Missional Church
There is a lot of talk today about “missional” vs. “attractional” church. This short video gives a bit of a synopsis as to the difference. Not that attractional ministry is wrong or ineffective overall, but evidence does seem to indicate that, the attractional model is struggling amongst younger generations who are looking for something authentic and relational. If anything it demonstrates that attractional event driven ministry is not the only way to do church.
Missio Dei Schedule
Here is a Sunday service schedule for Missio Dei from January through our Easter launch date -
All Sunday Evening gatherings are held at the Evangelical Covenant Church
All Sunday Morning pre-launch services are held at the TR Paul Academy of Arts and Knowledge (more…)
Ambition Conference Audio
Last week I attended an Acts 29 Conference (church planting bootcamp) at Sojourn Church in Louisville, KY. As I said in my summary of the conference the messages were amazing and well worth listening to.
The audio of the sessions is now available
If you only listen to one message then make it Matt Chandler’s wrap up session on Ministry for the Long Haul.
Chandler Interview – Part 1
Dustin Neeley, Pastor of Crossing Church in Louisville, KY interviews Matt Chandler about church planting , preaching, and leadership.
The Scoop
Just wanted to give you a heads up regarding what is going on with The Bridge church plant.
In June I was contacted by Aaron Santini, a church planter planting “The Crossing” with CrossWay Chapel (a local church planting network associated with Mountain View Com. Church in Fort Collins), he wanted to meet like minded church planters and he had heard about me through Acts 29. After meeting a few times and discussing our vision, goals, and plans we began to discuss the idea of joining our efforts for the sake of the Kingdom. It is almost uncanny how similar Aaron and I are in theology, philosophy, and vision. So after a few months of praying and getting to know each other Aaron and I have decided to join The Bridge and The Crossing…in fairness to one another we have decided to change the name of the new church (which was really difficult for me because I absolutely love the name The Bridge =)
That is however a small sacrifice for what this joining of efforts is going to bring to the Kingdom. The new name will be “Missio Dei” which means mission of God in Latin. Both Aaron and I felt that this name encapsulates our theology and the vision of our church plant very well and will also create some great opportunities to share the gospel when people ask what in the world “Missio Dei” means. =)
The Crossing has been meeting in Aaron and Rita Santini’s home for about 6 months and they have about 40 adults and 20 children attending. Starting this Sunday evening we will begin meeting together at the Evangelical Covenant Church at 6pm. We will continue with our plan of holding a series of preview services (third Sundays of Oct, Nov, and Dec) and launching on Sunday January 17th at 10am at the TR Paul Academy of Arts and Knowledge. The joining of The Crossing and The Bridge will instantly give both groups critical mass and great momentum as we will now have approx. 60 adults and 30 children to launch the church with, not to mention the multiplication of servants, gifts and leadership abilities that both groups will bring each other.
Aaron and I are a lot alike but we are also very different in our gift sets. Aaron is passionate about small groups (we will call them Life Groups), discipleship, and pouring into men (the ground war). I am gifted as the big picture guy and overseeing things like administration, media (website, audio video stuff), marketing, and our mission will be my responsibilities (the air war).
Aaron and I will share the preaching duties and work together to formulate a preaching schedule ahead of time. We will teach through books or passages of Scripture so it will be very easy to keep continuity while also creating some variety in preaching style and perspective.
Aaron and I are both passionate about church planting and our vision is to plant churches up and down the 1-25 corridor and beyond. There are approx. 4.5 million people in the front range region and we believe that church planting is the most effective method in reaching these people with the gospel. In order to make this vision happen we must train young men to be pastors and leaders and therefore Missio Dei will have a Pastor’s School where men can be equipped to lead as elders both at Missio Dei and elsewhere as church planters.
Please keep Missio Dei and all that is involved here in prayer. We have some other big decisions to make in the near future and we are excited about all that God is doing and is going to do!
Random Stuff
I’m reading several books right now…if you are a pastor or church planter I recommend each of them. Not because I agree with everything that’s written but because I think it will challenge you and help you to think through things that you may not otherwise.
