The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the way these five cell-based churches are organized.  After analyzing their cell structure, I will attempt to set forth principles derived from both the patterns of similarity as well as the distinct differences.

La Misión Carismática Internacional

Explosive growth is taking place in this church.  Although many reasons for this growth could be listed, the one reason that was mentioned most often at MCI was the cell system.

Development of the Cell System

The cell group structure has been developing since the church began in 1983.  The initial cell groups were much larger and at times became mini-congregations.  In the mid-1980s the cell groups were divided into the twenty zones around Bogotá.  Around 1990, three major changes took place.  First, the church began to emphasize cell multiplication; second, the cell grouping changed from geographical to homogenous; third, the Lord gave César Castellanos the vision that each cell leader needed to raise up twelve more cell leaders.^[1]

Cell Administration

As has been mentioned earlier, MCI is organized around the concept of the twelve.  This is a new, creative version of the Jethro concept (Ex. 18; cf. Chapter 3).  Even those higher level leaders over the thousands are still responsible for twelve.  Figure 6 helps us understand the administrative structure:

FIGURE 6
MCI: CELL ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

In this model, the normal titles "district pastor", "zone pastor", and "supervisor" are not used.  However, the principle of pastoral care for every leadership level is still very evident.  In the above chart, the fifth level of leadership is called "disciple/cell leader".  The dual name represents the fact that the person meets with his discipler (in a group of twelve) as well as leads a cell group.  Until a person finds his or her twelve disciples, that person continues to lead a normal cell group.  After finding twelve disciples (who must be active cell leaders), the discipler primarily concentrates on supervising the twelve, although he or she might continue leading a normal cell group.^[2]

Similarities to the Pure Cell Model

There are many aspects of the cell system at MCI that are similar to Pastor Cho's cell model.  In fact, Pastor Cho's philosophy is regularly mentioned in the sermons and messages.^[3] I noticed three aspects that were perhaps the most similar: first, the cell group focuses on discipleship and evangelism, although the major emphasis seems to be evangelism; second, the order of meeting is very similar to that used in Cho's church;^[4] and third, the cell lessons are based on the Sunday morning message.

Like Cho's church, cell ministry at MCI is not an end in itself.  Rather, the cells serve the purpose of pastoring the congregation, raising up new leadership, and evangelizing non-Christians.  However, the goal is always to bring the person to the celebration service and to integrate that person into the life of the church.

Unique Characteristics of the Cell System

I noticed various aspects of the cell system that were unique to MCI.  Table 19 helps clarify the differences between the cell system at MCI and the traditional organizational structure of the Pure Cell model.

The Concept of the Twelve

Pastor Caesar Castellanos received a vision from God that the cell system should be based on the concept of Christ and His disciples.  Modeling Christ's example, Pastor Castellanos hand picked twelve pastors, with whom he continues to meet every week.  These twelve pastors have twelve under them and the process continues down to each member of the church.  Each person remains with the twelve from which he or she began discipleship process.  This relationship might last for years, unless there are unusual circumstances and permission is granted to change to a different group of twelve.^[5] 

TABLE 19
MCI: DISTINCTIONS OF THE CELL STRUCTURE

It must be remembered that these are not static, ingrown disciples.  Rather, to be called a disciple one must lead a cell group.  The concept of the twelve is really a way to multiply groups more rapidly.  Instead of waiting for an entire cell group to naturally give birth, this concept compels cell leaders to actively look for lay people to lead new cell groups, and thus become disciples in the process.

In this system, every cell member is a potential cell leader, but even more importantly, every cell member is a potential leader of cell leaders.  The leader of a cell group that has raised up another leader immediately becomes an overseer.  After raising up twelve disciples (leaders of cell groups), the discipler or mentor spends most of the time caring for that group of twelve (e.g., visiting, praying).  This system does not require a lot of top level organization and seems to work well on a grass roots level.

