The Ecclesia Network

New Book (and Message) from Ecclesia Pastor Aaron Graham

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:47:24 GMT

Here's a message from Ecclesia Pastor Aaron Graham

"Hey friend,

I hope you had a wonderful Easter Sunday.

Here at The District Church, we saw 17 people baptized and 61 make a first-time commitment to follow Christ. It was a wonderful day! He is Risen!

I’m writing today to ask you for your help.

As many of you know, Unshakable Faith comes out on May 12.

It's been such a privilege to have so many of you in my corner throughout this process, praying for me, encouraging me, and cheering this book on. I don't take that for granted.

I'll be honest, I’m new to this.

I've never published a book before. I just have a message I believe the world needs to hear. I've been learning a lot about how the publishing process works.

One of the things that has surprised me is how much pre-orders matter.

Most people don't realize this, but retailers actually use pre-order numbers to decide whether they'll stock a book.

That means every single pre-order isn't just a purchase — it's a vote. It tells bookstores, "This book deserves to be on the shelf."

When you pre-order, you’re not just getting a copy for yourself.

You’re helping this message reach people who’ve never heard of me, never heard of The District Church, and will never find this book on their own if it never gets stocked.

So here's my ask:

Would you pre-order the book this week?

To say thank you, my publishing team and I want to give you something in return.

When you pre-order and submit your order confirmation, you'll get 2 bonuses:

Bonus #1: An early digital copy of the book. You don't have to wait until May 12. Start reading Unshakable Faith before it officially releases. In fact, you can start reading today.

Bonus #2: A Live Author Q&A on Zoom. Sunday, May 3 at 8 PM Eastern. I'll share some behind-the-scenes stories from the writing process and then open it up for your questions.

Here's how to get the bonuses:

Pre-order the book from your favorite retailer.
Come back to the pre-order page and submit your name, email, and order confirmation number.
We'll send you the early digital copy and your invite to the Live Q&A.

Takes about 2 minutes, but it makes a big difference.

I'm grateful for every single one of you.

This book wouldn't exist without your support.

Pre-Order & Start Reading Today

Aaron

P.S. Already pre-ordered?

Thank you! You can still get both bonuses — just go to the pre-order page and submit your order confirmation number."

A NEW CHURCH PLANT IN MODERN-DAY ATHENS FOR CHRISTMAS 2025!

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 23:38:02 GMT

Well that “Athens” is in Canmore, Alberta, Canada! Yes – the Ascent Movement has gone into major pluralistic territory!

“Are you crazy”, people asked Rick & Donna Lamothe, “to plant a church here in Canmore, where this is a graveyard for Pastors & Churches”?

You see, there are no Baptist, no Pentecostal church in Canmore AB. Yes, there is a beautiful Catholic Church, but it is a “shrine”. It is even called ‘The Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies’. Then there is one alive evangelical church, but they don’t even preach the Gospel. There are a few other very small churches. But in a beautiful small Canadian Rocky Town of about 17,000 people, with 10,000 more on the weekend who come to escape, only 1% of the population would go to church in Canmore!

On the outside, Canmore is truly inspiring, majestic, breath-taking. Well that’s because of the beauty of God’s creation. But on the inside, yes lots of beautiful people, searching, wondering perhaps who God is, but they are too busy worshipping His creation with all the sports, hiking, recreation, that can be done around here on weekends.

Why is Canmore a graveyard for pastors & churches?

Well in this Mountain Town, when you go deeper on the inside, you get to see a lot of idolatry, sexual immorality and witchcraft. Banff (next door to Canmore) – as inspiring as it is with people coming from all over the world, has the highest level of STD (sexually transmitted disease) in all of Canada.

Pastor Rick just preached a New Year’s message on The Three Sisters of Canmore – the iconic 3 mountains of Canmore standing above all the other mountains. Interesting, that are named after Faith, Love & Hope. We know 1 Corinthians 13 talks about Faith, Hope and Love and the greatest of these is love. But Rick stated how 1 Corinthians 13 really had nothing to do with a wedding passage. The Apostle Paul wanted to address a church back in Corinth, which was plagued with division, idolatry, sexual immorality, etc. He was telling them about the 8 things love does and the 8 things love does. Because back then, they were doing the 8 things true love should NOT be doing.

Fast forward the story to 2025-2026, many churches are still doing the 8 things love should not be going. People are easily angered. People have lots of envy. They keep records of wrongs. etc. And as Corinth was similar to Athens in its Greek cultural and religious pluralism – hum – so is Canmore. Lots of little Buddha statues everywhere.

So Rick & Donna, who are both in their early 60s, are planting a church in Athen-like-Canmore. Both are also Veterans, so they are not afraid of stepping onto the front lines to do battle and gain territory for Jesus. In fact, Rick & Donna believe they’ve planted 1000s of seeds for Jesus over this past Christmas like it has never been done before!

No Jesus at the Festival of Trees!

Malcom Hotel in Spring Creek Village (downtown Canmore), host the annual Festival of Trees, which is organized by the Rotary Club. When Rick & Donna were walking among the 88 Christmas Trees last Christmas 2024, they noticed that NOT ONE Christmas Tree had any notion of Jesus. Not one Nativity Scene! Imagine that!

inSPIRE Church was officially planted this past September 2025. So when Christmas rolled around, Rick & Donna made sure they had a premium location to display their Christmas Tree, one that would be filled with little wooden Nativity scene ornaments, and an actual big Manger Scene.

“Jesus was all over that tree”, Rick said. “Plus we had a prime location right by the Stirling Pub. And I think that would be ok with Jesus, as after-all, His 1st miracle was making wine”!

That restaurant said maybe 10,000 people walked thru Malcom Hotel this past Christmas. They’ve never seen so many people. The festival had a record number of trees – 102 this year. And inSPIRE Church was the only one displaying Jesus! They even won 3rd prize in their category for best Christmas Tree.

“Imagine – Jesus came in 3rd place”, Rick said, “but we know He’s #1!”

And 100s of inSPIRE Church and inSPIRE Ministries pens with their logo and web sites were given away.

An amazing Christmas Eve Outreach!

inSPIRE Church has an average of 25-30 people in their core group. But instead of meeting where they normally meet every Sunday, Rick & Donna wanted to do something different for their Christmas Outreach. Basically down the road to Malcom Hotel, is the history small Opera House. So for Christmas Eve, the Lamothes set-up 60 chairs. They thought they could double their attendance. But a wave of people came, and they were scrambling pulling more chairs out. 120 people came and Pastor Donna preached a “O Holy Night” in Canmore message. They had live worship (as normally they don’t – but they are still praying for a ‘missionary worship leader’ to move to Canmore and join their team). And so yes, you can contact them if you are interested in moving to Athens – I mean Canmore!

www.inspirechurch.ca

“ It's a dream come-true to plant a pioneering church in a small mountain town”, the Lamothes have said, “but hey, we are praying BIG time for the reali ty of Matthew 5:14.”

Get involved with inSPIRE Church in Canmore Alberta!

The harvest is truly great in the Canadian Rocky Mountains! So pray for them, support them financially, even literally join them!

Join the inSPIRE journey – the in tentional exploration to live with S piritual, P hysical, I ntellectual, R elational & E motional health. It’s the Great Commandment practically lived out like never before – loving God with ALL of who we are in the 5 areas of our lives!

Dangerous Confidence and Planting Churches

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 19:44:24 GMT

How the Dunning-Kruger Effect Sabotages New Works (And How to Stop It)

We have all met that guy. He has a freshly minted seminary degree, a killer logo he designed on Canva, and a vision statement that uses the word "authentic" three times. He is absolutely certain that his church is going to be different. He isn't just going to plant a church; he is going to "take the city for Jesus!"

If you’ve ever felt even a hint of that energy in your own bloodstream… congratulations. You’ve visited the summit of what psychologists call the Dunning–Kruger Effect: the tendency for people who are new at something to overestimate how good they are at it, mainly because they don’t yet know what the skill actually requires.

This isn’t a character flaw. It’s a human flaw. And for church planters, it’s not just awkward—it’s expensive, exhausting, and sometimes fatal to the work.

Because early on, passion can impersonate competence. And “calling” and trust in God can quietly morph into “I’ve got this” and an overblown sense of what we can actually handle.

Why this hits church planters so hard

In the startup phase, you’re learning twelve jobs at once: preacher, recruiter, fundraiser, conflict mediator, facilities manager, strategist, HR department, counselor, visionary, spreadsheet adult, community builder, and occasional exorcist (of the soundboard wiring).

But when you haven’t done those jobs before, it’s easy to believe the formula is basically:

Preach the Word + Love People + Cool Coffee = Revival

Then reality arrives with a complaint (or a “concern”), a worship leader who quits, and a volunteer team that melts down.

The View from Mount Stupid

In the context of church planting, the peak of the Dunning-Kruger curve usually happens right before launch. You’ve read the books. You’ve listened to the podcasts. You’ve attended the conferences. You’ve got mental models. You feel ready.

And because you haven’t yet:

• built a volunteer system that doesn’t eat people alive,

• managed money when giving is irregular,

• handled conflict when everyone is tired and spiritualizing their issues,

• navigated bylaws, leases, insurance, child safety, and “helpful” opinions,

…you assume those things are simpler than they are.

