Leading On Purpose: by Eric Burtness

Intentionality and Teaming in Congregational Life

Click here for the Leading On Purpose website; the interactive support resource for the book. It’s based on a Lutheran adaptation of Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church and Purpose Driven Life. Much of the material referenced in the book can be purchased on the Purpose Driven Resource page at the Augsburg Fortress site that has just been developed.  That link also gives a link to the "Up For Discussion" guide for Warren's Purpose Driven Life, which I wrote several months before the Leading On Purpose book and Robert Driver Bishop's new book on "40 People of Purpose" which provides a New Testament figure to support each chapter of The Purpose Driven Life. 

Another primary site is Robert Driver-Bishop's site which will be referenced several times on these pages.  There's a boatload of information there that is extremely helpful.  You can get a lot of information about purpose driven resources directly from Saddleback at their site for pastors or at Saddleback itself.  Finally, check out our website resources that we've developed at St. Matthew, which will also be referenced at different points in this site.

Leading On Purpose was discussed on Authors ONLINE! at the Ecunet forum which ended January 31.  You can get a free Ecunet Lite membership by logging into the Ecunet site and clicking on lite membership.  I moderated the discussion, and there were about 150 people in the meeting, with about 250 notes which are archived for your reading pleasure.  Leading On Purpose was reviewed in the May/June issue of Lutheran Partners by Larry Wohlrabe, a friend and classmate from my seminary days.  It was also referenced in the October 2004 issue of Christian Century.

To view the Ecunet note discussion, click here and click on the lite membership, and join LEADING ON PURPOSE.

The purpose driven phenomenon was the topic of a feature presentation in the February issue of The Lutheran, which is available available online.  Check it out! 

As the book was being written I realized that there was far too much to put into a 86 page book, so this site is an evolving site which will offer support, contacts, and additional resources for congregations seeking to structure their ministries according to the principles set forth in the book.

You'll find that as you open links on this site that a new website will open.  That seemed to be the best way to do things, so just click on "X" on the site that comes up and you'll return right back to the leadingonpurpose site that you were looking at.

What I’ve found after working with the Purpose Driven model for ministry for the past 6 years is that as pastors and leaders start to work with this model they’re compelled to share it with others. Never before in my ministry have I experienced such a passion for building the Kingdom of God, and the willingness of pastors and leaders to share what they’ve done that "worked."

This site will be updated on a regular basis as more resources become available as you and others share stories from your congregation. In the coming months, as more and more people read the book, resources will be developed and shared. There is a chat room on the Networking page where we can organize chats around issues such as transitioning, teaming, preaching, structure, and many other issues which were raised in the book. Pastors who have a particular expertise in each of these areas will be hosting the chats at particular times.  If you have resources that you've developed that you'd like to share, you can email me and I'll include it on this site.

There’s also a discussion forum where you can post questions and comments.

The rest of the site revolves around resources that I mention in the chapters, so click on the links for the chapters and you’ll be directed to more specific information from the book. And again, this site will be a dynamic, changing site that’s updated on a regular basis, so check back again soon.

• 4,000 churches (across all denominations) close their doors each year.
• 1,500 clergy (across all denominations) leave their churches (or their calls) every month.
• 80%-85% of all mainline congregations are declining in membership or (at best) are on a plateau.
• 2/3rds of new church starts fail.
• 40 percent of pastors (and 47 percent of their spouses) report suffering from burnout, frantic schedules and unrealistic expectations.

But I am encouraged by the Gallup poll which says that even though only 37 % of the American public is in church on any given Sunday, a full 60 % of the American public is in church at least once during any given month.  I am encouraged by hearing endless stories of lives and churches being changed by being intentional and purposeful in the way we structure our ministry.  If 60 % of the American public is in worship at least once during any given month, that means that we can reach the great majority of the American public.  Pastors and church leaders have an incredible calling and opportunity.  We dare not waste it.  We need to do whatever it takes to engage, empower, and equip fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.  Literally, we can reach the world for Jesus.  It is to that end that this book was written.

Quoting Pastor Tania Haber from the Foreword, May God bless your faithful and diligent work and give you patience and boldness as you seek to lead the people of God in such a time as this." (page vi)

Click here for Augsburg/Fortress Purpose-Driven site