Below are my “top ten” takeaways from the Weekender at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Quotations are not word for word but transcribed from my notes in an attempt to capture main ideas.
1. Evangelism and discipleship. “Evangelism and discipleship undergird everything else that we do and everything else that we’ve published. If you say you’re following Jesus but you’re not teaching other people to follow Jesus, I’m not sure you’re following Jesus.” (Dever)
“What you win them with is what you win them to.”
2. A culture of discipleship. “The whole personality of the congregation is making and shepherding disciples. This is not a program but something in the DNA of the church … a natural part of what it means to be a part of this congregation … discipling one another is a fundamental part of being a member. Mark repeats the emphasis on discipleship so that it gets into the bloodstream of the church.” (Deepak Reju)
How do you develop a “culture of discipleship” practically? Leeman: One of our questions in the members interview is “do you want to be discipled?” If yes, then we encourage that person to pursue discipleship with another member in the church. If they answer ‘no,’ that’s a problem. We try to encourage all of our prospective members to want to be discipled.
3. Team Jesus. “We must see the beauty of Christ’s Church in our bones … not simply in this particular church. You are on the same team as all of these other pastors … and you’re trying to see how this area gets evangelized together. It shouldn’t be ‘CHBC is best.’ It’s not 'team CHBC' … you want to be a church and work with other churches who are on team Jesus.” (Dever)
It’s not 'team CHBC' … you want to be a church and work with other churches who are on team Jesus.
4. Culture of missions. “We try to infuse missions throughout our church. We want to guard against this idea of a ‘set apart super child’ or a ‘special interest category.’ Missions is a very normal part of our ministry. Our chief goal is to make men and women who are like Christ. When that happens, more will go.” (Riley Barnes)
Our chief goal is to make men and women who are like Christ. When that happens, more will go.
5. Selecting elders. “You don’t want a guy who is a built-in contrarian … someone who is going to ‘play the devil’s advocate’ or try to ‘bring balance.’ Good elders will know the difference between principle and preference ... Look for men who are doing evangelism and have a fruitful discipleship ministry as good elder candidates ... In 5 … 10 … 15 years, those that you are discipling now will be standing next to you shepherding the church with you.” (Schmucker)
Look for men who are doing evangelism and have a fruitful discipleship ministry as good elder candidates.
6. Budget reveals priorities. “Show me your budget and I can tell you a lot about the vision of your church.” (Schmucker)
7. Red dot/green dot churches. “Red dot churches are importers. Green dot churches are exporters. Green dot churches are outpouring gospel churches that are pushing out. We want to see preachers raised up and sent out. We want to see more that are raised up and able to teach God’s Word.” (Dever)
8. Congregational singing. The volume and affections of those singing were inspiring. The congregation’s voice was sweet. The words of more modern hymns like Christ is Mine Forevermore also seemed to resonate more deeply as the congregation sang the lyrics together.
9. Prayers. Prayers were short and concise. At the conclusion of the prayer, everyone joined together in saying “amen.”
10. Church discipline. "Church discipline only makes sense in a culture of discipling. Sins that require church discipline are: (1) outward (evidence); (2) serious/significant; (3) and where the sinner is unrepentant." (Leeman)
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