Administration: Better than Tongues

Being something of a process-geek myself, and knowing something of the charismatic mind-set, I was amused by this piece from Team Tominthebox:

ST. LOUIS, MO - Riverside Spirit-Filled Assembly is fairly typical as far as charismatic churches go. If you attend one of their services, you will experience lively worship, Bible reading, testimonies, and a happy church family. You will see a choir, praise team, ushers, and several pastors. They even have Children's Church. Things will also be very well-organized.

There is one thing, according to the Apostle Daniel Morris, senior pastor at Riverside, that does make his church unique. Morris told TBNN, "As with most charismatic churches, we heartily believe in the second blessing of the Holy Spirit. However, at our church this does not take the form of speaking in tongues. At Riverside, our second blessing comes in the form of administration."

Fellow Apostle Samuel Baker informed us, "We take I Corinthians 12:28 very seriously. Paul writes, 'And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.' We believe the word of God is inspired and infallible. In our church, the Spirit always manifests Himself in administrative gifts."

When you first walk into the church, the leadership and organization stand out. From the moment you arrive on the scene in the parking lot, someone is there to assist you. You are immediately provided with a map, calculator, and pager. No questions are left unanswered. No detail is too small to be ignored. When we at TBNN attended Riverside for a service, we noticed that all aspects of the performance ran very smoothly. Even the puppet ministry and youth drama teams performed seamlessly.

According to Apostle Gregory Nixon, "When people first join our church, they appear a little confused and don't always know what is going on. However, after a few weeks they are filled with the Spirit and it is amazing to see what happens. They begin giving orders to people they hardly know. They begin scheduling meetings and forming committees. They begin organizing every little thing that they see. No matter what ministry they are a part of, all the details are taken care of. We may not be the most spontaneous church around, but we sure have a chain of command. No detail is too small for us. You should see our bulletins."

Apostle Morris admitted to one problem, "We do have a few people in our church who remain disorganized. We keep praying for them to get saved."