1. Launch “Starting a new church from scratch” (Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas)
2. Lost and Found “The younger unchurched and the churches that reach them” (Ed Stetzer)
3. Planting Missional Churches (Ed Stetzer)
Rory Rodgers begins his work here tomorrow…we will introduce him to the church and then he and I will work together in transition for about a month. My last Sunday here at CCCC will be Sunday August 9th. I can hear the collective cheers from those who are excited about our departure. 
Seriously we are going to miss this church, this community, and it is going to be really difficult to leave this behind. We are however confident that God is in this and that He is going to continue pouring out His blessings upon CCCC through the leadership of Rory and that He is going to begin a new work in Fort Collins through the planting of The Bridge.
On a completely different note…Riley Taylor, the son of Wayne Taylor (pastor of Calvary Fellowship in Seattle), has put together some stinkin’ hilarious videos for a teaching series in the book of Acts. Here is Acts 1…you can find the rest on youtube or around the web.
[youtube WO0PKQiZROE]
Great Trip
My family and I just returned from a quick trip to Fort Collins. Well our time actually spent in Fort Collins was short but the 18 hour drive each way made it seem like a journey.
We had a great time meeting with people, looking at homes to rent, and exploring the area. The kids absolutely love it there and Andrea and I are becoming more familiar with the city with each visit. On Tuesday we traveled up to Estes Park in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. All I can say about that is wow!
I had an extremely busy week meeting with contacts and people that are interested in the church plant. Each visit we’ve had there has been full of divine encounters that continue to serve as confirmation for God’s call upon us to pull up stakes and begin a new work in Northern Colorado.
One of the most amazing things about Fort Collins is the unity amongst the pastors in the city. I have met with a few of the pastors, and have received several emails from others, and one thing is consistent among each of them; they are Kingdom minded. Not one of them has said, “Fort Collins has plenty of churches.” or “What do you think you’re going to do that we aren’t already doing?” I applaud these men for putting Jesus and His Kingdom first…it’s sad that it’s so rare but in a church climate where pastors fight over church hoppers like two dogs with a bone, these men stand out as unique examples of what the Church should really look like. One such man is Reza Zadah. Reza is the young adults pastor at Timberline Church in Fort Collins. He has gone out of his way to welcome me to the city and offer his help in whatever way he can. Thank you Reza!
Oh…on the home front we did find a house to rent that is available at the perfect time, and the owner is allowing us to live in the house for 2 weeks rent free! The home is located in West Fort Collins…about 5 minutes from Old Town and 5 minutes from Horsetooth Reservoir. Perfect!
I anticipate that the next 6 weeks in Prineville will go by extremely fast. Rory and I will work together in transition for about a month. It should be a great time working together and learning from one another. I hope that I can pass a few things along that I’ve learned in my time here and then before you know it we’ll be off to our next adventure.
It’s sad, exciting, and scary all at the same time.
What If?
For the last few months my preaching in the gospel of Luke has centered on the concept of mission. That is being on mission with God. As someone who has been involved in pastoral ministry for over a decade now, I think it is safe to say that many Christians are not on mission. They’re on a mission…career advancement, more money, bigger house, living vicariously through their child’s athletic achievements…but it’s not God’s mission.
What if every Christian, or even most Christians, were on mission? What if Christians were as passionate about Jesus and the gospel as we are the myriad of other activities that choke the life out of us (can anyone say farmtown?).
Please don’t get me wrong…I love sports (just ask my wife). I’m passionate about the things I enjoy but what if we could direct some of that passion toward the Kingdom?
My family and I are moving to Fort Collins to plant The Bridge Church in mid-August. Part of my focus is going to be reaching young men, getting them on mission, and then setting them free to use their God given masculinity, drive, and passion to further the Kingdom of God in Northern Colorado. I’m praying for 100 young men to make Jesus famous in Fort Collins and on the campus of CSU.
Will you pray with me? Will you join us in being on mission with God in your community? Will you begin investing your God given time, talents, and treasures in things that will advance His Kingdom instead of your own? (Luke 12:13-34)
What if…
Update
Wow…it’s been two weeks since I’ve written a post here. Life is pretty much a blur right now. I returned from the Calvary Chapel Senior Pastor’s Conference Saturday evening (the conference was a blast by the way), as soon I landed we met with some friends who moved away a few years ago and happened to be in town visiting family. As soon as we hugged them and said goodbye a family who is praying about joining the church plant in Fort Collins arrived from out of town to meet with us over the weekend. We had an awesome time getting to know them and praying for God’s will for their lives. Since their departure for home, on Monday after breakfast, I have been going non-stop trying to balance pastoring Calvary Chapel Crook County, the transition of the new pastor, and preparing to plant The Bridge in Fort Collins.