Cells within the Departments

The cell groups are organized almost completely by ministerial departments at MCI.^[6]  Depending on the size and specificity of the ministry, there might be many cell groups or very few.^[7]  The larger ministries meet as a separate congregation at different times during the week.^[8]  The major departments always have an evangelistic emphasis in their congregational meeting, and altar calls are given.^[9] The cell leaders under each of these ministries receive these newcomers, personally counsel them, call them within forty-eight hours, and make sure that they are involved in a cell group.  Each ministry department has plenty of ministry openings and the natural link between cell group and ministry helps the newcomer to become involved with the church (in 1998, MCI decided to change their cell organization from departments to homogeneous groups: men, women, couples, young professionals, youth, adolescents, and children cells, women's cells).  One important distinction is that the cell group always meets in the home, whereas the large department meeting always takes place in the church.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Cell System

Probably the best way to discover effectiveness within a cell system is to analyze the strengths and weaknesses.  Table 20 presents these strengths and weaknesses.  Although one should not expect that Latin American churches enter into the debate that makes a clear distinction between cell-based churches and churches with cells, it would be helpful if MCI distinguished its position more clearly from an organizational standpoint.^[10]

TABLE 20
MCI: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE CELL SYSTEM

 

Christian Community Agua Viva

The pastor and founder of this church, Juan Capuro, told me that when AGV began the cell group ministry in 1990, there were few of its kind in Latin America.  Now many churches in Perú are following the cell ministry at AGV.  Cell groups are called "Christian Communities" at AGV.

 

Early Development of the Cell Structure

Pastor Capuro has been heavily influenced by David Yonggi Cho, both as an inspiration for church growth as well as a model for his own cell ministry.  Upon initiating the cell ministry in 1990, the cells spread rapidly without much need to organize them.  However, as the growth continued, zone leaders, and supervisors were raised up to care for the various zones around the city.^[14]  The initial leaders were top quality and the cell groups grew from 121 in 1992 to 300 in 1993.

In the beginning, each cell group held two meetings.  The first meeting focused on planning, and only believers were present.  The second one was evangelistic.  There were also various training meetings throughout the week, and each leader was required to hand in weekly statistical reports.  Pastor Capuro confessed to me that the administrative concerns and requirements to run a traditional cell system became more of a burden than a blessing.^[15]  He felt that it was unnatural to require that a person find a cell group according to strict geographical areas.^[16]

Transition From a Pure Cell Model to the MCI Model

For these reasons, AGV has reorganized itself according to the cell system that is used at MCI (concept of the twelve).  Since there is a close affinity between the two churches, the transition has been natural.  The process of transition had begun only several months previous to my visit in October 1996.  Figure 7 outlines the new administrative structure (note the twelve leaders under each level).

FIGURE 7
AGV: CELL ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

Pastor Capuro is using his existing zone leaders as his initial "twelve disciples."^[17]  Each zone leader also meets with his twelve, formed mainly from the existing supervisors under the old system.  The twelve under each supervisor are now forming their communities, made up of both past cell leaders and new cell leaders.  As of this writing, the new system had not reached down to the cell leaders.  However, in the future, when someone starts a new cell group, he or she will remain under the supervision of the original cell leader.^[18]  Like the cell system at MCI, each cell leader will look for his or her twelve. AGV has decided to follow the G-12 model from the International Charismatic Mission 100%. 

TABLE 21
AGV: PRESENT CELL STRUCTURE

 

Principal Features of the New Organization

It is important to remember that AGV is "under construction."  They are in the initial stages of their restructuring, and therefore the present cell organization and features are a mixture of the old and new.  Table 21 describes the new direction of the cell structure at AGV.

Follow-Up through the Cell Ministry

The follow-up at AGV is systematic and seems to be effective.  Although this system was developed under the old cell model, and it will clearly undergo change through the restructuring, at present, it still functions in this manner and is worth noting.  Perhaps, it can best be described in table format (Table 22).

TABLE 22
AGV: FOLLOW-UP OF NEW CONVERTS THROUGH THE CELLS

Cell Groups

The change of the cell system at AGV has not drastically affected the cell groups themselves.  The "Christian Communities" at AGV have maintained the same structure and social mixture during this transitional period.

Cell Characteristics

Because cell groups have not been organized by departments, there is normally a variety of social dynamics in each group (e.g., age and social status distinctions).  I was told that the average size of the cell group is ten people.  The required cell reports that are turned in each month reveal some interesting facts about the cell characteristics.

First, there are no children's cell groups.  Only those who are over thirteen years of age are counted as cell members, although younger children may be present.  They believe that home cell groups are for adults and that the Sunday School is for children.  Second, the cell leaders are authorized to baptize and the cell group often goes on a baptismal retreat.^[20]  Third, every group has a treasurer who, along with the cell leader signs the weekly report when the offering is taken.  Fourth, cell groups are free to rotate among houses.