In other words, you’ve overestimated your ability to lead because you have conflated preaching (something everyone tells you you’re great at) with leading (something you suddenly realize you’ve never really had to do before).

Three ways this can break you:

1. The "Field of Dreams" Fallacy

The high-confidence novice assumes that "if you build it, they will come." They pour resources into the Sunday morning experience (haze machines, mailers, top-tier sound equipment) believing that quality produces growth. When the community doesn't beat down the doors after week three, it’s all too easy to take it personally. Why? Because your confidence wasn’t built on actual relational equity or grounded expectations- it was built on the belief that your gifting would act like a magnet.

2. Financial Naivety

On Mount Stupid, budgets are always optimistic.

Giving is assumed to rise steadily. Big donor promises feel like contracts. Leases get signed based on “faith goals” instead of sober math. Reserves seem optional- because the future is going to be awesome.

Then summer hits. Or a donor moves. Or expenses stack up.

You didn’t plan for unknowns because you didn’t think you had unknowns.

3. Isolation and Burnout

This is the one that kills people.

Overconfidence makes feedback feel like resistance. Coaches feel like speed bumps. Boards feel like obstacles. Teammates become threats to the vision.

So you stop listening. You stop inviting honest critique. You start carrying everything yourself because, deep down, you’re convinced nobody else sees what you see.

Then crisis hits:

• the worship leader quits

• the trailer gets stolen

• someone leaves loudly

• your marriage starts paying the bill for your calling

• discouragement gets teeth

And now you don’t just have problems… you have them alone.

The Valley of Despair

Eventually reality corrects the curve.

You realize managing people is messy. Discipleship is slow. Systems matter. Conflict doesn’t resolve itself because you preached a banger.

This drop can feel like:

• depression

• numbness

• anger

• panic

• the sudden fantasy of selling insurance and buying a jet ski

But here’s the twist: this valley is often grace .

It’s the moment when confidence starts aligning with competence. You finally know enough to admit:

“I don’t actually know what I’m doing yet.”

And that honesty is the beginning of wisdom.

Climbing the Slope of Enlightenment

How do you avoid the worst crash and move toward real maturity faster? You practice metacognition (thinking about your thinking) on purpose.

1) Do a “pre-mortem” (before launch)

Most leaders do post-mortems after failure. Healthy planters do pre-mortems in their earliest days.

Try this:

“Imagine it’s one year from now and the church has closed. Write the story of exactly why it failed.”

Be specific. Painfully specific.

Not “spiritual warfare.” More like:

• “We staffed too fast.”

• “We leased too big.”

• “We didn’t build giving systems.”

• “We had no conflict process.”

• “We burned out volunteers.”

• “I didn’t Sabbath and became unrecognizable.”

This forces your brain to look for cracks while you still have time to reinforce the structure.

2) Audit your certainty

Pay attention to your language. If you speak in absolutes-

• “We will reach young families.”

• “People here are hungry for community.”

• “This neighborhood is ready.”

…you may be running on vibes.

Try shifting to probabilities:

• “Our strategy gives us a good chance to connect with young families.”

• “Here’s the data that suggests this area is underserved.”

• “Here are the assumptions we’re making, and how we’ll test them.”

Certainty feels spiritual. But it can also be blindness with Bible verses taped to it.

3) Keep an “Unknowns Ledger”

Make a literal list of what you don’t yet understand.

A rookie’s list is empty.

A veteran’s list is full.

Examples:

• “I don’t know how to confront a volunteer without detonating their small group.”

• “I don’t know how to read a balance sheet.”

• “I don’t know how to build a real pipeline for leaders.”

• “I don’t know local signage/zoning rules.”

• “I don’t know how to stop carrying emotional weight that isn’t mine.”

This doesn’t disqualify you. It proves you’re leaving Mount Stupid.

4) Diversify your “devil’s advocates”

If everyone on your launch team agrees with you, you don’t have a team.

You have an echo chamber with matching t-shirts.

Build in voices that don’t think like you:

• If you’re a visionary, get a practical operator who loves spreadsheets and hates hype.

• If you’re theological, get a business owner who asks, “Okay, but how will this function?”

• If you’re relational, get someone who can confront kindly and clearly.

Their job isn’t to crush your dream. Their job is to keep your balloon from popping at a higher (and more deadly) altitude.

A better kind of confidence

You need confidence to plant a church. No sane person does this without some crazy faith and holy stubbornness.

But there’s a difference between:

• fragile confidence based on ignorance, and

• durable confidence based on experience, feedback, and learning.

The goal isn’t to kill your faith or flatten your vision. The goal is to anchor it in reality, so when the winds blow (and they will), the house, and YOU, are still standing.

And here’s the line you need to tattoo on your soul:

Saying “I don’t know” isn’t a lack of faith.

It’s often the first step toward actual wisdom… and just the opening that God might be looking for in your heart.

Advent/Year End 2025 Message from The National Director

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 20:26:53 GMT

Looking back... Looking ahead.

One of my favorite insights into the broader Christmas story came from Dr. Harold Dean Trulear at an Intervarsity Staff Conference a few decades ago. He asked a peculiar question about the story of the “wise men from the east”. He wondered where these wise men would have gained the understanding of what a star in the east might have signified. He went on to suggest that the most logical source of this knowledge would have found its root origin in the influence that Daniel held within the Persian empire. Likely, the prophecies of the Old Testament found in Numbers, Isaiah, Micah and others would have been shared by Daniel with the “magicians and astrologers” he was in charge of.

Daniel’s story is remarkable in so many ways, but not least in how his faithfulness in being in the world but not of it, ultimately led to the feet of the Messiah. This is an important reminder that we don’t always know how our faithfulness in one generation will play out in the next. Often the seeds we plant don’t come to harvest immediately, but in due season what we sow will be reaped.

As I look back on 2025, I see how seeds planted in years prior are reaping a harvest for the kingdom among Ecclesia.

Church Planting

When Ecclesia began it grew originally out of a vision for church planting. In those earliest days, J.R. Briggs, Winn Collier, John Chandler, and a few others ventured out to begin new congregations. They also helped us “field test” our church planters training and coaching. Those were seeds planted nearly 20 years ago that are bearing fruit today. Not only do all those congregations still exist, but many others have followed. In 2025 it seems we have returned to a surge of church planting engagement. 6 new congregations have been birthed alongside Ecclesia and three have developed to the point where they have requested to be officially affiliated with the network. Plus, we have more leaders than we have had for many years signed up for the next Genesis Cohort , starting in 2026.

Leading Together
Perhaps one of the earliest seeds planted in Ecclesia was the value of being a network of relationships. The desire to walk with one another through the journey of ministry has been vital to so many along the way. This past year, several existing churches have found their way into a relationship with Ecclesia. For congregations like New Circle Church in Indianapolis, the relational value is one of the main reasons why. Those seeds of relationship have sprouted in many forms over the last decade and a half. In 2025 they are being expressed through a growing number of Leaders Circles meeting specific needs - from lead pastors, to worship leaders and much more. If you aren’t involved in some form of relational connection heading into 2026, now is a great time to start.

Broader Relationships

When a few of us sat down to hammer out an initial mission statement for Ecclesia, three key “audiences” were present - churches, leaders, and movements. To be honest, we never quite knew what “movements” even meant, but we included the idea to represent something generative. In other words, Ecclesia did not exist only for its own growth and the growth of the kingdom through Ecclesia. As time moved on, we stopped using “movements” in our communication because it seemed to lack a basis in reality. As I look back to that initial seed, I can see clearly now that it was an aspiration to be part of something bigger than just ourselves. In 2025 we began to see the concrete realities of being part of something bigger- specifically, our involvement with the newly burgeoning Ascent Movement. Not only has it provided pathways of connection for leaders to Ecclesia, it has helped us extend our relationships to places like Truett and Winebrenner Seminary, where we have had real presence and engagement from students and faculty with Ecclesia. Further, as of today, should an Ecclesia leader desire to pursue theological education, they have several related options , some with clear benefits to our churches through this affiliation. Moreover, tangible benefits like health insurance and retirement options , along with scholarships and investments, have come into easy reach of our churches and leaders. These are just a few small examples of how that initial seed planted long ago has grown to today.

Increasing Diversity
It is no secret that Ecclesia was founded by several white males. Though our desire from the beginning was to grow a network that included female and non-Anglo leaders, it has been a journey to match vision to reality. I can remember an early national gathering where Tasha Levert (who was serving as a keynote speaker) joked that the line to the women’s bathroom was very short. It was a great joy when Tasha returned in 2024 to speak (as she and her husband Tim were planting an Ecclesia church in Louisiana) and found that the line to the women’s bathroom had grown much longer. I’m grateful to the female leaders in earlier seasons that planted seeds within the Ecclesia garden to make it possible for the growth that has taken place. There are still very few places that are decidedly evangelical and decidedly in support of women in leadership and we are committed to remaining one of those places. Likewise, it has been a slow journey to increase the cultural diversity present in Ecclesia. While we still have a long way to go, I am grateful 4 of the 6 new congregations we have been journeying with in the last year are guided by leaders of color. I’m reminded of the seeds planted by Next Gen Church and Spring in the Desert who have stayed engaged and patiently continued their encouragement toward this good and holy direction.

