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Explanations

1. Home group leadership requirements far higher than normal. How churches manage to train competent leaders during a one- to eight-week training program is a complete mystery to us at Xenos. Our training program takes several years of classroom and field training. Our typical leader has completed:

• We expect our leaders to motivate their people biblically, which entails not just relying on group-think or sociological pressure, but actually persuading members that Christian goals are correct and urgent.
• Such persuasion implies leaders know the Bible well enough to be persuasive in all major areas of Christian teaching.
• Our leaders have to be prepared to answer questions about all areas of Christian teaching and thought.
• They have to be prepared to lead their home church in waging spiritual warfare, so they must know about Satan and how to avoid aberrant teaching in this area.
• They have to be competent to counsel people through typical non-clinical problems.
• They have to conform to the character requirements of deacons as detailed in Scripture, which often entails some years of growth.
• They have to be mature enough to work on a leadership team without competing or fighting.
• They have to be able to train their upcoming leaders in evangelism, follow-up, discipleship, pastoral work, Bible teaching, etc. This implies they know these areas themselves.
• They have to serve as models of Christian living. In other words, their own lives must be stable and their relationships (including marriages) should be basically healthy.

6. Home group leaders handle all weddings, visitations and funerals - In most churches, the staff handles functions such as these. In order to marry members, home church leaders have to be ordained by the church, and this is something most churches are reluctant to do. Churches don't want to proliferate ordained pastors who may not be well qualified. This, of course, leads to the conclusion mentioned earlier: that we must hold higher qualifications for our home church leaders.

At Xenos, we not only allow home church leaders to carry out these functions with their members, we require it. If a couple approached one of the senior elders and asked to be married, we would point out that they need to ask their home church leaders to marry them. In a church where scores of marriages may occur every year, our top leaders would be unable to do much besides marry people every weekend if not for this policy. Visitation of the sick would require even more hours for the pastoral staff. But at Xenos, sick people are visited and counseled by people in their home churches. When visiting pastors ask how we find the time to disciple new leaders, write, study, travel, teach classes, etc., we point out that half the hours normal pastors would spend in basic pastoral functions are covered by our home group leaders, enabling us to focus more time on discipleship and equipping. Our elders consider this oddity one of the really important features of Xenos, opening the door to lay ministry in a number of ways.
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7. All staff and eldership required to be in a home group - This is certainly not unique, but in our experience, it is relatively unusual. Particularly important to us is that our top leadership is fully involved and actually lead regular home churches. When consulting with churches interested in building their home group networks, we often find that the senior pastor and others aren't in a home group for a variety of reasons, and have no intention of joining one. We find it unlikely that such churches will succeed in building high-caliber home-based body life. For one thing, if the top leadership isn't on board with the home fellowship agenda, how likely is it that the church will see this as a central issue? People also will quickly draw the conclusion that community of this kind must not be essential for spiritual health, because what's good for the goose is apparently not good for the gander.

We think it is important that those on staff for pastoral counseling be leaders of home groups. This is because we have noticed a tendency in those involved in healing ministries to discount the importance of mission and leadership unless they are themselves vitally involved as leaders. Finally, top leaders who aren't involved weekly in personal discipleship and motivating a home group will not be drawing their illustrations and lessons from that experience set. We want our leaders to regularly relate what they are learning in their groups when teaching and speaking.

We also believe the realities of group leadership and personal discipleship often bring to light the truth about Christian leaders' lives. We have seen repeatedly that when a Christian leader begins to develop a personal spiritual problem, it comes to light first in that person's home group. Likewise, leaders who are drifting into negative territory spiritually are usually the first to begin to downplay the importance of home fellowship ministry, discipleship and personal evangelism. Large-group preaching can be ego-enhancing, but personal discipleship is quiet and obscure background work. That's another reason we consider effective discipleship to be a prerequisite to public ministry. Finally, we want our paid staff to live the same struggle the rest of our leaders do: balancing career, family and volunteer ministry.
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8. Home group leaders handle all church discipline - Xenos home churches are like real churches. They carry out all the ministries a normal church would, including all the normal leadership functions. The only difference is that these leaders work under the oversight of our board of elders. Therefore, pastoral problems including those requiring discipline normally come up in the home church. We believe it falls to these groups to initiate discipline along the lines of Mat. 18. If a case reaches the extreme of exclusion from fellowship, the home church leaders are expected to recommend such action to the elders. The elders and oversight staff will review the case and must agree with the discipline proposed in advance, but the home church leaders will carry out the discipline.

