Once a month, the Uniting Reformed Church (URC) in Windhoek, Namibia, holds a special worship service complete with guests of honor, membership cards, and formal introductions.

It doesn’t sound like the kind of service you’d find at most churches, but at URC it is an opportunity to introduce new members to the existing congregation and officially welcome them into the church family. New members participate in this service after spending a month with a mentor who prepares them for church membership and will then support them as they complete programs including reading The Purpose Driven Life.

Since implementing the Purpose Driven model in 2004, the monthly new member services have recognized an ever-increasing number of individuals as church attendance has grown from about 500 to more than 1,000 individuals.

Pastor Zachery Pienaar said the church developed an effective and active hospitality ministry as a result of completing the 40 Days of Purpose campaign. That ministry, which focuses on seekers, has been so effective at growing the church that URC now has extensive parking problems.

Becoming a purpose driven church has proven nothing but a positive change for the Uniting Reformed Church, Pienaar said. He added that nothing has been the same since church staff read Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Church.

“PDL helped us to focus on what is really important in life,” Pienaar said. “It helped us to focus on the same target and therefore eliminates the cliques in the congregation.

“PDL is easy and friendly and most of all, it is pure Scripture.”

Obviously, the Purpose Driven model has had a dramatic impact on the URC itself, but the changes within the church are only part of this success story.

Soon after adopting the Purpose Driven model, URC became involved in offering a program at a government drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. Pienaar said he uses the principles of The Purpose Driven Life to communicate life lessons and truths to patients at the center.

The program lasts for six weeks and involves 16 patients. Pienaar explained that he begins week one with the question, “What on earth am I here for?” From there, he covers each of the five purposes, one per week, throughout the remaining five weeks of the program.

Pastors, social workers, psychologists, and other professionals also conduct programs at the rehab center, but according to Pienaar, patients and the chief social worker have rated the Purpose Driven program as the most effective.

“The patients rate The Purpose Driven Life the highest and the program that really changed their lives,” Pienaar said. The Uniting Reformed Church’s work at the government center translates into higher church attendance as many of the patients who complete the program eventually show up at URC.

URC is now taking the program to the next level by incorporating aspects of 40 Days of Community into the already-established curriculum.

“Many lives have been changed,” Pienaar said.

Looking even further beyond the church’s local community, URC’s Purpose Driven model has continue to expand and provide opportunities to impact a wider world.

With all the recent growth and commitment attributable to the church’s structure change, it became possible for the Uniting Reformed Church to begin spiritually and financially supporting its first foreign missionary – a church member now serving in Angola.

Pienaar explained that the church has a specific spiritual support group for this missionary and that the group’s members correspond with and pray for him. The group also keeps the rest of the church up to date on his activities and ministry.

“We are now more of a missional church than a maintenance church,” Pienaar said. “People are excited about church.”

Overall, URC has seen positive results from its relatively young Purpose Driven focus. Pienaar said church leadership is now intent on instructing the leaders of other churches in the model and convincing them of the benefits.

“I have taught PDL to basically every pastor that I have met in the country,” Pienaar said. “The church trained and inspired the mainline churches and they did their own campaigns.”

As the church looks toward its future, one of the key objectives for 2006 is to transition from a Sunday school system into a small group organizational structure. While the church already operates some small groups, the goal is to expand and enhance this aspect of the ministry.

“More volunteers and new ministries came into being [because of purpose driven restructuring],” Pienaar said, adding that the church and its programs have drawn the attention and respect of both the Christian and non-Christian communities alike.

“This is not just one of our programs,” Pienaar insisted. “It is our ministry.”

All 2006 Church Health Award winner information is correct as of Jan. 1, 2006.