Harvesting Now, Planting Again
As we march these final days of Advent toward Christmas, it is a time where we remember God's faithfulness. The promised Messiah, whose seed was planted as early as Genesis 3, has come. God held to His promise of making a way for us to come back to Him - by delivering the Deliverer. The seed of David, though it would take generations, would grow into something that has swept up the lives of billions of people, down through history and up to today.

In looking back at 2025, I am grateful for the seeds of years past. Some of you planted those seeds yourselves and they are now coming to harvest for you and others, but all for the kingdom. In looking ahead to 2026, I see more fruit on the way. I have every reason to believe that Ecclesia’s best days, in whatever form they take, are ahead. I also see seeds being planted now, and we don’t yet know when they will grow. But with the same faithfulness as those who have come before, we will plant, water, and wait.

Purpose Church Launches in Magnolia, Delaware with a Vision to Help People Discover God’s Purpose for Their Lives

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 17:39:32 GMT

MAGNOLIA, DE

A new and growing congregation, Purpose Church , has officially launched in Magnolia, Delaware, marking an exciting new chapter for the region’s faith community. The church, planted by William and Tramaine Guy , represents a collaboration between the Ascent Movement , the Ecclesia Network , and the American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware (ABCOPAD) .
Recently, Purpose Church moved into Robinson Elementary School after outgrowing its original meeting space in a local fire hall—a testament to the growing enthusiasm and participation among residents in the Magnolia area, just south of Dover.
Pastor William A. Guy , the founding and lead pastor of Purpose Church, describes the church as a vibrant, multicultural community centered on helping people “experience God’s love, discover His purpose for their lives, and live it out daily.”

Pastor Guy’s journey to ministry began during his time at Delaware State University , where he came to faith in Christ and began leading a campus ministry while also competing on the men’s track team. It was there that he met his wife, Tramaine, who now partners with him in ministry. Together, they have four children and one grandchild, and they make their home in nearby Dover.
With over two decades of ministry experience, Pastor Guy brings a depth of leadership and pastoral care to this new work. In addition to his role at Purpose Church, he also serves as an Air Force Chaplain and is a Board-Certified Life Coach —roles that reflect his passion for helping people grow spiritually, emotionally, and relationally.

“Purpose Church is built on the belief that every person has a God-given purpose,” Pastor Guy shared. “We want to be a church that helps people uncover that purpose and live it out in their families, their workplaces, and their communities.”
Chris Backert , National Director of both the Ascent Movement and the Ecclesia Network, expressed strong support for the launch.

“We are excited to be part of the journey of Purpose Church and their calling in Central Delaware,” Backert said. “William and Tramaine have tremendous experience in connecting with people far from God and opening up the life of faith with them. I believe there is great promise for their mission locally and the impact it will have in the community and beyond.”

The Ascent Movement, Ecclesia Network, and ABCOPAD partnership reflects a shared commitment to supporting healthy, sustainable church planting efforts that are locally rooted and missionally focused. Purpose Church’s story is already inspiring many as an example of what can happen when collaboration, calling, and community come together under God’s leading.
Purpose Church currently gathers weekly for worship at Robinson Elementary School in Magnolia. Services feature engaging worship, practical teaching, and a welcoming environment designed to help people from all backgrounds encounter the hope and love of Christ.

For more information about Purpose Church—including service times, upcoming events, and ways to get involved—visit www.purposechurchde.org .

Alliance of Asian American Baptist Churches: Partnership in Mission

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:53:31 GMT

Partnership in Mission

Jesus addresses the question “Who is my neighbor?” in his parable of the Good Samaritan. At the conclusion of this poignant story, Jesus highlights that a neighbor is one who extends mercy to the one who is in need. If we carefully observe our own neighborhoods today, the fear and anxiety that is felt by some in our immigrant community is palpable. Draconian policies have kept these neighbors isolated and afraid to engage in even the mundane tasks of everyday life. The question “Who is my neighbor?” continues to reverberate in the hearts of Christ’s followers and the charge to extend mercy towards our neighbors echoes ever more loudly.

The International Food Festival Fundraiser was a joint response of two churches in New Jersey. On September 27 ^th , NextGen Church in West Windsor and Stelton Baptist Church of Edison hosted a day filled with food, activities and personal stories of the immigrant experience. There were three primary goals for this event:

1. Fundraising for Resistencia en Acción New Jersey, a local community organization that advocates for immigrant justice

2. Raise awareness of current issues facing immigrant communities

3. Celebrate the cultural diversity found in our communities.

Korean kimchi, Kenyan samosas, Filipino lumpia and Middle Eastern quinoa tabbouleh were among the more than 20 dishes that delighted our taste buds. We also had a lively bake-off competition, a flea market, arts and crafts for kids and heard personal stories of the immigrant experience. More than a hundred people came from various neighborhoods to enjoy the food and fun while giving their support to an important cause.

This event brought together people of different languages and life journeys who sat together around a table to celebrate our differences and recognize our common humanity as image bearers of God. And lastly, thanks to all those that came, we were blessed to raise a total of $4,000! We pray these funds will help support the needs of our immigrant neighbors and the good works of Resistencia en Acción.

Glory be to God!

The Magic Conversation That Will Help You Develop Leaders

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 18:49:18 GMT

The Value of ICNU Conversations in Developing Ministry Leaders

One of the greatest privileges in ministry is seeing people step into their God-given potential. Scripture reminds us that leaders are not merely born but formed; in community, through discipleship, and by the intentional investment of others. For pastors and ministry leaders, a crucial tool in this formation process is what some call an “ICNU conversation.”

An ICNU conversation is simply when we pull someone aside and say, “Here’s what I see in you.” It’s a way of calling out gifts, character, and leadership potential in another person, often before they see it in themselves. These conversations can be small in length but enormous in impact, creating pivotal moments that alter a person’s trajectory in ministry and life.

Why ICNU Conversations Matter

1. They Help People See Beyond Themselves

Most people underestimate their capacity for leadership. They assume ministry leadership is reserved for those with theological training, exceptional charisma, or years of experience. When a trusted leader notices and names something in them, it can awaken possibilities they never considered. An ICNU conversation gives people permission to dream bigger and to see themselves as God does.

2. They Anchor Potential in Affirmation, Not Pressure

Unlike a recruitment pitch, ICNU conversations don’t begin with tasks, responsibilities, or needs. They begin with affirmation. Instead of saying, “We need someone to lead this group,” we start with, “I see in you the ability to shepherd people well.” This subtle shift communicates that leadership is not about filling a gap but about stewarding God’s gifts.

3. They Cultivate a Culture of Multiplication

Healthy ministry isn’t about a few doing everything—it’s about equipping many. When ICNU conversations become a rhythm in a church, they create a multiplication culture. People start looking for potential in others and speaking it out, leading to a ripple effect of encouragement and empowerment.

4. They Spark Growth and Ownership

Being told “I see this in you” often catalyzes growth. Even if someone doesn’t feel ready, the seed has been planted. They may begin seeking opportunities to grow, watching leaders differently, or stepping into small acts of responsibility. In time, these small steps can develop into a sense of ownership for the mission of the church.

Biblical Foundations for ICNU Conversations

The practice of ICNU conversations resonates deeply with biblical patterns of leadership development.

Jesus and His Disciples: Jesus repeatedly named potential in His disciples long before they lived into it. He told Simon, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” He called fishermen “fishers of men” and entrusted the gospel to ordinary people.
Paul and Timothy: Paul reminds Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God” that was already within him. Paul saw leadership capacity in Timothy and nurtured it through personal investment and encouragement.
Barnabas and Saul: Barnabas, whose name means “son of encouragement,” was one of the earliest to affirm Saul after his conversion, bringing him to the apostles and later advocating for his ministry.

Throughout Scripture, leaders are often those who were first seen and called out by others.

Best Practices for ICNU Conversations

Having established why ICNU conversations matter, the question becomes: How do we do them well? While every leader will bring their own personality and style, a few best practices can maximize their effectiveness.

1. Be Specific, Not Generic

General encouragement is nice but easily forgotten. Instead of saying, “You’d make a great leader someday,” say, “When you led that prayer last week, I noticed how people leaned in—you have a gift for helping others connect with God.” Specific observations give weight to your words and help people believe them.

2. Connect Identity to Calling

Frame your ICNU conversation around who the person is, not just what they do. Leadership development is not about filling slots but about aligning someone’s identity in Christ with opportunities to serve. For example: “I see in you a shepherd’s heart—you notice when people are hurting and make space for them. That’s what makes a great small group leader.”

3. Choose the Right Context

These conversations don’t need a formal setting, but they do need intentionality. A hallway comment is good, but taking someone out for coffee communicates greater investment. The context should say, “This matters, and so do you.”

4. Plant Seeds, Don’t Force Decisions

An ICNU conversation is about invitation, not pressure. You are naming what you see, not handing out assignments on the spot. Give the person room to process and pray. Sometimes people respond quickly, while other times they need months or years before stepping in. Trust God’s timing.

5. Paint a clear picture of the path, and Follow Up with Opportunity & Support

Words alone aren’t enough—there needs to be a pathway for growth. Be specific in what that pathway could look like. "I see you possibly being on track to be an elder in a few years. In the meantime, I'd love to see you leading a home community." Be bold in naming any growth areas you might see. Show them the path, and stay available for encouragement, coaching, and feedback along the way.