Cell Meetings

The cell meeting consists of initial greetings and prayer, worship, application, prayer for individual needs (e.g., baptism of the spirit, healing), offering, refreshment, announcements and final prayer.  The meeting follows a "Cho" model with the emphasis on the leader teaching the Bible study.  The study is based on the pastor's sermon.  During each sermon, Pastor Juan has designated a person to take notes and to give his sermon a different angle or slant.  Usually, two cell lessons can be derived from one Sunday morning sermon.  The atmosphere of the groups vary, seemingly according to the leader's style.  Some are very traditional with little member participation, while others can be quite emotional and filled with ministry the Spirit (e.g., tongues, interpretation, prayer for healing).

I did not include a section on the strengths and weaknesses, since the present system is not yet in place and therefore difficult to evaluate.  The old system obviously had many weaknesses, and for this reason AGV has reorganized its cell system.

La Misión Cristiana Elim

After traveling to Korea to analyze David Yonggi Cho's church, Pastor Sergio Solórzano transformed his church into a Pure Cell church.  Although MCE generally follows the organizational structure of David Cho's church in Korea, it has also adapted its structure according to the Latin American context.

Development of the Cell Structure

When the system first began in 1985, the mother MCE church immediately closed twenty-five affiliated MCE churches in order to create one cell church in San Salvador.  Since that time the organizational structure has been developing according to the needs.

Cell Administration

The system of cell administration at Elim is patterned after the Jethro model used in most "Pure Cell churches" around the world.  It is geographically based on districts and zones.  The cell groups must multiply within those areas and newcomers are assigned groups according to where they live rather than homogeneity (Figure 8).

FIGURE 8
MCE: CELL ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

As of November 1996, there were eight district pastors and fifty-seven zone pastors at MCE.  Each district pastor had approximately 675 groups under his care (about 14,500 people).  The zone pastor oversees the fifteen to thirty supervisors under his care.  It is not uncommon for a zone pastor to be responsible for one hundred groups and between 1,000 to 1,500 people.  It is truly a full time job.

Unique Characteristics of the Cell System

MCE has practically set the standard for the Pure Cell model in Latin America.^[21] The organization of every aspect of church life is accomplished through the cells.  The only way for a person to be involved in any type of service ministry is to faithfully be involved in a cell group.^[22]  Some of the key organizational points are discussed below:

Penetration Strategy

One of the major purposes of their cell groups is to penetrate non-Christian territory and prepare the ground for non-Christians to belong to the church.  The goal is always to have a number of people in the "pipeline" that are potential church members.^[23]

One Hundred Percent Growth Goal

MCE has maintained the goal of doubling the cell groups and cell membership each year.  One of the reasons all cell groups have the same goal is so that the leadership is on the same statistical level.  The other reason is to provide an ambitious goal which motivates the cell leadership.^[24]

Competition among Cell Leadership

All leaders (e.g., cell leaders, supervisors, zone leaders, and district leaders) are ranked according to how close they came to annually doubling the number of cell groups, cell attendance, cell conversions, and cell baptisms.^[25]  Each leader is placed on a list that compares his percentage growth to that of his co-leaders.^[26]  The purpose of these comparisons is to stimulate growth and create a "healthy competition."^[27]

TABLE 23
MCE: STATISTICAL PROCESS

 

Orderly Statistical Administration

Latin Americans are often labeled as not being particularly organized or statistically oriented.  This is certainly not true at MCE.  They have developed a highly efficient system of statistical tracking that is entirely indigenous.^[28] Table 23 illustrates the process of tracking statistical data.

Emphasis on Team Leadership

This is a very positive point about the cell system at MCE.  The church strongly emphasizes team leadership in the cell group.  Besides the leader, each group is encouraged to have an assistant, host, treasurer, secretary, instructor of children, and members at large.  It is the goal of the cell leader to form the core team, so that there can successful multiplication.

Planning Meetings on Different Night

Perhaps this aspect of having two separate cell meetings (one for planning and one for outreach) is the major distinction between the system at MCE and other cell systems.  MCE requires that the cell teams meet on Thursday night for edification and planning.  The purpose of the Thursday night planning meeting is to set the goals and receive the vision for Saturday night.^[29]

Rotation among Hosts

Although there is an official host of the group in whose house the group will start, people are encouraged to rotate the meeting place of the cell group.  The specific goal of this strategy is to provide better opportunities for each member to invite relatives and non-Christians to their own home.^[30]