Normally, if the first several attempts to bring change have failed, a meeting is scheduled for committed members of the home group where the errant member can be confronted and admonished by the church. Group members have to be counseled and prepared for an experience so foreign to modern individualistic society. Leaders have to chair the meeting, making sure the tone is loving but firm. They have to make sure Xenos policy and biblical standards are followed. All of these functions require considerable maturity and good judgment on the part of home group leaders. No wonder most churches won't delegate this sensitive area to their home group leaders, especially if their requirements for leadership are low.
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9. Staff hiring limited to members - At Xenos, we hire all our staff from within the church. We don't consider this to be a biblical mandate, and for that matter, we could hire from outside if the need was great, just as they did in Antioch when Barnabas went to get Paul (Acts 11:25ff). However, we feel we should prefer to hire within the church because of the message this conveys to the church. What will our people conclude if, every time we need a highly qualified leader, we look out to the job market rather than to our own people? Doesn't this suggest they are qualified to lead and serve unless it's a high-level position; but in that case, we have to hire a pro from outside? Isn't this a tacit affirmation of the clergy-laity distinction that has caused so much trouble in the history of the church, yet finds no legitimate basis in the Bible?

Another reason for sticking with members is that people need to know those who become their leaders. If a person comes from outside, how do the "sheep know his voice," to paraphrase Jesus' words. We find it hard to see how a community can feel confident about a person they have never known.

We know many churches often hire from within, and some even hire most positions from within. But we feel we should hire all positions from within. If we feel some positions are so sophisticated that they require graduate degrees, why shouldn't we see to it that members have those degrees? If the church is charged with equipping the saints for the work of ministry, we believe we should not go outside the local church for ministers except in very unusual circumstances, probably involving extraordinary growth too rapid to allow internal equipping.
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10. Prioritized ethics - Visitors to Xenos Bible studies are often amazed to see a group of people standing around outside the meeting smoking cigarettes. They may also hear occasional off-color language. Our guests from other churches notice a difference between their churches and Xenos in a number of these areas, and are confused. They wonder why Xenos members seem so committed and zealous in many areas, but loose in other areas.

We are not proud of this distinctive in Xenos, but we do realize it grows out of our teaching on prioritized ethics. According to this approach to ethics, some areas of moral behavior are more important than others. Therefore, we should focus on the important areas rather than the unimportant. This is the opposite of the Pharisaic error Jesus called "straining out the gnat and swallowing the camel."

When we study what Scripture advances as important in the field of ethics, we find that Christ said loving God and others sacrificially is paramount. This means sins of omission (like failing to develop good relationships or failing to have ministry to others) would be a serious failing. But smoking cigarettes or saying a cuss word would be minor infractions. We think the traditional church pays way too much attention to minor infractions, while ignoring big sins like selfishness or materialism. We further find we can't just say we will hold the line in all areas. The result of a purist approach (or an UN-prioritized approach) is that people begin to comply in outwardly visible areas, but ignore the often more important areas involving omission. How sad it would be to see our people saying, "I don't cuss or smoke," and yet they fail to witness or disciple!
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11. High level of content - Visitors at Xenos often comment on the content level of teachings. Apparently, we teach at a level considered too heavy for public meetings in most churches. Xenos leaders comment that they don't like the simplistic teaching level in some churches, and that they often have felt as though they were being treated like children when in church.

We have observed an overall ignorance among the Christian public (as opposed to Christian leaders, who know plenty) that we find distasteful and want nothing to do with. The often-heard claim that the church today is too occupied with book knowledge and theology is confusing to Xenos leaders. We are aware of a handful of splinter groups where book knowledge might prevail, but the overwhelming majority of the church today seems incredibly ignorant, not only ignorant of contemporary scholarship in secular areas, but even ignorant of the Bible. We agree that even the relatively low level of Bible knowledge in some churches may exceed the level of actual practice of biblical teaching. But we don't believe that further reducing people's knowledge levels will help with their lack of action in obedience. In other words, if people are just studying the Bible but not practicing it, the solution is not to stop studying, but to start practicing. Paul was clear that our love should grow in real knowledge and all discernment (Col. 1:9,10).

We also disagree that the general public is not responsive to sophisticated reasoning. Many Christian leaders seem to feel nonChristians will be bored if we teach too in-depth. But we find people enjoy being challenged in their thinking, and even if they don't understand parts of what they hear, they are still attracted to people who seem to know what they are talking about.
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12. Three-level structure instead of two - Most cell-based churches in America today have a two-level structure. The large meetings are the corporate worship meetings, and the small meetings are the cell groups. Cell groups, or small groups are usually six to 15 adults. Some churches have their small groups limited to believers only. Others welcome new people. But we have talked to a number of leaders who find themselves torn with this arrangement. Some pastors worry their believer-only small groups will turn inward and lose interest in outreach. The small groups could become Bible clubs for Christians, or "holy huddles." Others worry that because their small groups are always geared toward new people, there are no meetings in the life of their church devoted to discipleship and deep learning. Churches have trouble raising up good leaders when no meetings offer deep learning and accountability.