6. Model a Culture of Encouragement

When leaders consistently practice ICNU conversations, it shapes the wider culture. People begin noticing strengths in others and feel empowered to speak them out. Over time, encouragement becomes contagious, and leadership development moves from a program to a lifestyle.

Conclusion

ICNU conversations are deceptively simple yet profoundly powerful. By intentionally naming the potential we see in others, we open doors for people to step into ministry leadership they might never have imagined. In doing so, we reflect the way Jesus called His disciples and the way Paul nurtured young leaders like Timothy.

If we want to see the church grow—not just in numbers but in depth, capacity, and resilience—we must make ICNU conversations a regular rhythm of ministry life. And if we practice them with specificity, intentionality, patience, and follow-up, we will cultivate leaders who are not only equipped for tasks but deeply anchored in identity and calling.

The next ministry leader in your church may just be waiting for someone to look them in the eye and say: “Here’s what I see in you.”

(This article was written with the help of AI)

Tithe.ly is Partnering with Ecclesia!

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 22:00:20 GMT

A New Ecclesia Network Benefit!

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An Ethical Response to Violence

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 20:14:51 GMT

In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s shooting, social media has been filled with perspectives, as is typically the case. I am reluctant to add mine as there seems to be no lack one way or the other. To be clear, this is not just about Charlie Kirk, this is about violence across the board. I did not feel led to write this because it was Charlie Kirk specifically, but rather another in a long and winding line of acts of violence, that my ministering at Va. Tech gives me a bit of personal experience with. But as I have just finished teaching two classes on Christian Ethics, and as I was encountering again the spread of responses from my Christian sisters and brothers, I felt led to look at this event through that lens. Ethics, at its base, seeks to answer the question, “What is better or worse? Good or bad?” As a follower of Jesus, this is what seems right to me…

1. We never celebrate harm. Whatever our disagreements, rejoicing at a shooting violates the bedrock claim that every person bears the imago Dei (Gen 1:27). Scripture is explicit: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls” (Prov 24:17); “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44); “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21). I don’t love blasting verses like this, but you cannot get away from them if you are reading the scriptures.

2. Moral responsibility sits with the shooter—full stop . Saying “his rhetoric got him shot” smuggles in a just-world logic that excuses violence. As a contextual theologian, I have an enormous amount of respect for the impact our various narratives have in shaping our understandings of the world around us. They are inescapable. But that is not what I am talking about here. Ideas can be wrong, harmful, or worth opposing vigorously, but vigilante ‘payback’ is never a Christian category. My primary gig is that of a consultant for churches and non-profits. Today, in my meetings and among friends, I have heard some variation of “He got what he deserved,” and “I vote for some very public justice for the shooter.” Both of these views speak of revenge; the follower of Jesus is called to lay these down as our Messiah did. Not asked to, told to.

3. Grief and outrage about gun violence are legitimate; schadenfreude is not . Channel the pain toward nonviolent, concrete action (policy advocacy, community intervention, survivor support), not dehumanization.

Here are four thinkers who have had a profound impact on the Christian ethic I try to work out in this world. As I share them, three things are worthy of mention. One, I certainly do not claim to follow their guidance perfectly, and at times I do not even do it well, but they have all given me what seems like a Jesus-centered and faith-filled direction to move in. Second, I do not claim to speak for them in this particular matter; I am merely showing how my ethical lens has been formed. Third, clearly I am not dealing with all the components of our response to these types of violence, this is not a comprehensive treatment, merely the reflections in the moment.

Stanley Hauerwas : “Christian nonviolence is not a strategy to rid the world of violence.” It’s part of following Jesus, not a tactic we drop when it’s inconvenient. Stanley Hauerwas, Walking with God in a Fragile World, by James Langford, editor, Leroy S. Rouner, editor

N. T. Wright : “The call of the gospel is for the church to implement the victory of God in the world through suffering love.” Simply Good News: Why the Gospel Is News and What Makes It Good. In other words, we answer evil without mirroring it.

David Fitch : Our culture runs on an “enemy-making” dynamic; even “the political rally… depends on the making of an enemy. Don’t let that train your soul.” The Church of Us vs. Them.

Sarah Coakley : Contemplation forms resistance, not passivity. For Coakley, sustained prayer trains perception and courage so Christians can resist abuse and give voice against violence (it’s not quietism). “Contemplation, if it is working aright, is precisely that which gives courage to resist abuse, to give voice against violence.” Sarah Coakley, God, Sexuality, and the Self. Coakley would say that far too often we react before we reflect. This is the problem that Fitch is getting at in much of his writing, that our culture actually runs on antagonisms, the conflict between us.

We need to find a better way.

Ecclesia 2026 Gathering News

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 20:07:15 GMT

Join us in March 2026!

As we announced at our Ecclesia Gathering last February, we have entered into a working relationship with the Ascent Movement along with several other like-minded and hearted ministries. Our collective goal is to be part of a fresh sowing of the gospel throughout North America.

Also, we discerned from our surveys of Ecclesia Churches that the best scenario for our regular gatherings going forward was to offer the option of alternating between a specific Ecclesia Gathering in one year and some other option (either a regional event or as part of a larger national event) on the second year. With that in mind, we have determined that Ecclesia participating in the Ascent Summit this coming March 10-12, 2026 would meet the need and serve as a great opportunity. While the official registration page has yet to launch for the Ascent Summit, Ecclesia Churches have an opportunity to indicate their interest in participating the lowest possible cost. You can do that by filling out this survey here – Ascent Summit Survey.

The theme of the Ascent Summit is a Hopeful Witness for a Joyful Church. Speakers and leaders that are engaging with the Ascent Movement and will be part of the March event include Beth Moore, Ed Stetzer, Charlie Dates, Jorge Acevedo, and many others. In addition, our own Pastor and Board Member, Mia Chang, will also be serving the event as a keynote speaker.

We will have opportunities for Ecclesia to get together during the Ascent Summit just as we did during the days of the Missio Alliance gathering. Please take a minute a fill out the survey and indicate your interest in joining Ecclesia at the Ascent Summit next March!

Further, we are also providing you the information for the closest hotel within walking distance to Columbia Church in Falls Church, VA.

Welcome New Circle Church to The Ecclesia Network!

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 18:12:01 GMT

New Circle Church, Indianapolis IN

We are excited to welcome New Circle Church in Indianapolis into the Ecclesia Family. New Circle is just north of downtown Indianapolis and was planted by Barry and Amy Rager. Barry and Amy moved to Indianapolis in 2013 with their 4 children and began starting Community Groups. Eventually they launched New Circle in September of 2014. Since that time they have continued to see many people come to know Christ and grow in their relationship with Christ. They have been involved with many non-profits in the city and offer shared space in their facility to many of them. They have a pastoral and staff team of 8 people and have become a hub for their local community while continuing to be a faithful presence with all they meet.

"Over the past few months as we have gotten to know the leaders of the network and various Ecclesia churches, we have been impressed. We are impressed by the kindness and welcome that we have received."

On joining Ecclesia, Barry had this to share, “Ministry can be very isolating. Feeling this, we began looking into various denominations and networks. We were intrigued when we learned about Ecclesia and how vital relationships were to the network’s mission. Over the past few months as we have gotten to know the leaders of the network and various Ecclesia churches, we have been impressed. We are impressed by the kindness and welcome that we have received. We are impressed by the diversity of local expressions of the church based on the context in which each is located. We are excited to build more relationships, experience the impact of this partnership, and serve Ecclesia’s network and churches.”

About New Circle

Barry and Amy Rager moved to Indianapolis in 2013 with their four children, Yonas, Titus, Fable, and Justus, to plant New Circle Church. The desire for New Circle is in its name: to see Circle City (Indianapolis) made new. New Circle believes this renewal comes through individuals' relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Ragers began the church by starting Community Groups. They met neighbors and started one in their home, and through interactions with local students at a coffee shop, they started another on a college campus. Within three months, we had two thriving groups and had our first worship Gathering and baptisms. New Circle officially launched in September 2014.

Since then, New Circle has continued to see people come to know Christ and grow in their relationship with Christ. We now have a permanent location in the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood of Indianapolis. We gather for worship on Sundays and continue to meet in Community Groups throughout the week. Since we are not a programmatic church, we have partnered with many Indianapolis non-profits to share space with us in our building. We are home to another congregation and six non-profits working together to see good come to Indianapolis.

We have a pastoral and staff team of eight people to support our Builders (members) and seven deacons. Our team helps seek the renewal of our Builders by providing kids' ministry, youth ministry, spiritual direction, guidance in spiritual practices, Community Groups, and community engagement.

By God’s grace, New Circle has become a hub for our local community, and we continue to be a faithful presence with all we meet. We have a long way to go in our journey as a church, but we desire to continue pointing people to Christ, living in Community, and living out the Great Commission together.

Another One?

bob.hyatt@ecclesianet.org (Bob Hyatt) — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:07:09 GMT

Another Christian in the Public Eye Stumbles and Falls...

Another month, another scandal. The parade of pastors, ministry leaders, authors and CCM musicians caught in scandals of their own making seems endless.

I have no interest in pointing out all the many specks in my (mostly) brothers' eyes when I have enough planks of my own. I simply want to say, from the perspective of helping to lead a relational network of leaders, that it doesn't have to be this way. Not that we'll ever get to a place were leaders don't sin... of course not. But could we ever get to the place where leaders are able to own their temptations and even their failings and deal with issues before they blow up, shipwrecking their ministries, their lives and marriages, and often the faith of countless others?

