Intentionally Becoming a Mother Church
A few years ago, whilst in prayer I felt a nudge by the Holy Spirit that caused a shift in my thinking. As the senior pastor of a significant church in our movement (ACC), I felt the Holy Spirit say that I needed to be more intentional in taking our church into a mother church vision and not just heading down a mega church track.
In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with being a mega church, especially if it has a mother church heart. But at the time, I needed a definite shift in thinking.
Let me share a few thoughts on the subtle differences.
The first difference is found in the word mother. Mothers have children that share the mother’s DNA but have their own uniqueness. A mother church plants daughter churches not just campuses that are a carbon copy of the main campus. These daughter churches are allowed to reflect the uniqueness of the ministry team and demographic that they are reaching. They share the DNA of the mother church but have a special individuality that is encouraged and celebrated. There is nothing wrong with campuses if that is the intentional vision, but it is important to recognise this isn’t the mother church vision.
The second difference is found in how the mother church uses its resources. A mother church sees itself as a resource centre. A large proportion of its finances is given to missional and social causes. Our church gives away 40% of our giving to external causes. A mother church is not only willing to give finances and resources but also willing to commission people and leaders into a new church plant if it results in the extension of God’s Kingdom. The gathering of these groups is seen as a pregnancy to be nurtured rather than a tumour to be attacked.
A mother church has a greater focus on Kingdom building than empire building. It believes a church that gives away its resources in this manner will never be depleted but will always attract the blessing of God.
The third difference is in the way it sees other churches and other Christians. A mother church is not in competition with other churches, nor does it see transfer growth as the main focus of its growth. A mother church is missional in its focus. It wants to birth new babies, plant new churches and give to missions. Many mother churches do become attractional because this vision is very attractional to Christians who want to belong to a church with a generous vision. However, it treads carefully in this space with humility not arrogance. A mother church sees Christians coming from other churches as an important responsibility in guiding them on a journey that equips them to fulfil a divine mandate. It does not see transfer growth as a badge of greatness but as a responsibility to be taken seriously.
I believe that mega churches do have their place on the church model landscape. This is not a subtle attempt at disqualifying their existence. However, I feel what needs to be discussed is a variety of successful church models. I propose that the mother church is an important model to be considered especially by churches that have reached a significant size and resource level.