At Xenos, we have a three-level structure. We have our big meetings like other churches, although they are not worship services. We also have home churches, which are groups of 15 to 60 adults. Home churches are open to non-Christian guests, and are really small communities. Within each home church there are typically two or more cell groups. Our cell groups are usually four to 12 men or women, but not both. The men's or women's cell groups are for believers only, and usually have a fairly aggressive study schedule. They usually share and pray for each other as well. These are groups devoted to discipleship and spiritual growth. Thus, with our three-level structure, we have home group meetings devoted to outreach as well as some devoted to growth. For many groups, this means a third meeting each week. Other groups alternate the home church and the cell group meetings. We find that our three-level structure addresses all the needs in the church in a way no two-level structure is likely to do. We have experimented with two-level approaches on several occasions, but the groups always seem to go back to three-level arrangements after a time.
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13. Unique planning approach - For many years, Xenos elders would go out of town for a week every year to plan ministry for the coming year. Half the time was spent on an assessment of where we were at, and the other half on planning. Then, in the early '90s, we developed a new approach to planning that has been very motivating for the church and has allowed hundreds to get involved in setting the direction for the church.

The first step begins in August. Each division in our church goes to its staff and lay leadership to ask for an assessment and proposed new goals. As these ideas are discussed and gathered together, they are sorted and screened by the division coordinators and the management team. Then they build a report and proposal for each division. By this time, hundreds have already spent serious time studying and praying about the future of the ministry.

The second step is the planning retreat. The retreat is attended by the elders and the division coordinators, and occurs in middle to late September. Each division gives their report on progress to date, success or failure in reaching last year's goals, special problems or opportunities they see, etc. Then they propose new goals for each area of ministry. The proposals are debated and some are rejected as impractical or wrong-headed. The rest become the basis for the next step.

The third step involves connecting budget realities to the goals adopted in September. During the month of October the management team assigns price tags to each goal as well as already existing ministry. For instance, if accomplishing a goal means they will have to hire someone, then the new salary, benefits and computer needs will be entered as a proposed budget increase. They sort their expenses into those which are essential to their mission, those which are important and those which are optional. These are assembled into a budget proposal composed of four levels. The first level is the base budget, which is considered nonnegotiable (although in fact it is negotiable, and may be reduced further by the elders). This base budget must be at least 10 percent lower than the previous year's budget for a given division, in case the Fiscal Support Team want to reduce spending in that division. The other levels are optional spending and increases, which are sorted in order of importance. When the budget proposals are ready, the elders and division coordinators have another retreat in late October called the budget retreat. At this retreat, the team looks at the big picture by assembling all the proposals into a combined budget for the entire church. Normally, the numbers are too high and cuts have to be made. By the end of the week the team emerges with a finished budget proposal. The increases and optional spending are arranged into "modules" of spending in readiness for the next step.

The final step is the Fiscal Support Team Retreat. This retreat is attended by around 1,000 committed members in Xenos who are also regular givers. At the retreat, one of the lead elders begins by presenting an overview of the church as a whole. Then each division coordinator gives a presentation on the ministry in their division. The presentation covers why the work they do is important, how it is progressing and why they need their spending modules passed by vote. The elders direct the coordinators to present their needs in the best possible light and to plead for funds, ignoring the other divisions' needs and the fact that some must go without. This is because we want our people to realize what it's like to be an elder overseeing limited resources and urgent ministry needs that must be sometimes rejected because of financial realities.

At the end of the presentations, the team holds two votes. First, they vote on how much to expand the budget during the coming year, understanding that they will have to pay most of the bill. After adjourning for dinner, they reassemble and find out the result of the earlier vote. If the vote was to increase spending by 17 percent, they will be given a dollar figure which they can spend on new spending modules. (They don't vote on the base budget because this involved commitments from earlier years, like mortgage payments and essential staff). Each member gets a large ballot listing all the modules presented during the retreat. They have to pass the modules in order of priority for each division. This means coordinators can prevent unimportant spending when important needs have not been met. On the other hand, the team can refuse all the modules for a given division, leaving them up to 10 percent less than the previous year's spending.

After turning in the ballots, the team enjoys a party with food and beverage while a team tabulates the results. Later that night, the results are announced, and the team has an opportunity to turn in giving pledges for the coming year.