Speaking of the transition, the elders and I have selected Rory Rodgers, youth pastor from Calvary Chapel Corvallis, as my replacement here. He will begin Monday July 13th; he and I will work together for about a month. During which time he will teach the Wednesday night Bible study through the Old Testament and I will continue preaching on Sunday mornings. He will officially take over as Lead Pastor on Monday August 17th.
My last Sunday here at Calvary Crook County will be Sunday August 16th. After which time my family and I will be moving to Fort Collins to begin The Bridge Church plant. We are extremely excited for all that God has in store here in Prineville, as well as the great work He is going to establish in Northern Colorado.
Please pray for my family as we make this transition. Please pray for Rory, Lindsey, and little Russell as they move to Prineville. Pray for Calvary Chapel Crook County during this time of pastoral change. Finally pray for Fort Collins and The Bridge!
Here is a link to our plan for the next 6 months of The Bridge church plant.
Something I've Noticed
I have had the privilege of late to meet several Calvary Chapel pastors who are being transformed in much the same way I have been over the last several years.
I see this trend developing in three main ways -
1. Openness to divergent views - It is easy as a pastor to become locked into a stream of thinking at the expense of learning from gifted people outside your own tradition. This has certainly been the case in the Calvary movement, but I have noticed recently that God is really broadening the horizons of many of our men and I’m looking forward to watching the fruit blossom in the years to come. Clearly we need to use discernment and wisdom in what we are reading or listening to but as a lead pastor you should be able to sift through the rough to glean the diamonds. If you are only being influenced by those you completely agree with you are limiting God from teaching you new things that are outside your perspective.
2. Dedication to the text – As Calvary Chapel pastors we have been given a wonderful legacy of simply teaching the Bible simply. However many of us were never given the tools to teach the Word accurately which has resulted in many sermons that simply are not faithful to the text. The end result is not heresy but it’s not rooted in the text either. While it’s certainly creative to twist John the Baptist’s beheading into a charge against “getting ahead” in life, that was definitely not the author’s intended meaning. The text cannot mean today what it didn’t mean when it was originally written. It is the duty of the preaching pastor to determine what the text originally meant then, so that they can tell their listeners what it means to them now. I am absolutely stoked to see many Calvary guys getting this; forsaking the creative, allegorical, “I’ve never seen that before” sermon for simply teaching the text and bringing the Spirit’s intended application from it.
3. Giving up control – One of the weaknesses of our movement has been the abuse of the Moses Model. The Moses Model essentially states that the Senior Pastor is in full control of the church and that his assistants and elders are simply there to implement his vision. He hears from God and then disseminates this revelation to the people. This model (which many men have exercised with no abuse) has lead to some controlling pastors who are running rough shod over their people. However it has been a great joy for me to meet several Calvary pastors lately who are sharing leadership with their elders and allowing these men to help shape the vision and direction of the church. As lead pastors we should simply be a leader among equals. If our leadership simply exists to rubber stamp our plans and serve as a buffer to blame hard decisions on; then we should be honest with the church and let them know that we are an autonomous pastor with no accountability. Of course this sounds ridiculous which is precisely why I’m advocating that more Calvary pastors relinquish their grip on the church and allow God to speak to them through the men He’s raised up around him.
10 skills a church planter needs
I was reading the Church Planting blog and came across this article about the skill sets that are needful to be a successful church planter. In light of the fact that 8 out of 10 church plants fail, it’s probably good to evaluate your calling as a church planter to make sure you have the gifts, personality, and fortitude to do the difficult work of starting a church from scratch.
