Following up on Thinking about money… again, I recalled some research by Wayne Allen on the relationship between financial subsidies and the growth of an indigenous church in Indonesia.
Wayne discovered that the impact of foreign subsidies for national church workers resulted in the decline or plateau of the national church. Wayne Allen provided three reasons for this inverse relationship between outside subsidies and the growth of an indigenous movement:
1. Loss of lay involvement. Subsidies resulted in a move away from lay leadership to a reliance on professional clergy.
2. Loss of focus. Workers gave less attention to evangelism in unreached villages and more attention to meeting the needs of existing congregations in line with the expectation of the foreign mission agency providing the funds.
3. Loss of devotion. As the people realized that the mission was funding their pastor they lost a sense of ownership and came to see the pastor as the missionary’s hired hand. The pastor gave greater attention to pleasing the mission agency and seeking salary increases.
I keep bumping up against this principle. Dynamic movements discover that God has placed the resources in the harvest.
4 Comments
I can see how this would happen, my question is what’s a better way of supporting oversea’s churches?
Trav, loved the “Roman” quote on your site!
Re your question: Empower them to take responsibility. Partnership not dependency. The Southern Baptists have reinvented their mission strategy in a number of places around the world. Following George Patterson’s example they position themselves as “Strategic Co-ordinators”. In that role they empower local leaders to fuel indigenous movements. David Garrison’s booklet tells the story and is listed on my “What I’m reading” page. The analogy I come back to is: my young adult children are moving out of home. I should be supportive, but they need to learn to pay their way.
I like it Steve, a lot of churches/movements rely on clergy or high positioned leaders. Who often see it as there job to control the organisation…instead of empowering others they often stunt their enthusiam by reffering to them as a “lay” person
It was said of the Anabaptists that they didn’t abolish the clergy, they just ordained everyone! Renewal movements begin on the fringe, never at the centre of ecclesiastical power. They are often initiated by ‘lay’ people (Dr Paul Pierson).