Can people from various backgrounds work together constructively rather than negatively ... learning to serve rather than yell? Dr. Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, says that it’s not only possible, it’s necessary.
Started by 11 people in 1972 in the “north land” of Orlando, Northland was recently named one of “America’s 50 Most Influential Churches”
by Church Growth Today. Since June 1985, Dr. Hunter has served as senior pastor. During his tenure, the church has grown from 200 faithful
souls to a congregation of 12,000.
Northland is “A Church Distributed,” arranging the church around the relationships of the congregation
and partner ministries, rather than around a physical church building.
Congregants worship at multiple sites throughout Central Florida, where they connect with neighboring Christians for support and encouragement and to better serve their communities.
Each weekend, these sites are joined in concurrent worship. A two-way video connection allows
different parts of the services to be distributed among the sites and gives congregants opportunities to interact with one another in real time.
Worshipers also participate at 1,500 smaller sites worldwide via Northland’s innovative Webstream
application.
People in Northland’s congregation take leadership of nearly every ministry effort inside the
church, out in the community and around the world. Elders, pastors and paid staff don’t try to
control the initiatives of congregants or the connections they make, and, they don’t watch over
their shoulders unnecessarily.
Dr. Hunter encourages Northlanders: “Do what you can, where you are, with what you’ve got.” And they do! Before bringing his family to Northland, Dr. Hunter served as a United Methodist pastor for 15
years in Indiana. He and his wife, Becky, have been partners in the ministry since their marriage
in 1972. Becky is the president of the Global Pastors’ Wives Network and the author of Being
Good to Your Husband On Purpose. The Hunters are parents to three married sons: Josh, director
of operations for Summit Church, one of the largest churches in Orlando; Isaac, senior pastor of
Summit Church, who leads this unique congregation of mostly 20-somethings; and Joel, an ophthalmology resident who is in his final years of preparation to be an eye surgeon and is already
working toward opening clinics throughout Central Florida.
A longtime bridge builder who seeks common ground for the common good, Dr. Hunter approaches today’s issues in a biblical and balanced manner. He has become an internationally known spokesperson for “Compassion Issues” outlined in Scripture: Sanctity of Life, Creation Care, Justice, Poverty, and Marriage and the Family, and has been featured in national publications including Newsweek and The New York Times, as well as programs such as The Early Show, Nightline and Anderson Cooper 360 (interviews available online).
Cooperation and partnership are hallmarks of Dr. Hunter's ministry. Together, he believes, we
can accomplish more because of our differences than we would on our own-without giving up
our unique identities. A respected leader in the Evangelical community, he serves on the board of
the World Evangelical Alliance (420 million constituents) and the National Association of Evangelicals (30 million members).
Dr. Hunter is also partnering with other groups to accomplish common goals. He is working with
respected members of the scientific community to call attention to human-caused threats to the
environment. Grist magazine named him among the top 15 religious environmental leaders in the
world, along with the Pope and the Dali Lama. Additionally, as a delegate to the US-Islamic
World Forum held in Doha, he is seeking to build a dialogue between Muslim and Christian
communities. The church, at large, is missing a way to benefit from differences without compromising our beliefs, Dr. Hunter concludes. “Fear and suspicion of differences limit the church’s spiritual maturity.
Both spiritual and intellectual maturity, grow from differences. A distributed church uses contrasts
to accomplish Kingdom purposes.”
Founder:
* Alliance for the Distributed Church
Boards of directors:
* World Evangelical Alliance
* National Association of Evangelicals
* The Global Pastors’ Network
* Children's Environmental Health Network
* The Jobs Partnership of Florida
* Christian Peacemaking Resources, Inc.
Advisory boards:
* Belhaven College
* Man in the Mirror Ministries
* Vision Orlando
* Christian HELP
* New Man magazine
Guest lecturer in practical theology:
* Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando
Author:
* A New Kind of Conservative (Regal Publishers, 2008)
* Church Distributed
* Right Wing, Wrong Bird
Education:
* Bachelor of Science in History, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, 1970
* Master of Divinity, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1973
* Doctor of Ministry, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1974
* Doctor of Humanities (Honorary), Belhaven College, Orlando, Florida 2006