I pray that we can.

But to get there, we'd need to see something we don't see a lot of these days: radical honesty and transparency, supernatural grace, and over it all an uncommon courage.

We don't see all the times when leaders are able to interrupt the cycle of sin and destructive behavior, so we really can't say how well we are doing as a church in being honest and transparent with each other, how well we're doing at showing a supernatural, Jesus-like amount of grace, and how often we're courageous enough to have the kinds of conversations where those qualities can show up and make a difference. We just see the cases where apparently one or more of those things was absent, where the shipwreck wasn't averted. But seeing that, we can say with assurance: we could do better.

And doing better begins when we all admit: It could happen to us. There but for God's grace go I . And beyond just admitting that it could happen to us, developing the relational guardrails that will keep our churches, our families, and our own lives and callings out of the ditch.

Here's what that looks like:

Having someone in your life you can talk to with complete honesty... and actually talking to them.

Ministry is lonely. You need someone you can talk to beyond those in your direct ministry context. If it's a friend, fine- but know that the temptation to present a false-self with friends, and even your spouse is great. The temptation is to be vulnerable enough to appear real , but not so vulnerable that you feel like you are letting them down, losing their respect, or in some way jeopardizing your relationship. If you have someone that you feel you could tell anything to, then by all means, do so. Start easy- confess what you are tempted to do. Confess the small sins. Tell the story of big sins from a couple of decades ago. Work towards radical honesty and transparency. Test the waters for supernatural grace. And in doing so, begin to develop the uncommon courage you will need at the lowest point in your life before you reach the lowest point in your life.

If you don't feel like you have any relationships that could hold that kind confession, pay someone. A counselor, a spiritual director... someone whose job it is to listen compassionately, and offer hope, encouragement, and occasionally the kick in the pants you will need.

2. Having a group of others leaders in similar contexts, with similar struggles, and journeying with them over the long haul.

The benefits of having a group of people who over time become a group of friends, who track with us month after month, celebrating and mourning with us season after season can't be overstated. It's knowing that even if we aren't necessarily sharing everything , we're developing those muscles of honesty and transparency, learning how to listen compassionately and with a non-judgmental spirit, and building a bench of folks we could call upon when we're in crisis. (And if you feel like you don't necessarily need that, think of it this way: someone else probably needs it from you.)

Do you have these things in your life? If so, good. I'm confident that whatever you might face, you have in others a provision from God that will see you through- something that will carry you through the small failures and keep you from the life-changing ones.

If you don't , here's my offer. The staff of the Ecclesia Network is here. We've seen and heard it all. I'd be surprised if you could confess anything that would truly shock any of us. The whole reason we are here is to partner with and equip you. If you need to talk, get on my calendar . If you need to set up something more long term, we can provide that or connect you with someone who can.

Join a Leader's Circle . We have a good number of them going, but we're far from seeing every leader in Ecclesia connected in a regular, relational way with others. We'll have some new ones starting soon- so if you want in, just let me know .

We can't do much about what's happening in the broader world of Christian ministry, and the failings we are seeing there. But we can do something in our lives and within our own network. Let's be the kind of Network that cares about each other and receives care from others, in such a way that, by God's grace, our list of "failed leaders" remains mercifully short.

Theology Learning Group with Paul Hill and Doug Moister

bob.hyatt@ecclesianet.org (Bob Hyatt) — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 19:26:28 GMT

Join us for a four-week journey into rich, poetic, and deeply personal theology as we explore My Theology: The Word Within the Words by Malcolm Guite.

Hosted by Paul Hill and Doug Moister, this learning group is open to all Ecclesia churches and Network members and will meet on four consecutive Tuesday mornings at 11amET via Zoom, starting on May 6th.

Malcom Guite himself will be joining us for the first session on May 6th!

Guite’s book offers a unique and imaginative reflection on faith, weaving together theology, poetry, and storytelling in a way that speaks to both the heart and the mind. Together, we’ll engage in meaningful discussion, wrestle with big questions, and deepen our understanding of God and His work in the world.

You'll need to purchase My Theology: The Word Within the Words by Malcolm Guite in advance.

Come ready to read, reflect, and be shaped by the beauty of theology in community. We hope you’ll join us!

The Magic Power of Encouragement

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 19:27:54 GMT

When I graduated from college, I moved to Alaska and took a job teaching middle school- a job I had zero business doing.

I want to give props to those of you who are teachers- it’s a fantastically important job, but also a ridiculously complex one. You must balance pedagogical skills, HOW to teach so others learn, with sociological ones, classroom management, and so much more. It was classroom management where my ineptitude really shone, though. I thought managing classrooms full of middle schoolers would be easy- just call them out when they do something wrong- make sure there are consequences in place, and the place will basically run itself. I learned that year that you cannot punish someone into good behavior. You more often just punish people into stealthier ways of misbehavior.

It wasn’t until years later that the light bulb came on for me. I was volunteering in my son’s kindergarten class, and I assumed I was going to be walking into a zoo. Contrary to my expectations, Mr. Waters, the teacher, had that place running like a well-oiled machine. And the most surprising way was how he did it. He called for reading time when all the kids were supposed to get up from their tables and sit on the reading circle. He made this call and like two kids responded. Oh man, I thought- he’s lost the room! Nope. He just stood at the front of the class and said “I see Billy doing what I asked. I see Sienna doing what I asked.” And every time he said that another few kids would look up, leave what they were doing and rush to take their place. In about 30 seconds, he had them all sitting quietly around the circle.

Blew. My. Mind.

It seemed so simple once I saw it done, but I had never realized just how big a gap there was between trying to motivate with consequences and nagging versus motivating with encouragement.

Which is funny, because as I thought about it, I realized my wife had been using this tactic on me for YEARS. I married a woman who liked to dance- swing dance, even. I grew up a Baptist, so… But whenever I would do a little two-step with her in the kitchen or just play-dance with her to music in the living room, she would go OVER THE TOP. “Bob, you are doing that really well! Bob, you’re a great dancer!” I totally knew I wasn’t, but… I sure liked to hear her say it, and so I’d do it more.

So, here’s the rule: What you criticize me for, I may stop doing. I may also just try to hide it from you. But- What you praise and encourage me in, I will continue doing.

The Apostle Paul was a master at this- just look at 1 Thess. 5:11- ”So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” What is Paul doing here?

Yes, he’s encouraging them to encourage each other by encouraging them for how they’ve already been encouraging one another! That’s a lot of encouraging. But he’s doing what he’s asking them to do- demonstrating how it works. I’m sure not everyone in the church of Thessalonica was good at encouraging others- but those who were doing it well were heartened by Paul’s words here, and those who weren’t yet, were… encouraged to be more encouraging. Paul uses the word “encourage” 7 times in 1st Thess. alone. This command to encourage each other is central in the NT.

Hebrews 10:24-25 says this: Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Paul writes in 2 Cor. 13:11 “Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.”

How long can you go on one compliment, or one word of encouragement? A few days? A week? Our words have so much power! I once had an orange t-shirt, that had a disturbingly deep V-neck. My co-pastor Dustin would laugh every time he saw me in it. But you know why I continued to wear it? Because it was literally the only shirt I ever owned that had been complimented by a woman I was not married or related to. A barista one time told me she really liked that shirt… So, what I’m saying is, you can get me to do just about anything, if you encourage me.

BUT- With great power, comes great responsibility. Notice that these verses on encouragement come in the context of helping others become the followers of Jesus they could and were meant to be. “Encourage each other and build each up.” “Motivate one another to acts of love and good works. Encourage one another.” “Grow to maturity. Encourage each other.” There’s a growth mindset behind the biblical admonitions that we ought to encourage each other. The growth mindset says “I may not be good at this or have mastered it… yet. But if I keep trying…” Unfortunately, most of us get stuck in a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset says “I'm either good at something, or I’m not. So, I’ll give myself only to things where I can show I’m good. If I must work at it, it means I’m not good at it, or smart enough for it, so why try?” Studies have shown that encouragement has a positive effect on performance, while discouragement has a negative effect. Ok- that’s obvious. But… studies have also been done about how TYPES of encouragement affect performance. Encouraging effort, for example, has a positive effect on performance, while praising ABILITY has a negative effect. One study showed that when two groups of students were presented with difficult challenges 90% of the ones who had been praised for their effort embraced the difficult tasks- while the majority of those praised for their ability resisted tackling hard things.

I probably don’t have to spell out the leadership lessons here. So, I’ll just leave you with this: I encourage you this season to be thinking about the people you work with and especially those who work under you. They are just as hungry for encouragement as you are. You have the power to give them not only what they need, but through that encouragement to spur them on to the personal and ministry growth you want to see in them.

(By the way, while we’re talking about encouragement, if you need some this season, join us Feb 25-27th in Alexandria, VA for this year’s Ecclesia National Gathering . I guarantee you and your team will leave feeling encouraged, equipped, and empowered. And think about how encouraging YOUR presence would be to everyone else!)

Focusing the Gospel Around the Table is Still Important Today

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 18:41:01 GMT

“Food is just fuel for your body.”

When the raw vegan enthusiast in my community said it I knew that wasn’t right.

