In their own similar end-of-the-year post, Outreach magazine (spurred on by Tony Morgan) has released it’s list of 25 churches that are the most innovative in their ministry. I’m not going to list them, you can find it elsewhere. (Here’s a link).
But I’ve got a beef.
It seems that the same churches appear on every major end-of-the-year list, from the fastest growing to the most influential. I’d like to say something: just because you are the fastest growing or have much influence doesn’t mean you are the most innovative. It simply means that you’re the most innovative that people have heard about. Innovation in ministry is rarely seen, unless you are first growing fast (numerical status) or if you are already an influential church (celebrity status). Innovation doesn’t precede these statuses in our society, it seems to follow.
The whole thing seems backwards to me. The truly most innovative churches are more than likely churches we have yet to hear about, and very likely will never hear about. They simply spurn creativity and encourage jealousy among ministries, as well as contributing to the demise of localized, missional ministry. More on that in a separate post.