Permission Granted—Liberation and Motivation for Spectator Churchgoers

Permission Granted—Liberation and Motivation for Spectator Churchgoers
An Excerpt from Stan Saunders’ book

Stan Saunders serves as lead pastor of Cornerstone Church in Chillicothe, Missouri, a large and growing church reaching hundreds of adults and young people in the small towns and rural communities of Northern Missouri. He has conducted conferences for pastors and church leaders in several countries throughout Africa, Asia, Central and South America.

Stan has been married to Michelle since 1981 and has four children—Whitney, Morgan, Laine and Lindy.

I discovered years ago, after much frustration, what is my mission as a pastor. For many years I whipped and drove people to hook up with my vision for the church. I believed my job was to recruit people and money to support the vision God gave me for the church. This was how many of my role models ran things. This put much pressure on the people and on me. I believe that this drove people away from the church and from me.

I later discovered my mission is to help people discover the vision God has for their lives. Vision is the picture God shows a person about their future that causes them to become passionate. The Lord gave me a vision of a community of Christ followers doing the works of Christ in our every day lives and developing ministries to bless people.

Too often in the past, our church members thought they needed me to assign them duties, give my approval to their ideas or grant them permission before they would do anything. Without realizing or intending so, I was limiting growth in our people and in our church. I now believe the only permission people really need is found in the pages of their Bibles. People do not need my approval to do the Bible!

My grandfather passed away during my senior year of high school. Upon graduation, I moved up to the farm, where my widowed grandmother lived, to help my cousin run the cattle and farming operation. I also attended a nearby university. While living on the farm, I noticed several young people in the area, and had a desire to lead them in a Bible study. Because a few of them were members of a local church, I asked the pastor for permission to minister to the students. He said, “No.” The seed for this book was planted in my heart that day.

Churches today are structured more as a “come and watch us” model. We entertain people who come to our churches with professional music, professional preaching, and with professional care. The pastor and staff are paid to do the work of ministry. They babysit the children, entertain the teenagers, visit the sick, teach, preach and pray. These are the services we “sell” to our community. It is no wonder that our churches are full of apathetic and bored believers.

At Cornerstone Church in Chillicothe, Missouri, we have a “go and do” attitude. My role, as pastor, is more of coach than of player. My job is to train, to motivate, to correct and to lead my team. My team is the staff and members of the church who have ministries to perform to benefit our community and world. We create an atmosphere where people are eager to find a place to bless others. Everyone is free to do ministry.

We call our small group ministry LIFE groups. LIFE is an acronym for Love In Full Evidence. These groups are the lifeblood of our church. We operate a free market type small group ministry. Any member is free to begin a LIFE group. Groups can be formed around almost any idea. We have groups that meet for Bible study, coffee, marriage improvement, parenting, money management, or physical fitness. Some of our groups have dinner together. Some meet at the church building, others meet in homes, while others meet at a coffee shop.

Cornerstone Church conducts Sunday morning and Sunday evening church services every week inside of a state prison for women, located in our community. The glorious fact of this is that not one paid church staff member is involved with this ministry. This ministry was instigated and conducted solely by church members. A great number of people are involved. The state of Missouri requires hours of training for those who volunteer their time to service in the prison system. About 200 prisoners attend the weekly services. The chapel fills on a first-come-first-serve basis. Often, women are turned away from attending for lack of space. Over the years, hundreds of women have been saved and have returned home to productive lives.

The inmates are given jobs to do in the prison. They receive a small monetary compensation for their duties. Out of this money the women are able to buy things they want and need. We often receive tithe checks from these women to our church. This is quite humbling for me. It speaks well of the quality of ministry they are receiving from our church members. It brings tears to my eyes when I think about the dedication of these wonderful volunteers. In fact our members also conduct Bible studies during the week for the women at the prison. Recently, I received a thank you letter from one of our church members who resides inside the state correctional center. You did not read that wrong. These women consider themselves members of Cornerstone Church; and we receive them.

In the letter, written in the most beautiful handwriting I’ve seen in years, the lady from inside the prison expressed her deep gratitude for me and for our church and for all of the volunteers who minister inside the prison walls. She spoke of joy and peace and of other Christian platitudes as if she was a full-fledged Christ follower. Of course she is; it is just that sometimes we treat such people as if they are less than. She spoke of “our church” in two locations, the one on Adam Drive and the one inside the prison. I was hit with tears of joy and of suitable pride. Our members are really getting it. Most are living the life of their faith confession. They are living the words of the songs we sing at the church service.

Our church members are the hardest working people that I know. They volunteer hundreds of hours monthly serving the least and the poorest of our community. At our LIFE Center Food Pantry, hundreds of people are served monthly with groceries and personal care items. The workers laugh and smile as they fill the tables, load and unload the grocery carts, and clean up the messes. They pray with people who are standing in the lines. The people who serve in these areas of ministries are the happiest people that I know. As a pastor, I rarely have trouble from any of these highly involved individuals. Jesus taught us that greatness is found in service, especially to the least among us.

Ministry has become too complicated and formal. There are too many requirements and procedures in most churches. Ministry is often run like a school. We educate and train people before we allow them to do anything. They have to take personality profile tests and spiritual gift assessments. Then we give them a list of ministries within the church that matches their abilities and leanings. The pastor and staff decide what ministries the church needs to offer. Then we start recruiting workers to fill the bill. I think we put too much emphasis on what happens inside of the walls of the church building.

Jesus told us to go into the entire world, not into every corner of the building. We are to be salt and light the world. The only light the world sees from most churches is the one shining on the steeple at night. Should we not go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come into the Father’s house. All things have been prepared for them. Yet, how will they know without someone to tell them? How will they go unless they are sent out from the church? Our members often organize their own foreign mission trips, with wonderful results around the world. Permission granted!

Permission Granted may be purchased directly from Cornerstone Church.

Books and e-books may also be purchased at: http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61739-931-2