I thought of all the great meals shared with family and friends around tables for Thanksgivings, Christmas Eves, and Easter afternoons – among others. I recalled the verse: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” And I realized that if this was God’s vision for food, then he would have designed our bodies with built-in IV ports where we would hook up pouches of food to our sides and let it drip in slowly to our bloodstreams. And Jesus wouldn’t have given us the greatest experiential metaphor of communion around the table in fellowship with others if it was merely physical and transactional in nature.

I get his point: what we put into our bodies matters. Food is for much more than just physical energy. It’s also about connection, bonding, and relationship. Storytelling and laughing and crying and interacting. Like former U.S. President Ronald Reagan said, all great change in America begins at the dinner table. But I’ll offer a rejoinder: all great change – no matter the country – begins at the dinner table.

The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has declared loneliness as a public health crisis and an epidemic . 30 percent of adults say they feel lonely., with 10 percent reporting loneliness every day. 60 years ago the average dinner time was 90 minutes; today it’s less than 12. We are more connected to our devices and less connected to others.

Almost twenty five years ago political scientist Robert Putnam wrote the popular book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community . Over the summer, the New York Times interviewed him , inquiring if he saw this crisis of loneliness coming. He stressed the idea of “social capital,” saying it comes in two forms: bonding and bridging. Bonding ties us to others like us and bridging ties us to people who are different from us.

Meals together with others at tables have the transformative power to do both. They bond us to other people in our church; they bridge us to connect with others who aren’t yet connected to faith. As my next-door neighbor says when we’re trying to find a time to connect for a meal, “Everybody’s gotta eat.”

Coffee tables, lunch tables, high top bar tables, card tables, dinner tables – all have the intent to bring us together with others over food and/or drink. It was Len Sweet who wrote in Tablet to Table that Jesus was killed for his table manner and his table company. Later he stated that the gospel message was Jesus eating good food with bad people. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find any gathering in the New Testament that didn’t involve some sort of table.

And as Ian Simkins, lead pastor of teaching at The Bridge Church in Nashville, shared with me, the table is the centerpiece by which the gospel is expressed. The church has moved to prioritize the table by asking some key questions: What if we reclaimed the table? What if our tables weren’t for just feeding, but for forming? What if, at the table, foes became friends? What if, every time we sat down, we prayed, “at this table as it is in heaven”? What if we brought the gospel back to the table? These are the questions that must become front and center for the church in North America in the days ahead. In fact, you can view the church’s creative and compelling videos on Instagram here and here .

Americans eat, on average, 21 meals a week. Think for a moment: how many meals did you share with others this week? How many meals did you eat alone this week? How many people did you share with those who weren’t your immediate family members? How many of those were with people who are not followers of Jesus?

What if the greatest advancement of the gospel in the days ahead occurred not in our churches, but around tables?

6 Reasons Why I Love Attending the Ecclesia National Gathering

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 21:16:44 GMT

There are many great conferences, gatherings, and events for pastors and church leaders to attend, but there’s one that I never miss: the Ecclesia National Gathering. In fact, it’s often the high watermark of the year for me.

I’ve been attending the ENG since 2008. It’s been convened in Maryland, Delaware, Florida, and Virginia – and even online during the pandemic. Pastors have asked me why I make ENG a priority and what I find so valuable.

Here are 6 reasons why I never want to miss:

[1] It’s Different from Other Church Leaders’ Events

There are many great pastors’ events, but what initially drew me to the ENG was the feel of it. What I found so refreshing and valuable was the fact that it felt more like a family reunion than a conference or event. It’s not performative. Nobody is trying to impress one another or sell their next book coming out. Nobody is trying to measure their worth based on the size of their church or the reach of their ministry. There are no green rooms or fog machines. Nobody is treated as a celebrity. And most refreshingly, never once in all the years have I been asked, “So, how big is your church?” It’s a place where I can always be myself.

[2] It’s Just the Right Size

Many gatherings and conferences are large. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. Years ago I attended these large conferences put on by very well-known churches – and I gleaned some important insights and nuggets of wisdom, for which I am grateful. But in a post-pandemic digital age, most of those conferences offer a digital package where I can watch conveniently in my office or home when I want to. I’ve gleaned a lot from our ENG speakers, where I’ve taken copious notes. Most years, what I’ve gleaned most was off of the stage and during the informal spaces of connection and interaction. The Ecclesia National Gathering is large enough to pull together pastors and their teams for meaningful content, yet small enough to cultivate deep connections naturally among other attendees.

[3] Reconnecting with Old Friends and Meeting New Ones

Since I’ve been attending for so many years, and other pastors have as well, it becomes a great space to reconnect with friends. Hugs and high-fives and asking about each other’s families is common throughout the time. There are lengthy times at night over drinks, talking about how we’re doing, what we’re learning, and where we’re seeing God at work in our contexts. It’s a place where I feel extremely comfortable to share the joys and also the heartaches with other pastors, leaders, and friends.

But this isn’t just for the insiders. I love seeing new pastors and leaders attending and introducing them to others. Through the years, many newcomers have told me how surprised they’ve been at how welcoming the event has felt, where they could easily and naturally jump in and connect with others without feeling the need to sound impressive – where they could just be themselves.

[4] Engaging in Unique Conversations

Pastor Mark Batterson has said, “Change of pace plus change of place equals change of perspective.” Large conferences can be beneficial and online events have added value to my life, leadership, and ministry. But nothing can replace the lingering conversations with a mixture of folks, oftentimes over a drink at night, where we end up discussing and exploring topics that are life-giving, enlightening, and informative. Many of these have changed my perspective, reminded me of what’s most important, and sparked new ideas and creative initiatives we’ve launched. But most significantly, during these spaces I am reminded of what’s most important – stories of life change, the power of the gospel, and the depth of meaningful relationships in ministry. And I realize that as great as email, social media, and even Zoom can be to connect me digitally with people across the miles, nothing can replace this life-giving interaction at these events.

[5] The Schedule Is Balanced and “Breathable”

Many conferences I have attended in the past pack the schedule from morning until night with great content and programming. But I have often left those events with my body and soul feeling exhausted and my brain like a bowl of oatmeal. What I appreciate about ENG is that the programming and schedule has “breathing room.” There’s not wasted time, but it operates at a pace and capacity that is doable for busy and tired pastors and leaders.

[6] There are Surprises from the Spirit Every Time

As great as the programming is – both the plenary sessions and breakouts – there are still things that are unplanned – and oftentimes they are the most meaningful. Because the schedule isn’t packed from early in the morning to late at night, the Spirit always moves. Because it’s breathable the Spirit often blows. Sometimes the Spirit shows up by way of a soft and gentle reminder from a speaker. Other times, it is a clear word from the Lord during worship. And still other times it is in the form of a much-needed word of encouragement from a friend during conversation who was prompted to share something with me or pray something over me.

The ENG isn’t just another pastors’ event – it’s where leaders connect, learn, and have space to be refreshed and be themselves in an authentic and meaningful space. If you haven’t attended yet, come and experience it for yourself.

How It Is Now Is Not How It Will Always Be

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:21:02 GMT

Stay humble because no success is forever. Stay hopeful because, in Christ, no failure is permanent.

One of the main tricks in life, I believe, is not to extrapolate current conditions and circumstances off into the future. However, that’s exactly the tendency we have as humans, and especially, I’ve discovered, as ministry leaders.

We look at things now and think they will always be that way.

We long to see landmarks in the road, mileposts that tell us either we have now reached the pinnacle, the place we always dreamed of being (even if that place is only “stability”), or conversely, the bottom has fallen out and now is the time to bail out. But the mileposts are merely markers on the journey, telling us where we are now, promising nothing of the journey ahead.

And so, when things are good, we see nothing but success and good times stretching out in front of us. In the depths of despair, during the most challenging times of life and ministry we feel as though the darkness has become the new normal. The reality is much more complex: there are always better times ahead, and worse ones as well.

During those dark times, when ministry becomes more of a weight than a joy, I tell myself, “whatever is happening now will not keep happening forever.” Those words have kept me through relational breaks in our staff that seemed unfixable, through budget woes when we didn’t think we were going to meet payroll, even a time when our community lost a third of its members because we had let a beloved pastor go. In this way I have found hope.

In the same way, during the successful times when we were growing, budget was bigger than ever, and when new people were engaging with the church seemingly every week I continued to tell myself, “what is happening now will not keep happening forever.” In this way I have found a measure of humility.

There’s another way to read this mantra as well, one that encourages us not to miss what is happening right now as we overly focus on where we’d like to be or what we’d like to see happen.

The challenge of ministry, like the challenge of life in general, is to be present to what’s happening now . Too many single people miss the joys of singleness longing to be married. Too many young married couples miss the joys of the early years without children because they long to be parents. Too many parents of young children miss the joys of the infant years, longing for the days when their children are more independent, less dependent on them for everything. And on it goes.

In the same way we in ministry can miss the joys of a small, close community by looking at larger communities and wishing we had their resources and influence. We can miss the inherent learning and even joy of being shoulder to shoulder in community with others through challenging times because the difficulties and pain we are experiencing mask the ways in which we are being brought together, the ways in which we are being formed and the invaluable things we are learning.

In life, and in ministry, remember: How it is now is not how it will always be. Learn to appreciate how things are now, but also take comfort in the fact that if things are difficult, there are better days ahead. Stay humble because no success is forever. Stay hopeful because, in Christ, no failure is permanent.