Bus Ministry

MCE is a city-wide church.  Their goal is to reach the two million inhabitants of San Salvador.  Because most people do not have cars and the church is on the outskirts of the city, transportation is a major factor.  MCE deals with this problem by hiring over 600 buses to transport the 30,000 plus people to the celebration service.  The cell groups themselves take offerings to charter these city buses.^[31]

Study Guides

I was very impressed with the prepared cell lessons that MCE produces.  These guides provide three months of cell material.  These lessons follow the expository preaching schedule of the midweek service at MCE in order to provide continuity.^[32]

Effective Children's Ministry

MCE ministers to over 55,000 children every week in cell groups.  The children's groups meet at the same time as the adult cells, in another room of the house.  Normally, either one member of the planning team will sense a calling to teach the children or there might be a rotation among the planning team members.  No set curriculum is used.  Rather, the instructor is free to choose.

Cell Group Structure

The foundation of the cell system is the small group itself, which is simply called a "cell" at MCE.  There are several unique aspects of the cell group at MCE.

Preaching

The atmosphere of a cell group at MCE is like a "mini-service."  The leader preaches the weekly message with all of the fervor of a Sunday morning sermon.  I heard "amens" and fervent pleas to accept the message.^[33]  The cell leader often gives an altar call at the end of his message for those who want to receive Jesus Christ or receive reconciliation.  Prayer is offered for those who respond.  The service closes with an offering.

Order

The cell group normally lasts for one hour.  Although there is some flexibility, it is normally conducted according to Table 24.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Cell System

MCE is an example of success in cell evangelism, statistical control, team ministry, and pastoral care through the cell ministry.  Although the cell system at MCE is truly exemplary, I felt that there were some points of weakness.     I was concerned about the lack of cell participation for the members, the low percentage of celebration attendance from the cells, and the lack of female participation in cell ministry.  Table 25 highlights some of those strengths and weaknesses.

TABLE 24
MCE: CELL GROUP ORDER

TABLE 25
MCE: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF CELL SYSTEM

El Centro Cristiano de Guayaquil

The cell system that is used at CCG looks very much like other cell churches around the world.  In particular, it looks like the cell system of MCE.

Development of the Cell Structure

Pastor Jerry Smith caught the cell vision in 1992.  Since that time, the church has been learning and experimenting with cell strategy.  This cell structure is a mixture of concepts from Carl George (the terms "Ls" and "Xs"), Ralph Neighbour (cell order), David Yonggi Cho (inspiration), and MCE (statistical/organizational control).  Every ministry of the church is funneled through the cell structure.^[34]

Cell Administration

The system of cell administration is exactly like MCE although not as large (Figure 9).  Districts, zones, and neighborhoods are divided up throughout the city of Guayaquil and cell leadership is placed over these geographical areas. CCG has changed their organization to reflect the G-12 model. They now have decided to follow the International Charismatic Mission 100%. 

FIGURE 9
CCG: CELL ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

As of October 1996, there were an average of eight zone pastors in each of the three districts.  Six of these twenty-three zone pastors were women.  On an average, each zone leader oversees some ten supervisors, while each supervisor had an average of four cell groups.

Various Characteristics of the Organizational Structure

Following the pattern of the Pure Cell model, there are no competing programs at CCG.  The church might be described by the following characteristics.

Cell/Celebration Distinction

The CCG manual defines a cell group in this way, "Small groups consist of members and friends of the church that meet in different places in the city for personal edification and growth and with the goal of practicing Christian discipleship" (1995:43).  The manual makes it clear that cell groups are not: mini-churches, Bible studies, prayer groups, or family reunions (1995:42).  Pastor Jerry Smith says, "A cell group leader is permitted to do the same things that a normal pastor does except administer the sacraments (baptism and Lord's supper), dedicate children, and preach in the Sunday celebration services" (Smith 1995:21).  The cell group, therefore, at CCG does not perform all of the regular functions of the church and is not complete without the celebration element.

Statistical Administration of Cell Structure

The cell structure at CCG runs like a highly organized business.  This system requires a great deal of statistical reporting from all levels of leadership.^[35]  After the pattern of MCE, there is statistical information generated every three months which reveals how close, percentage-wise, each zone leader is to reaching his goal for number of cell groups, attendance in each cell group, conversions, and baptisms.^[36]  Table 26 illustrates some of the administrative facets that I noticed.

Unique Aspects of CCG Cell Organization

Although the zone structure is carefully followed at CCG, within each zone there are specific types of ministry.  I found these distinctions to be creative and helpful.

TABLE 26
CCG: SIGNS OF ADMINISTRATION