Missiologists like Donald McGavaran, then, came along and changed all that. He proposed that foreign missions required our entering into the culture of the unchurched, learning to speak their language, understanding their traditions, and then bringing the gospel to them. McGavaran set forth many different principles, both biblical and sociological, that when put into action would cause the Christian faith to take root.

McGavaran then wondered if maybe the same principles might apply in the United States: Are there certain things that cause a church to grow and certain things that make church growth difficult? He researched churches that were growing and those that were declining. He concluded that many of the same principles that seemed to work on the missions field also seemed to apply to the church in America.

That gave birth to what we now know as the Church Growth Movement. In fact, the leaders of the movement avoided the word evangelism, thought to have a negative connotation, and coined the phrase church growth. In many ways, church consultants like Lyle Schaller, Bill Easum, and Kent Hunter are the progeny of Donald McGavaran. They are a great gift to the church.

Fuller Seminary professor C. Peter Wagner popularized the principles of McGavaran. Wagner wrote many wonderful books about how to read the culture and grow a church. Dr. Robert Schuller was one of the first practitioners of the church growth principles. He gained national prominence as pastor of Southern California's Garden Grove Community Church, which is known today as the Crystal Cathedral. He began hosting conferences for church leaders on successful church leadership. Many of today's largest churches are derivative, in part, from Dr. Schuller's model - Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, IL; Saddleback Church in Mission Viejo, CA; and, of course, Community Church of Joy, AZ.

I spent some time at the Crystal Cathedral, and I came away inspired. I had always dreamed about being part of a church that was willing to do whatever it took to reach those who weren't attending church.

Finding Your Melody

In eighties and nineties, other churches began hosting church conferences. People flocked to see and learn about effective models of church growth.

However, through the years, some pastors and church leaders lost sight of the principles and latched onto the model. Many tried to import the model into their church when they got back home from the conference. They left the conferences not understanding fully the principles. Instead of re-translating the principles in their context, they transported the entire model.

Many of the second generation of large churches, like Saddleback, Willow, and Community Church of Joy had unique identities. Saddleback was about the purpose-driven church, Willow Creek was about the seven steps to reaching un-churched Harry and Mary, Community Church of Joy was about visionary leadership and dreams and reaching culture for Christ. While different theologically, these churches had much in common, in that each had attempted to reach its community with the gospel.

So many came home from a Saddleback conference and re-focused their church to that model. The same was true for those coming from Willow Creek and Community Church of Joy's conferences. The problem is that church leaders tried to replicate models. They needed to identify the principles and apply them in a fresh and innovative way. Many failed miserably.

In short, they confused the song with the singing of the song. We all sing the same song, but sing different arrangements of it. There is a difference between the song and the melody.

The melody is indigenous. It's local. The melody is our own. The melody is what we sing in our place for our audience. It's the same song, but a different melody. We must begin to move from transplanting models to re-translating principles.