During the next two months, the leadership goes to the entire church both at large meetings and at home church meetings, explaining the decisions made and the need. People are invited to make pledges for the coming year. Unless we raise pledges for 90 percent of the proposed budget, the elders cut modules from the proposal in reverse order from what was voted.

During the first six years we used this planning approach, we have only had to cut a small amount on one occasion. People in the church understand where the money goes and they support those directions from the heart. During the six years we have used this approach, Xenos has gone from a church weak in giving to one that is relatively generous. Infighting over budget priorities, which used to harm the church, is now unknown.
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14. Church planting is a prerequisite for high leadership roles - Selecting good leaders is always difficult, and it's important, since the quality of any church is not likely to be higher than the quality of it's top leaders. We have observed many churches come under deficient leadership at times, and we want to avoid that. To select good leaders, we begin by limiting our search to our own church. This way, we know the person we are hiring and aren't dependent on secondhand reports from other groups. We try to get people with proven character as the top requirement. Then too, we find that for top staff—those directly involved in leading large sections of the church—we want those who are successful church planters.

Planting home churches in Xenos is very difficult. Home church leaders not only have to take care of a group of 25 or more people, they have to promote evangelism, train new leaders and provide field experience for their new leaders. They have to develop, not just a leader, but a balanced team of leaders and a following to go with the new team. All of this takes some years of work and sacrifice. If the new church plant fails, they come right back to the planting church.

We find the challenge of home church planting is so tough that only quality leaders with a fair amount of experience are able to pull it off. In Xenos, everyone respects successful church planters as those who know what they are talking about when it comes to ministry. That's why we select successful planters as home church consultants, course teachers, elders and other high-profile roles. It's great to be able to pick from those who have repeatedly accomplished a task we are all familiar with. We don't have to wonder how good such leaders are!

One exception to this rule of thumb are leaders who have served in youth ministry. We have many of our best leaders serving as high school or junior high workers, and these often don't engage in home church planting as such. Yet, if they are producing disciples of high quality, they would be respected and hired just as readily as church planters.
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15. Extraordinary emphasis on classes - If you visited the Xenos campus on a Wednesday night, you would see 500 to 800 people milling around going to classes. This goes on four quarters each year. That's more than 3,000 registrations per year! A typical quarter's offering will include a dozen classes ranging from basic introductory classes to graduate level classes. We have not seen a class system like this in any other church so far, except in one or two cases where they operate a mini-seminary for those leaving to plant churches elsewhere. Of course, our knowledge is far from exhaustive. We do see churches offering courses, but not at the same level of involvement relative to their church. Most churches would be delighted if 10 percent of their people took a class each year. We commonly see most of our adults take a class, and many take several. Registrants have to pay a small tuition for each class, amounting to about $5 per week of class (students get a discount to about $2 per week). People of all ages come out for these classes. The rest of the cost for the classes is funded from our general fund.

Also, our classes are more difficult than other churches we have visited. The typical class meets for three-hour sessions once a week. They are either five or 10 weeks long, and they include homework and graded tests or research projects. We don't hesitate to flunk any student who doesn't do the work.

People at Xenos love taking classes. People commonly take classes that are not required for any role, just for the pleasure of learning. Our classes are viewed as a ministry of the Word that meets people's needs in private life and in ministry. The typical Christian at Xenos sees him or herself moving toward leadership ministry roles, so classes are beneficial in developing competency needed for such roles.

Xenos spends around 20 percent of its annual budget staffing and operating classes.
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16. Urban community development ministry uniquely emphasized - Xenos is very heavily committed to Christian community development. We have not found other churches with a ministry analogous to our Urban Concern.

Urban Concern is a $1.3 million-a-year effort to reach a one square-mile area of the inner city in Columbus, and to eventually transform that neighborhood through the love of Christ. The strategy is to focus on children, and stay with them over a 10-to 20-year period, helping their families bring them up in the nurture of the Lord. They will hopefully become leaders who will stay in the neighborhood and take over the process of transformation as indigenous leaders. We focus on both spiritual development and educational/vocational development. Over 20 full-time staff and hundreds of volunteers work in this ministry which operates an after-school program, an inner-city school, job training programs, Bible studies and church planting.

Most of the top staff for Urban Concern have actually moved into the inner city to live among the disadvantaged people they serve. Xenos funds the ministry to the tune of around $500,000, and they raise the rest from government and community donations.

Xenos is mainly an underground church-planting movement, but we believe the Bible also charges those with money to care for the poor. We believe any middle- or upper-class church not actively seeking to share with those who disadvantaged is not fully living out the New Testament picture of the church. Not only do we believe we should care for the poor, but we also should invest in long-term change, not just handouts and short term relief.
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