Exciting Announcement- Ecclesia is Joining Ascent!

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 18:49:19 GMT

Dear Ecclesia Family -

I’m writing to share some exciting and important news with you that we believe will be significant for Ecclesia in the days ahead!

For the last few years, I have been engaged with other church and network leaders across the US and Canada about forming a new “connection” for the church in North America. The heart of the effort is around unifying, amplifying, and multiplying the kind of Christian witness that Ecclesia represents, for the sake of the gospel, over the next few decades.

This new effort is called The Ascent Movement, and within the last 12 months, its momentum has picked up increasing speed. A few months ago, I was asked by the council of Ascent if I would help spearhead the development of the network in its next phase. I agreed to accept that task.

One of the core goals of Ascent is to connect, coordinate, and collaborate with groups like Ecclesia so that we can do more together than we could in isolation. In many ways, it will function as a “network of networks” like Ecclesia functions as a “network of churches”. In addition to ministries like Ecclesia, there are also seminaries, mission agencies, and other ministry support organizations that are joining Ascent in these early days. For the last several months the Ecclesia board has been discerning whether or not Ecclesia would officially enter into a partnership affiliation with Ascent. We unanimously affirmed that decision at our recent board meeting.

Since Ascent is in its early phases of formation, more information on the benefits and opportunities of this new partnership will be ongoing. However, we are happy to share some of the aspects of this new affiliation that we find compelling and will not only bless Ecclesia, but also all of the churches within Ecclesia.

First, given the size of Ecclesia, there have always been areas of ministry that we believe are important, but toward which we have not had the scale to accomplish or contribute. Among these are concrete efforts around

- increasing the witness of the Hispanic church in North America

- supporting mission expansion to less-resourced parts of North America

- increasing opportunities for disaster relief and response

- and mobilizing prayer networks.

Further, there are also specific and tangible benefits that are made possible through this partnership for any Ecclesia Churches. Some of these include things like

- discounted tuition costs to Truett Seminary for any Ecclesia leader or member serving an Ecclesia Church.

- discounted rate in utilizing the services of Chemistry Staffing for future hiring

- access to a church-based missionary sending ministry for those Ecclesia Churches engaged globally, and more!

Lastly, there is a specific aspect to this partnership affiliation that is particularly helpful to Ecclesia. Ascent has agreed to partner with Ecclesia over the next year to expand our church planting and multiplication reach in a way that benefits both Ecclesia and Ascent. Practically, this looks like Ascent investing a little over $1,000/month into Ecclesia over this next year and together working toward a set of mutually beneficial goals.

As I think about this opportunity within the current moment of our network, it seems right for multiple reasons beyond the purely practical. At our Ecclesia board meeting in late 2022, we established a path for individual affiliation within Ecclesia to make concrete space for leaders who are outside ministry contexts that allow for our core congregational affiliation. The heart of this decision was a desire to increase the kinds of relationships that Ecclesia has within our scope of ministry. The decision to affiliate with Ascent is similar.

Also, as I shared at our Ecclesia Gathering in January, this decision fits within the Core DNA of Ecclesia. When I look back at the founding of our network, three aspects were central then and have carried forward. First, our desire to extend the gospel to increasingly post-Christian, or more challenging, settings and groups of people. Second, a desire to exemplify a Christian witness aligned with the theological and missiological direction of affirmations like the Capetown Commitment. Third, our desire to provide a relationally rich journey of friendship for the churches and leaders who are part of our family. When I consider the affiliation with Ascent, we share in common those first two Core DNA. As for the 3rd foundational aspect of our network, I believe the time has come where Ecclesia itself needs “friends for the journey” in the same way that Ecclesia has provided a context of friendship for those within our community. On the other side of COVID, it’s clear that ministry in the days ahead is more exciting, while also more challenging and complex. We believe we need a greater community to be the most faithful to the gospel that we can.

You can go to www.ascentmovement.org to get a quick glimpse of its vision. The current website is a placeholder for a more thorough site coming later this Spring. Ecclesia, of course, will have a seat at the table in its formation. We have also provided a one-page overview of Ascent on the attached document.

We will keep you updated on this exciting development. Please feel free to reach out with any questions.

- Chris

Leadership in Question

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 19:19:42 GMT

For People’s Lives to Change We Must Change Our Questions

Who do you know who asks great questions?

What do they do to cultivate those good questions?

What is it about the power of a question?

Have you ever wondered why we don’t ask thoughtful and significant questions in our culture more often?

Is it that we don’t know how? Are we too impatient, prideful, uninterested, or unaware? Or are we fearful – afraid of what we might find out about others – or ourselves?

What might it say about a leader who doesn’t ask questions?

What might questions provide in leadership roles that answers simply cannot?

What if the current paradigm of leader-as-expert was replaced with the paradigm of leader-as-lead-questioner?

. . .

The late organizational guru Peter Drucker said, “The leader of the past may have been the person who knew how to tell, but certainly the leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.” With the heavy use of the internet and the pervasive presence of smartphones and other devices, availability of information is, quite literally, at our fingertips. With our advancing technology – now even with A.I. – we don’t even need our fingers. With a voice command, we are capable of retrieving information faster and more easily than at any time in human history. With the ubiquity of Google, do we really need leaders who need to know all the right answers? And if we are looking for better answers, should we not start by asking better questions?

In its least common denominator, leadership is about trust and connection. It’s ultimately not about charisma, education, or brilliance. It’s not about gravitas or title or prestige. In this cultural moment, with too much information, fraught with cynicism and too little trust and connection, we don’t need smarter or more eloquent or more efficient leaders; instead, we need wiser, deeper, more engaged leaders.

Wisdom is developed and depth is cultivated not by knowing all the answers, but by cultivating humility to learn, insatiable curiosity to observe, patience to listen, compassion to see and hear others, and the courage to wonder. Few things create the foundation of connection and relationship more than humility. Wisdom is gained in the quality and the frequency of the questions we ask of ourselves, of God, and others. Wise leaders ask questions. I’m convinced that what the world so desperately needs right now are leaders who ask the right questions at the right time to the right people for the right reason. The challenge and invitation for us as leaders in our current age is this: can we see the importance and significance of asking honest, compassionate, incisive, courageous questions of God, ourselves, and others?

Questions are a gift we offer to others. When people ask you questions – and truly care to know you and your story, it’s a gift – a valuable gift – isn’t it? Asking great questions gives hope, opens up new possibilities, adds value, cultivates opportunities for deeper connection, and provides meaning to others and ourselves. Like a surgeon uses a scalpel to make an incision on a patient in the operating room to provide healing, leaders can deftly use questions like a scalpel on people’s hearts. I’ve found that the greatest questions asked are personal – so personal that they draw blood, not to hurt or cause damage, but to bring healing.

. . .

The Greek philosopher Socrates (469 to 399 BC) is considered one of the founders of Western philosophy. His method of question-asking, the Socratic method, placed a high value on inquiry-based dialogue that led to learning. He used questions to draw out conclusions from others that could not have occurred through mere answers. Socrates died at the age of 71 because people, specifically three men, Anytus, Meletus, and Lycon, viewed him as a threat. He stood trial and was found guilty, ultimately forced to drink poisonous hemlock. Why? Because he asked questions. People believed that Socrates’ questions, not his answers , poisoned the minds of the youth of Athens.

Socrates often used two metaphors to describe the role of questions. The first was a horsefly, intended to sting people to get their attention – and to get them moving. The second was that of a midwife. Socrates’ mode of inquiry-based dialogue, a method that draws ideas and perspectives out of someone, is called the maieutic (may–oo-dek) method. Maieutic comes from the Greek word which means midwife. Socrates’ mother was a midwife. He, too, believed that through his questions, he was a midwife, drawing out new life with others. The best questions are so powerful they either sting or bring new life – and sometimes both.

. . .

In our Christian faith, Jesus is identified as many things: savior, Lord, redeemer, rescuer, master teacher – even leader. And many in our culture are quick to revere him as the Answer Man. Even our bumper stickers claim Jesus is the answer to all of our questions. But few, if any, see Him as the Man of Questions. As Christians, we study Jesus’ miracles, stories, parables, teachings, healings, and interactions with others. But how many of us have devoted significant time to exploring Jesus’ questions? There is rich learning to be had by exploring the questions Jesus asked, as well as the way He asked them and the impact those questions had on His listeners.

If we are to follow Jesus and lead others to follow Him as well, wouldn’t it be wise to learn to emulate His question-asking posture? Answers, most certainly, continue to play an important role in our world. We need answers. But Jesus – the savior of the world – was full of questions. Consider some of the questions He asked: Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Why are you so afraid? What do you want me to do for you? Do you want to get well? But what about you? Who do you say that I am? What are you looking for? Do you love me?

There is hardly a page in the Gospels where Jesus wasn’t asking at least one question. The Gospels record that Jesus asked over 300 questions. It also records that He was asked over 180 questions – yet He only directly answered 5 . Roughly 1% of the time Jesus answered a question directed toward him. And yet he was quick to ask hundreds of questions of others.

May we be the kinds of humble and wise leaders who ask questions – questions the way Jesus asked them – for when we do our lives will change, as will the lives of those we interact with.

