Some pastors learn how to make their churches purpose-driven through training workshops. Speakers at Church Transitions Inc., a Waxhaw, N.C., nonprofit that works closely with Mr. Warren's church, stress that the transition will be rough. At a seminar outside of Austin, Texas, in April, the Revs. Roddy Clyde and Glen Sartain advised 80 audience members to trust very few people with their plans. “All the forces of hell are going to come at you when you wake up that church,” said Mr. Sartain, who has taught the material at Mr. Warren's Saddleback Church.
During a session titled “Dealing with Opposition,” Mr. Clyde recommended that the pastor speak to critical members, then help them leave if they don't stop objecting. Then when those congregants join a new church, Mr. Clyde instructed, pastors should call their new minister and suggest that the congregants be barred from any leadership role.
“There are moments when you've got to play hardball,” said the Rev. Dan Southerland, Church Transitions’ president, in an interview. “You cannot transition a church...and placate every whiny Christian along the way.”
Mr. Warren acknowledges that splits occur in congregations that adopt his ideas...
Regarding trouble-maker attenders, I agree that they should be invited to leave. To the extent that they are wolves or diseased sheep is the extent to which they should be asked to depart. The shepherd protects the sheep from wolves and from diseases/parasites.
Besides that, the issue is biblical Christianity. If someone grows a large church while teaching biblical Christianity, I don’t care if they grow so large that they take in 3,000 a day.