Here are the ten skill sets (the article linked above goes into much more detail about each skill set) -
1. You need to exercise a clear sense of the call of God on your life.
2. You will have to be a visionary.
3. You will have to be a good leader.
4. You have to be able to gather people
5. You will have to be able to communicate effectively.
6. You always need to be developing new ways to reach out to people.
7. You will need to be able to develop strategic plans for your church plant.
8. You will need to be able to handle financial matters competently.
9. You will need to have your family in order.
10. You will need to maintain a healthy spiritual life with God.
Church Plant in Ft. Collins
Most of you know that my family and I are planning on moving to Ft. Collins, CO in the next 3-6 months to plant a gospel centered, Jesus focused, missional church…that cares more about God’s glory than man’s happiness. Holding tightly to the text of the Word while desiring to engage the context so as not to become an isolated subculture but a city on a hill.
Fort Collins is a city of about 140,000 people (the metro area is closer to 300K) and the home of Colorado State University.
We are going to miss the people of Calvary Chapel of Crook County, the city of Prineville, and all the friends and family we have here in Central Oregon. It’s been an amazing ride here in Prineville…we have seen lives radically changed, a wonderful church planted, we have made many friends (and only a few enemies), and added our two children to the Couch family.
Please keep us in prayer…here are some specific ways you can pray.
1. The transition of pastors here at Calvary Crook County (the search for a new pastor, his transition to becoming the lead pastor).
2. The church body (please pray that the enemy will not gain any traction in the lives of people in our body during this transition).
3. The church plant in Ft. Collins…
a. Conversions to faith in Christ in the Ft. Collins region
b. A team of like-minded Christians to join with us in this work
c. Inroads into the community and the university to engage the culture with the gospel
d. Provision
If you would like to support this church plant our contact information is in the drop down menu above.
For Jesus’ fame,
ryan
Bible Teaching
My good friend Jeff Stewart from Calvary Chapel Pomona Valley and I talk frequently about ministry and one of the things that comes up often is Bible teaching. Both Jeff and I are passionate about teaching the Bible. It’s something that we’ve both dedicated our lives to and therefore something we think and talk a lot about.
I believe it’s incumbent upon pastors and Bible teachers to be teachable and to continually grow in their gift of teaching. This takes a humble heart that is willing to listen to critique and learn from it. Too often pastors in their stubborn pride refuse to change, but I believe this displeases God and goes against the very premise of the Book we’re teaching.
Jeff wrote an article about a year ago on his myspace page that we have recently revised and I wanted to make version 2.0 available here.
1.TEACH YOUR TEXT – It is not our job to make the Bible say something other than what it says. It is our job to extract the Author’s intended meaning and to make that applicable to our listeners. In our attempt to make the Bible exciting and relevant we end up using it as a spring board to say whatever we want. While this might be exciting and make people say, “wow I’ve never heard that before!” There is probably a reason they haven’t heard it before; it’s not there
2. DON’T BE A FLIPPER - Cross references can be great to clarify your text or substantiate a point, but don’t teach them (ie – spending more time in the cross referenced passage than in your text) and don’t have people flipping all over the Bible trying to find your cross-references. Quote the verse or passage or sum it up in your own words. Our vast knowledge of the Bible may impress people but it can be a very ineffective communication method.
3. STUDY YOUR TEXT BUT PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER YOUR APPLICATION – This is a common mistake, to spend all of the allotted time dispensing information and never telling people what it means to them personally. We must be more than a breathing reference book. There is a small percentage of people who love history, original languages, and big theological words but most people that sit before us are frazzled from life and just want to hear a simple truth from the Spirit of God.
We personally believe that this is a primary way the Spirit desires to use the New Testament gift of prophecy, “he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men”.
Yes the Holy Spirit can and will apply the text to each individual but he desires to use us in that process otherwise just hand everyone a commentary and call it good.
4. YOU CAN’T TELL THEM EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IN ONE STUDY – And if you can you probably shouldn’t be teaching the Bible you should be learning it.
This is common to young Bible teachers and guys that are just starting out, you want to be very diligent and teach the text thoroughly (which is good) however you will end up losing, or boring people , or worse…Both
As Bible teachers it is important that we have a firm understanding of our text. We must do our homework…word studies, history, cross references, etc. This does not necessitate that we dump all of this study upon our people. The hours of study and firm grasp of the text will come across in your teaching without you verbalizing everything you know.
