Is there a Place for Traditional Pastoring?

There certainly is. We have gotten to where we are through the teaching and time of these men. They have invested in us deeply. However, new movements need not be viewed as a threat by the traditional approach, nor should the new movements view their activity as the "Death" of the old ways.

Interesting section.

"The hundreds of pastors with whom we’ve shared our story love unchurched folks as much as our edgiest church planters, but they are also responsible to keep a church structure afloat, one that signifies safety and survival for themselves and their parishioners. It’s not an enviable position. I used to judge these leaders as weak, or unwilling, or even worse, unloving toward the harvest field. But now I’ve come to believe that they are just as important as the brave, arrogant, pioneer pastors. They are the shepherds; the ones who can help the pioneers take risks. They are the ones with the resources, people, and facilities who can help out the fledgling mushroom eaters.

Would it be okay to consider that there are degrees of missionality! That some will be sent to cross blue seas, cross cultures, and go to the far reaches of paganism in order to find the one lost sheep, while others may just need to be sent across the street? Is it possible that God doesn’t need nor ask everyone to start something new? Is it possible that God needs millions of leaders to care for a host of Christians who won’t be able to make the turn into new forms of church? I think so.. . . I think we must.
The transition within the U.S. church doesn’t require that we all travel on the same ship, but we must all sail on the same sea. Even in Adullam, we have some shepherding types, men and women who’ve been in the faith and in traditional churches a long while, are solid students of the Bible, and who love the mission of Adullam. They support and encourage us, but they never try to take over and dictate. They trust our hearts and our mission and give us a wide berth to be ourselves and follow what we feel to be God’s way of being church. They don’t waste time complaining; they cheer, and they roll up their shirtsleeves whenever they can, to help when they can. As someone who has lived my life meeting folks at the crossroads of culture, I have learned that I can’t sustain this life and ministry without the encouragement, funding, and long-term help of the stable caregivers.

Within every congregation there are people at every level of willingness, strength, and maturity. I liken these Christians to bricks in the under-structure of a bridge that reaches out to the other side of the river. They aren’t going to make it across the bridge. They may not fill churches with new Christ followers, they may not even be people you want your non-Christian friends to meet, but they can help support the old and new structures that will allow the others to go out."

(Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 34, 2008, Jossey-Bass)