In Tim Keller's book, Center Church, he discusses four ministry fronts...
- Connecting People to God (through evangelism and worship)
- Connecting People to One Another (through community and discipleship)
- Connecting People to the City (through mercy and justice)
- Connecting People to the Culture (through the integration of faith and work)
Center Church, pg 293
In the same section Keller explains three goals of ministry and their comprehensive scope as taught by Edmund Clowney...
In his biblical-theological work on the church, Clowney speaks of the biblical "goals of ministry" as threefold: (1) we are called to minister and serve God through worship (Rom 15:8-16; 1 Pet 2:9); (2) we are to minister and serve one another through Christian nurture (Eph 4:12-26); and (3) we are to minister and serve the world through witness (Matt 28:18-20; Luke 24:28; Acts 5:32).
Center Church, pg 294
I reproduce these here simply because they are ringing in my ears as I rework some of the groundwork of my church. Keller does such an excellent job keeping things simple, and yet puts them in one of the great new books on the complexities of church and ministry in our day. This is Keller's great service to the church. If you don't have Center Church, get it (WTS | Amazon | Kindle).
If you have a nice, short list like some Keller gives to explain the church, I'd love to see some in the comments. Or feel free to blog about it and share a link here.
Also, please check out my Tim Keller Resources page.