5. BE ABLE TO CLOSE – Remember not everyone is as interested in listening to you as you are. Every pastor struggles in this area because we are so excited about what we’ve learned and we want to give it away. But if you’ve made your point, move on. If you are on point #2 and the Spirit is speaking powerfully to people it may be better for you to end the message at that point and give people more opportunity to respond to the Word. Too often we are bound to our notes and our outline and we feel we must tell them everything we have prepared…why? Know when to end…don’t ramble…don’t feel like you have to fill time…just shut it down and let the Spirit work His Word into their hearts.
6. KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING AND HOW YOU’RE GOING TO GET THERE – And then tell your listeners from the beginning so that they can track with you. This seems self evident, but sadly it is not. If I as the teacher do not know where I am going then chances are my audience won’t either, even when I get there.
7. BE CHRISTOCENTRIC – Ok it’s a big word, it’s a word we don’t necessarily need to use but should practice. It simply means to make Jesus the center and focus of our Bible teaching. Every time we teach the Bible we should be pointing people to Jesus. It is our job to see Jesus and the gospel in the text and then make Him come alive for our listeners. “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” (John 5:39)
8. AVOID MAKING STATEMENTS – This point may be difficult to articulate. The idea is that we shouldn’t be making statements intended to impress the audience. Statements that take people 5 minutes to process and by then they’ve completely forgotten the point. Bible teaching is not merely motivational speaking, it’s teaching the Living Breathing Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). If we allow it to, it will make plenty of powerful statements on its own.
9. BE HONEST – About whether or not you connected with the audience. If you did not connect nothing else may matter. Ask other Bible teachers you respect to listen to your teaching and allow them to critique you and then don’t defend yourself.
little church that does BIG things (Part 2)
I think there are 3 main reasons why pastors and churches don’t look beyond their 4 walls to reach their community. And in reality #1 leads to #2 and 3.
1. No vision
2. No money
3. No help
In other words no vision perpetuates itself whereas sensitivity to the Lord, unique ideas, and thinking outside of the box is contagious and infuses excitement into the body. A lack of vision also leads to the lack of funds and help. Why would people want to give their money or time to a church or pastor that has no vision?
Pastors are funny people. We tend to complain about problems that we’ve created. It’s kind of like marriage…men complain about their wives but what they fail to realize is that she is a reflection of them. If your wife is a nagging control freak then take a good long look in the mirror my friend because she is a product of your own stupidity.
But I digress…
I found that when I quit worrying about why soccer families missed so many services and why the church wasn’t growing and I just began to disciple the folks that were there and look beyond the 4 walls the problems that seemed so big to me actually disappeared.
It was during this epiphany that we began to do what for us were some big things…I detailed one of them in part 1 of this post. Some large outreaches that were way over our heads. In the summer of 2005 we began a summer festival called SonFest. My heart in this idea was to create a comfortable atmosphere where families could bring their kids and listen to some music and hear the gospel. We bring in 4-5 bands that play throughout the day. We cook up some hamburgers and hotdogs. We put on a mini-carnival for the kids with jump houses, water slide, petting zoo, and tons of games and candy. This year we added dramas with a clear presentation of the gospel after each one. We hold SonFest in a highly visible downtown park and typically we have 2 to 3 thousand people come throughout the day. We then hold our Sunday morning service in the park the following morning and we usually have about twice our normal Sunday attendance.
In addition to SonFest we also took over a local soup kitchen about a year ago. The former directors were real tired and decided that it was either time to find someone else or shut the doors. They approached us and asked if we would be interested in taking over the management of The Oasis. Initially I thought to myself, “are you kidding! We don’t have the man power or money to take this on.”
But after seeking the Lord and discussing it with our leadership we felt like it was the right thing to do. However the only way we thought it would work was if we hired a person from our church to manage it. At the time the current leaders (husband and wife) were volunteers but I knew that if we tried to go this route we would end up in the same boat they were in eventually. Immediately I thought of a women in our church who had just closed down a restaurant that her and friend ran together. She had food preperation and management experience and she has a tremendous heart for the Lord and people. She jumped at the opportunity and has been doing an amazing job. The Oasis serves lunch to about 50 people a day, 6 days a week. We also give away food boxes and financial assistance through that ministry. It has been a huge step of faith for us but God has provided and we are privileged to reach out to the “least of these” in our community.
In addition to these larger outreaches we have done some smaller scale events and projects. Some have been great successes; like a leaf raking outreach we did a few years ago where we went to different neighborhoods and raked leaves for people and then shared the gospel with them as they looked on dumbfounded.
