A little bit about Tom Carringer
Like many of our clients, I’ve always been drawn to ministry. Though I started out in my career as a high school band director, even then, my motivation behind that was a Christian motivation. I wanted to be a dedicated Christian in the market space – and one of the places to do that was in schools. It was a great way to build relationships on a daily basis.
Later on, I went back to school for seminary, eventually getting a master of divinity degree, concentrated in faith development and the organizational dynamics of the church.
Eventually, I was led toward a different ministry path. I didn’t end up as a pastor or a missionary. But I did end up spending a lot of time looking closely at how churches operate.
What makes a healthy church?
I worked as a statistician for the Southern Baptist Convention, and in that role, what really interested me was measuring the effectiveness of a healthy church. Over time, I began to discover patterns – in congregations that were effective, and in those that were not. I began recognizing that some patterns could not be broken – and I also recognized that some patterns needed to be broken. This work eventually led to me to my current role, but I’ve also focused heavily on church consultation and management consulting.
Whenever I do a church consultation, I always start with the 7 Kingdom Principles that guide my work, from Gene Mims, Kingdom Principles for Church Growth. Here they are:
The 7 Kingdom Principles
- The church must experience God and seek His kingdom; listen to God and then make decisions.
- The kingdom of God is growing, and nothing can stop it.
- God invites the church to join Him in His work of redemption.
- The Great Commission is the driving force for the church.
- The Bible clearly identifies the functions of the church: evangelism, discipleship, ministry, prayer, fellowship, worship.
- Church growth methods follow God’s process of kingdom growth.
- Church growth is God’s supernatural work in a local church.
In future posts, I want to dig more into what makes a healthy church. Next time, we’ll look at Biblical content versus cultural relevance.
I want to hear from you:
What are the key principles that guide you?
this is very inspiring,thank you
I love the bit that you have shown. I want the whole teaching please.
Thanks for your sharing. It is encouraging and reminded us to focus what the principles that working in the Kingdom of God.
Does you have any sharing related to the transformation of believer life?
Thanks