a single unifying message each week. This is similar to Stanley's "one point sermon" in "Communicating for a Change." CCC integrates this theme from top to bottom, centering not only the sermon, but small group curricula and kid's church teaching around the One Big Idea as well. With families all on the same page, the gears for transformation have been well-oiled.

Moving Forward
If the 80's were the decade of the mega-church, Ferguson sees this generation as being one of the "reproducing" church. As distinctives, he sees a shift away from "territoialism" and a move toward networking across denominations, cultures, and generations to reach culture with the Jesus Movement.