Some have been pretty major failures, like the “equine clinic” we put on about a year ago…horses are a big deal here so we thought we would be relevant and reach out to the horse people
We brought in a guy who uses horses and horse training as a means to introduce people to the gospel. First of all I don’t know anything about horses so I asked a guy in the church to oversee the event. He pretty much flaked out and dropped the ball on most of his commitments. I had to pick up the slack and things went from bad to horrible. The horse outreach guy did a fair job of communicating the gospel with horses but it came across a bit canned and pretty cheesy. But what was really bad was the concert that followed. We invited this country band to come and play for us to follow up our good ol’ time. Well the problem was that nobody (and I mean nobody) from the community stayed for the concert. We literally had 9 people stay for the concert and all of them were from our church; people who felt obligated to be there. The lead singer of the band kept inviting people to church the next day and then finally realized all 9 of us were members. It was a disaster.
In your attempt to be a little church that does BIG things you will win some and lose others but don’t ever get discouraged. Keep praying, keep seeking God for wisdom and creative ideas as to how you can reach your community with the amazing gospel message.
If there is any way I can help you to implement some of your ideas into your church don’t hesitate to call or shoot me an email.
blessings,
ryan
(541) 416-9009 (office)
ryanATcalvarycrookcountyDOTcom (email)
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little church that does BIG things (Part 1)
My wife and I came to Prineville in the fall of 2001 to start a Thursday evening Bible study that would ultimately become Calvary Chapel Crook County. (we named it that because the area is known by the county more than the city)
Our first Sunday morning service was held on May 5th 2002. We had about 30 people that first Sunday and we quickly grew to 50 people crowding into our little elementary school library (the chairs were Lilliputian made for people without years of carbs in their backside).
After our move to Crook County Middle School in the fall of that year we grew to about 75 people and like most church planters I thought we were going to have a mega church in no time.
However after a few years in the Middle School, and several original families gone for one reason or another, we were still about 75 people and I was getting discouraged.
Why isn’t the church growing? Why do new people come once and never return? Why do key families have to leave the church? Why is this so stinkin’ hard?
It was about this time that the Lord spoke to me and gave me the focus and vision that is at the core of who we are as a church to this day. A vision that looked beyond the 4 walls of our church to a lost community that would much rather sleep in and watch football on Sunday than sing songs to a God they don’t know and listen to some young punk teach a book they don’t believe.
The Lord showed me that He doesn’t need a lot of people to accomplish this plan. He could reach our entire community with a few people who were on fire for Him.
“I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.” (Isaiah 45:5)
He began to put big ideas upon my heart that we didn’t have the man power or budget to pull off.
One of the ideas was an outreach to sportsmen. Hunting is huge here…(shocking right). For this area where less than 10% attend church hunting is the god of choice. I would say that 80-90% of the men (and many women) in this community hunt. Therefore what better way to reach this community with the gospel than by appealing to what is closest to their heart. Quest Outdoors was born out of this vision and several conversations with one of our leaders, Shawn Jones, who owns and operates a hunting/fishing guide business called Go West Outfitters.
Shawn and I had the idea of creating a banquet that would look a lot like other sportsman’s banquets (like Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, or Oregon Hunters Association).
The first Quest Outdoors banquet was held in 2004. We put together an awesome catered dinner, a top notch speaker in the field, world class taxidermy and thousands of dollars in prizes. There was no way a church of 75 people should be able to pull this off. But not only did we pull it off but we had about 250 people come our first year and it has doubled since. Each year men and women who would never darken the door of our church come to this event and hear the message of the gospel in a way that meets them right where they’re at.
This local outreach which has become a yearly event has motivated our church to do several other events and outreaches in our community…and has given our church the reputation of the “little church that does big things.”
I remember when I first heard someone describe our church this way. I was offended. Calling a church planter’s work small is like kicking him in the groin. But as I thought about it I realized that it was perfect because people were giving God the glory as they recognized that our little church with puny numbers and a tiny budget couldn’t possibly pull this off without divine intervention.
1 Cor. 1:26-31
Over the years our church has grown but we continue to take steps of faith taking risks for the sake of the Kingdom.
