Whew. It’s Wednesday morning and this is my first chance to catch my breath since we started the Residency on Monday. We spent the first two days in back-to-back meetings. It’s been great exploring both Fellowship Associates and Fellowship Bible Church Little Rock over the past two days.
While we have already met with a number of staff members at FBCLR, the most insightful meeting perhaps was with Bill Parkinson, one of the founding pastors of the church. The primary purpose of the meeting was to give us some history of the beginnings of the church and specifically the dynamic of having a team of teaching pastors rather than the traditional single pastor model.
Something magical happens when a group of people band together, unified by a belief that there is another way…and convinced enough to dip their feet in the uncharted waters. Back in 1977, a handful of families began meeting in a home in Little Rock to read a Gene Getz book on church, meditate on the “one another” passages and start a new church.
This experience led to a radical decision early on: to not have a senior pastor. Three guys who knew each other from Campus Crusade [I think at U of Arkansas] agreed to function as a team of co-teaching pastors. Their names were Bill Parkinson, Bill Wellons and Robert Lewis.
Thus began a grand experiment in the tricky science of team. Robert, Bill and Bill and their families were bound together by the common cause of leading a new church and reaching a city. They made decisions together, they carved sermon series into thirds and dreamed collectively. Bill told us one story in particular of when they unexpectedly lost their rented meeting space and were scrambling to find a new location. They settled on the decision to rent out a movie theater on Sunday mornings. How did they come to this decision? Bill Wellons and Robert Lewis took their wives to a movie for a date night and inspiration struck.
Over the course of the first couple of years, they began to settle into roles and notice the subtle nuances that each person brought to the table. Robert was a dreamer, the guy that challenged the congregation to reach for the sky with every sermon he preached. Bill Wellons was the wise sage that members quickly learned to seek for counsel. He would take Robert’s dreams and figure out how to turn them into reality. Bill Parkinson was the shepherd whose words and heart would soothe the soul of their congregation. They learned when to step up and when to back down. They truly trusted each other and didn’t care who got the credit. Of course, these roles weren’t clearly defined. All hands were always on deck and all were ready to play any and every role at a moment’s notice.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t always easy. Team never is. Perhaps the reason more churches don’t do it is precisely because it is so difficult. It takes time and patience. Having complementary gifts and passion brings with it periodic clashes and disagreements. I once read one thinker say that when a well-oiled team makes a decision, 100% of the team are only 80% certain [rather than the more typical "team decision" where 80% of the team is 100% certain and the rest are discounted].
Team, though, is something magical. There is a reason why Hollywood has been able to tell the same sports story over and over again. There is a reason why Jerry Jones can spend a billion dollars on a building. Our response to team exposes a nerve somewhere deep in our soul. When synergy develops, we all stand back and notice. We cry, we cheer, we marvel. [Are you ready for some football?]
Which brings me back to those “one another” passages that were spoken aloud by a band of believers in Little Rock back in the 70s. Have we missed it? Is this what Christianity is really supposed to look like? Churches built around personalities? Lone Ranger Christians? Why are 99.9% of churches in America dominated by one man?
Parkinson told us that the two main ingredients in team are: trust and humility. Are you willing to trust others? Am I willing to swallow my pride and not have my way? Is it possible that the way I envision things is inferior to the way we see it? He has lived it out for 30 years. It can be done. And they have changed this city.
p.s.- just found this CT article where Robert Lewis tells a bit of their story…
I think it is so much better than one pastor,let all of them teach and inspire,ya never know what might just happen.
Comment by Melissa wofford — August 19, 2009 @ 11:34 am
Great post. I’m curious, does FBCLR have an executive pastor?
Comment by Ben — August 20, 2009 @ 6:37 am
Well, it’s huge, have have like over 100 staff. So I think they have a team that is executive. BUT, they would say that an “executive pastor” role is someone who leads strategically. On the initial team I described above, that would be Bill Wellons. So one of the three teaching pastors functions in an executive role.
That is a good question Ben and something they have us wrestle with through the residency. For example, Will Chenault has a co-planter in Bham. Will will function more like an “executive pastor” and his teammate will function more like a “teaching pastor” as far as the ongoing structure of the church. But both will preach on Sundays. I don’t know if that means that Will will preach less. I guess they’ll figure that out.
Does that make sense?
Comment by dcdaspit — August 20, 2009 @ 7:52 am
One other thought, Ben. The idea behind an executive pastor being one of the teaching pastors is an acknowledgement of the power of the pulpit. You can say you are being led by a team, but if the congregation only hears one guy preach, then they won’t buy team.
Comment by dcdaspit — August 20, 2009 @ 8:16 am