The mission effectiveness of program-driven and purpose-driven church models in selected Southern Baptist churches

Abstract

The biblical purpose of the church is the Great Commission as stated in Matthew 28:19-20. The mission of the church, or the way the purpose is carried out, is identified in Acts 2:42-47 as evangelism, discipleship, worship, ministry, prayer, and fellowship. Since the 1920s, southern Baptists have primarily utilized a program-driven model to accomplish the purpose and mission of the church. In recent years, however, the purpose-driven model, popularized by Rick Warren, has also become widely accepted. The purpose of this study was to categorize the church by program-driven or purpose-driven model and to analyze the self-reported mission effectiveness of each model in selected Southern Baptist churches. Data for this study, which assessed and compared mission effectiveness in relation to the program-driven and purpose-driven organizational structures. The study found that the purpose-driven churches were more effective in each of the six functions than were the program-driven churches.

KEYWORDS: purpose-driven, program-driven, church health, ministry effectiveness, purposes of the church, church structure, church strategy, ecclesiology