Many of these outreaches and events have bombed big time…some of them have been incredible successes. I will talk more about these things in Part 2 of this post.
grace…ryan
Instilling Vision
Yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine who used to be my assistant pastor and is now planting a church in Walla Walla, WA.
I am on his board helping him make financial decisions while his church is being established.
I was encouraging him to begin to instill in his small group of people the vision that he has to grow the church and reach the community with the gospel. Often small churches suffer from the “I don’t want a big church” syndrome. The reason we came here was due to the size. We like the small atmosphere and that we know everybody’s name (and their birthdays…and their social security numbers)
The tendency for small churches in small towns is to get comfortable with the few families that are coming and to never want that to change. As a pastor of a small church you must begin to instill your vision to reach the community early on because the longer you wait the more difficult it will be to convince Mr. and Mrs. home school parent that this is a good idea.
Here are some practical ways you can do this.
1. Talk about it from the pulpit (or music stand or folding chair turned backwards) – duh! Share your heart for the lost as it comes up in Scripture. Encourage the people to see themselves as missionaries in their neighborhoods, workplaces, and families.
2. Think big - Encourage the people that you can reach this community with the few people you have right now. God doesn’t need a thousand people to make an impact. I have been saying this since our church first began. As we’ve grown from 25 to 50 to 75 to 100 to 150 and beyond I’ve been telling our body that we can reach this city right here, right now.
3. Pour into men – Without solid mature men with leadership gifts your church won’t be healthy so begin meeting with 1 or 2 guys that have potential for leadership. Share your heart with them. Tell them your vision to reach the community. Bounce stuff off of them. Listen to their ideas. Get their opinions. Pray with them.
4. Start small – Often small churches with tiny budgets and small minded pastors get intimidated to do outreach. “We can’t afford it!” “We don’t have enough people!” Yes and if you keep saying that it will continue to be true. Think of creative ways that your small fellowship can reach out with the love of Jesus. Maybe it’s raking leaves in a local neighborhood and sharing the gospel with the people as they stand on their porch dumbfounded that someone is willing to do what they’ve been dreading for weeks. For more unique ideas see Steve Sjogren’s book 101 Ways to Reach Your Community.
In my next post we are going to look at how little churches can do big things.
Planting a Church in a Small Town
I remember pouring over the map trying to decide where I wanted to move my wife and I to plant a church.
I wanted to go to a big city…because lots of people equals big church and every church planter wants to have a big church. Not to mention big cities have cool stuff to do.
However the Lord didn’t open up doors in any big cities instead he directed us toward a very small town about 20 miles from where I was a volunteer assistant pastor.
Prineville, OR. population 10, 190 (you know you live in a small town when you know the exact number of residents)
It was actually about 8,500 people when we moved here but it’s growing…or at least it was before the economy went in the toilet.
So over the last six plus years I’ve learned a few things about church planting and pastoring in a small town that I would like to share with you if you’re interested.
Here are four things I’ve learned about church planting in a small town-
1. Be authentic – small town folks can recognize a phony from a mile away (from one end of town to the other). Be real. Be genuine. Be yourself.
2. Be realistic - every church planter wants to have a mega church…but if you’re planting a church in a town smaller than many megas you might want to reevaluate your measure of success.
3. Be patient – even though it’s a fruit of the Spirit us pastor types tend to be pretty impatient. We like to see instant results but planting a church in a small town can take years to establish and to see substantial fruit.
4. Be broad (in your focus) – As a small town church planter your vision should be to reach the entire city. You aren’t trying to reach a certain part of town, or a specific demographic. You need to instill in the folks that are coming that you can reach this whole city right now with the few people that are coming.
I plan on writing more thoughts on church planting and pastoring in a small town so stay tuned.
Pray for Ken Sutton and Calvary Everett
Please pray for a friend of mine, Ken Sutton, as he plants a church in Everett, WA. The church will officially launch on Sept. 21 (my birthday no less) as they begin a Sunday night Bible Study in John called “Thirsty”
Ken has planted and helped plant several churches in the US and abroad and most recently was on staff as the men’s pastor at CCCM.
Ken was asked by Kelly Taylor (CC Lake Stevens) to come up and begin a new work in the Everett area and I’m excited to see what the Lord is going to do in and through him and his family.