Myths

"It's just for churches following the latest style."
Purpose Driven does not mean chasing after quickly fading fads. PD is about being biblical and eternal. The five purposes, rooted in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, will never go out of style. The five purposes are based on the commands Jesus said were essential to the church.

"PD is limited to boomer seekers."
Purpose Driven is not about a particular style; rather it's about balancing the purposes and establishing a target group to evangelize. There are literally thousands of varieties of PD churches: post-modern, ethnic, language group, cowboy, singles-focused, artists, surfers - and even traditional. There are PD churches targeted for the Builder generation, Boomers, Gen-Xers, and Millennial Gens -- and these congregations are located all around the world.

"It's a 'seeker-sensitive' approach."
Purpose Driven is not a seeker-sensitive approach. It does use a seeker-targeted strategy for evangelism (one of the five New Testament purposes), but PD does not require any specific method for evangelism or even a seeker-oriented worship service. There are thousands of PD churches that DO NOT have seeker-oriented services. It is a very flexible church health model that allows congregations to employ a variety of formats for evangelism.

"It's not my worship style."
Purpose Driven is not about a particular worship style. Your church can be liturgical, traditional, contemporary, country, charismatic, multi-sensory, or casual. The Purpose Driven model supports you as your church matches the worship style of those you are targeted to reach in the community. In other words, if your congregation is targeted for senior adults, then you might offer a very traditional worship service or a Big Band-styled ensemble to lead worship.

"It's only for bigger churches."
Purpose Driven is one of the most effective church planting strategies being used today. And that means that many, many PD congregations are very small in the beginning. But our research shows that successful PD churches come in all shapes and sizes. The Purpose Driven strategy focuses on balance, health, and strength, not size. There is no correlation between the size and strength of a church. PD is a church-health emphasis, not a mega-church program.

"It only works in a locale that. …"
Purpose Driven churches are located in all sorts of settings: rural, small town, suburban, urban, inner city, jungle, war zone. It is not limited to a Southern California setting, either.

"It needs to be denominationally approved."
The Purpose Driven strategy dovetails easily into the polity of many denominations. It is like a computer chip that can be used in any form of computer. Purpose Driven churches exist in more than 100 different denominations and associations.