By Larry Rosenbaum
I love to read books on evangelism. Recently I read a book called Unleashing the Church: Getting People out of the Fortress and into Ministry by Frank Tillapaugh. The book was written in 1982 and is available for $8 from Christian Book Distributors (508-977-5000 order # 18433). The author is (or was) pastor of Bear Valley Baptist Church in Denver, a church of over 1000 meeting in a sanctuary that seats 275. Instead of building a big, expensive facility in the suburbs that would be full only on Sunday morning, they chose to hold multiple services and spend their resources on outreach. They hired several full-time ministers to lead outreaches in various communities–such as to international students, refugees, and street people.
“The fortress church puts up its building, starts its programs and concentrates primarily within its walls….In the church unleashed an individual’s primary ministry may be within one of many traditional church programs such as Sunday School. But there is an equal chance that his ministry may be in a prison or working with a foreign student.” In the fortress church, most members participate only as spectators on Sunday morning.
According to Tillapaugh, since the 1930’s there has been a shift in which most outreach ministry is now done by “parachurch” organizations like Intervarsity and Campus Crusade. In 1982, Campus Crusade had over 11,000 overseas staff, compared to 3,000 for the largest denomination (the Southern Baptist Convention). In contrast, the local church has concentrated on ministering almost exclusively to the middle-class family. But most Americans no longer belong to “middle class families.” Tillapaugh is not opposed to parachurch ministries, but believes that the local church should also be involved in a variety of outreach ministries.
“Any Bible-believing church can have an effective ministry in the city.” But “the biggest obstacle to unleashing the church is…the senior pastor.” If he wants to release church members to minister, the church will develop effective outreaches. If he wants to control everything, the church will remain a fortress. “I believe that if he is really committed to the concept of the church unleashed, he can see it happen within five years.”
