“I think I have given up on church as I knew it. Big buildings. Huge crowds. Few disciples. I’m not with it. It’s inefficient and just doesn’t feel right with my soul. This is not a rejection of big buildings or huge crowds, but an indictment on how few disciples are being made in the process of it all. A better way has to exist.”
With those words Shaun King explained why he was abandoning Courageous Church, the high energy, out-of-the-box church he had formed only a few years earlier. This was the church of his dreams, based on a simple manifesto:
Love God
Love People
Prove It
When Courageous Church swelled to huge crowds on Sunday mornings, Shaun took the next step in his vision by cancelling Sunday worship. “Let’s meet in the park on Sundays and hang out with the people who won’t come to our services. Let’s go where the people are and be about the work of making disciples.”
The great majority of Shaun’s congregation was not as courageous as he was. They missed the weekly worship. For them, meeting weekly with a small group was not an adequate substitute. Shaun discovered that many were attending other churches on Sunday rather than adopt his challenging plan. So, when the board began making plans to resume the previous Sunday worship routine, Shaun decided to leave rather than take a step backward.
Shaun’s wife Rai was equally pointed in her departing comments to the church they were leaving behind. “Glad we baptized you, glad we helped you believe in church again and feel all warm and fuzzy about your creator, but I’m sorry we failed to actually make the vast majority of you into disciples.
“We’re leaving because we will not go back to the stress and relative lack of actual disciple making of the every Sunday model. Sunday morning has its place. I too missed the gatherings, but I will never again participate in a model that replaces the real work of Christ with the mundanity of 2 songs and a feel good sermon.”
What happens when your dream crashes and burns? While Shaun King’s dream clearly was off the chart in its extreme demands upon his followers, he is accompanied by hundreds of thousands of pastors who began a new work with a vision they believed was godly and biblical and who were unable to bring their dream to fulfillment. Some let their dream die as they adjusted to painful reality and others dropped out of the ministry. Either way, the loss is profound.
Here is my observation. The church of my dreams is a human invention, even if it is infused with biblical principles. Any institution that has to be propped up by slogans, ideas, and visions is going to require a steady supply of cheerleading to keep everyone focused and motivated.
Courageous Church was the church of Shaun King’s dreams – he emphatically states this. In the end, however, the church that Jesus builds is based not on a plan but on a Person.
Journeys 
Ok, so not sure what point you are trying to make this week. I have to say I feel sorry for Shaun and his wife in this story. They became so focused on what they wanted to do they completely missed where God was present
By: Dave on September 23, 2011
at 3:44 am
“In the end, however, the church that Jesus builds is based not on a plan but on a Person.”
I think his first point is all about going on mission. Examples are lacking.
On the quote above; the church that follows its’ order infused with the ardor in their hearts; ah, yes this may be the key.
By: Rich on September 27, 2011
at 6:04 pm
“Any institution that has to be propped up by slogans, ideas, and visions is going to require a steady supply of cheerleading to keep everyone focused and motivated.”
Proverbs 29:18 “Without vision, the people will perish.”
Not sure where you are going with this…where do you stand?
By: tracy janusz on October 14, 2011
at 1:37 am