A New Kind of Charismatic

Mon, 16 Oct 2023 18:31:57 GMT

There are many things that are hard to predict about the future of the church in North America, but one thing is clear: the future church is more charismatic.

I’m not sure how that statement strikes you, but consider the growth of the church around the world – most of it has a Spirit-filled underpinning. This growth, once primarily happening outside Western contexts, is now steadily increasing in places like the UK, Australia, and especially the United States. At the same time, the non-charismatic parts of the church are shrinking, especially in the Western world.

We all know that the mainline church (UMC, PCUSA, Episcopal) is by and large a generation away from the edge of extinction. But what is most striking in the data is that while the evangelical church is holding steady, the families of churches that hold to some practice of “the charismatic life” are growing. Even evangelical churches and communities that once would have been found lacking in their charismatic orientation now have clear, regular examples and bodies of teaching around the Spirit-filled life. Whether it is the Anglican Church, the Reformed Calvinist movement, Spirit-Oriented Mennonites, former United Methodists, or more multi-denominational groupings like Exponential, there is hardly any corner of the church that is not MORE charismatic than it was in previous generations.

One has to step back and wonder, “ Why might this be? ” This is certainly not something that aligns well with the values of our broader culture as so many changes tend to be. Instead, we ought to think that perhaps this wave of the Spirit is something that God himself has initiated for this time. If God himself has initiated this, then we might ask ourselves, “ How do all of us take steps into what God is doing? ” After all, you need not consider yourself charismatic to take a step forward into the life of the Spirit.

You need not consider yourself charismatic to take a step forward into the life of the Spirit.

In my own journey, I have often described myself as a “British charismatic.” Mainly, what I have intended to mean is that I have a “subdued” expression of life in the Spirit. I am still uncomfortable in contexts where the “full gifts of the Spirit” are displayed. Yet, I have found that learning to hear God, to give and receive prophetic words, and to discern the action of the Spirit in a setting, have been indispensable to my life and leadership. I’ve also been fortunate to be part of just a few “miraculous” circumstances. I always hope for more of those, but it doesn’t phase me when less of them happen. There are more than enough reasonable, theologically informed, reasons why we don’t see more miracles than we do.

What resides in my heart for my fellow Ecclesia leaders is that you would not miss what God is doing in this moment, either because of any past or present experiences with those who are “Pentecostal or Charismatic” or that you would regard your own personality and way of being in life to be at odds with what we generally experience to be a more “expressive” version of the Christian faith. If we miss what God is doing in this season, I believe there are at least three profound things we will miss.

First, you could miss a more dynamic and faith-filled personal life of faith. Second, you may miss the longing expectation for the surprising work of God that accompanies the vast majority of where the church is growing in witness and maturity around the globe and ALSO in Western nations that have left a concern for authentic, orthodox Christian witness. Third, and perhaps most importantly because it serves as the foundation of the first two, you will miss out on living and leading with the authority and boldness that accompanies the call of a Christ-follower and is necessary as part of your profession in a time when the winds of society are most certainly blowing against you.

As I look across all my experiences with planting, pastoring, multiplying leaders, building networks, and working with various denominations across the continuum of the church in North America, one thing I know for sure is that the only wind that can withstand the winds of our current secular, increasingly antagonistic context to authentic Christianity on the one hand, and the current nationalistic, increasingly antagonistic context to authentic Christianity on other is the wind of the Spirit. We must have the confidence that God is with us, in the power of the Spirit, to have the courage to face these twin headwinds coming against all of us for the foreseeable future.

So, how do we take a step into this moment?

First, I would recommend to any leader three books that I believe create a pathway for anyone to incrementally grow in their life in the Spirit – Surprised by the Power of the Spiri t and Surprised by the Voice of God , both by Jack Deere, and Hearing God by Dallas Willard. You might have read Hearing God in a previous season in life, but I would invite you to read it through the lens of the “charismatic life” and see how it hits you differently.

Second, I would recommend that you simply ask God to continuously reveal the person and work of the Spirit that Jesus sent to accompany and empower you. There is more to be said for sure, but I don’t know of any circumstance where someone has genuinely asked God to reveal the Spirit to them and God has not in due course answered. The question for us is “Do we want more of the Spirit?” It surely seems like it would be wise to say “yes.”

What The Shuck?

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 19:42:00 GMT

Important Lessons From a Minor League Baseball Team

In 2015, the Biloxi Shuckers, the AA minor league baseball team of the Milwaukee Brewers, were forced to participate in an unprecedented experience.

A beautiful new baseball stadium was under construction in their Mississippi city, but construction crews weren’t able to complete the project until late spring. As a result, the team was forced to participate in a 54-game road trip to start their season. To add a little perspective, many professional baseball players complain when they are in the midst of a grueling eight or nine-game road trip.

For two months, the Shuckers traveled 2,800 miles through the south, hitting just about every town except Biloxi. They slept in countless hotel rooms, schlepping their luggage from hotel to bus to stadium and back to bus. Teammates gave each other makeshift haircuts in the clubhouse. The bus made nightly pit stops at out-of-the-way gas stations for a bathroom break at 3 a.m. (The life of a minor league baseball player might not be as glamorous as we imagined.)

What does a minor league baseball team with an unprecedented extended road trip have to teach us about the state of the Church in North America? Many church leaders feel that we’re in a new era: we, too, no longer enjoy the benefits of a home-field advantage. In this cultural moment, we are always the away team, no longer privy to the comforts and luxuries enjoyed by previous generations of Christians.

The implication of this reality is that we have a decision to make regarding our posture. We can either deny we’re the away team or complain about our new reality. Or admitting that while things won’t be the same as before, we can be creative and think like Shuckers. In other words, we can engage in the “resident alien” posture that Peter wrote about in one of his letters.

If we take this posture, it will require us to think like bilingual missionaries in our particular contexts – and to teach our people to do the same. We understand both the reality of the world and the invitation of the kingdom. Culture, of course, is what people do—the rhythms, values, patterns, symbols, taboos, priorities, and characteristics of the way a particular people group operates. Our missionary posture is to celebrate and affirm the good elements and speak into and call out the bad elements— and those bad elements always involve idols, which speak both to our hearts as individuals and to our cultural norms.

While we certainly are in a new era of Church like we’ve never experienced before in North America, we need space to grieve. But we also need to commit to a faith-filled, humble, courageous, and contextually intelligent posture of engagement. In some ways, we need to take on the posture of Daniel and his faithful friends who were living, leading, and serving in a foreign land.

The current reality is not a position or situation we would have chosen or preferred. But even still, there is an invitation to press into the purposes of God through creative mission, if we have the eyes to see it.

Called to Stay or Called to Go?

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 21:47:00 GMT

There’s one question that everyone in ministry will be faced with at one point or another: the question of whether to stay or go. It’s one I asked myself at various times after planting a church (around year 7- stay for another season, around year 14- let go and let others lead), it’s one I’ve coached numerous other pastors through, and it’s one that if you aren’t asking right now, you probably will be at some point in the future.

The first thing to realize about the question of staying or going is that it’s a normal and even in some ways a necessary question. Like many things in life, ministry (and our growth in it) tends to happen in cycles. Around 7 years into a position, again at 14 years, and again at around 21 years, most people begin to feel the desire for something different, something new, something more (or sometimes less ) challenging. As I’ve coached a number of others for whom this question was beginning to surface, I have sometimes detected a certain amount of guilt around even asking the question, as if simply by contemplating moving on, they were somehow being unfaithful to the community in which they were currently serving. It always comes as a relief to hear that it’s a natural part of our growth in ministry, and more, that it’s something we ought to be asking.

I say “ought” to be asking, because I know that if we’re not watchful and mindful of our own growth areas, and the needs of the community we are leading, we can end up trying to lead in a community that has (praise God!) grown beyond our capacity as a leader. At that point, the first challenge is to see what’s happening, and then decide if we have the capacity to learn, grow, and change our own leadership to meet the needs of the church, or if it’s time for someone who’s better equipped to step in. In the words of Marshall Goldsmith: “What got you here won’t get you there.”

Now, knowing the question itself is a natural and even necessary question to ask, the second thing we need to be mindful of in asking it is that answers to that question will come from many, many directions, and we need to be careful about which ones we listen to.

For instance, a tough season in ministry is not an indication that it’s time to go. If that tough season has been caused by your own shortcomings as a leader, it might mean it’s time for someone more up to the challenge to step in, but it also might be an opportunity for exactly the kind of growth in leadership you need. If it’s just been a tough season in general, beware of stepping away from the formation of a tough season and into the honeymoon phase of a new situation. The problem with tough seasons is that they always come around again. We may get temporary relief from a fresh start, but soon enough, we’ll be back in the thick of things.

This isn’t to say that a fresh start, a new beginning after a tough season is a bad thing- it’s simply to say that as we are listening to our own hearts, and even more so, for the voice of the Spirit, we often have a tendency to infer from hard seasons that which is not being implied- namely that it’s time to move on. Sometimes, hard seasons mean exactly the opposite: that we’ve finally broken through the “niceties” of church life and are beginning to see real growth, the kind that comes with growing pains and even opposition.

Some other voices to take with a grain of salt when considering a choice between staying or going:

1. Your critics- not that there’s not something to be learned from our critics, but we don’t let them steer our lives.

2. Your ambition- Be careful of wanting, and especially of feeling entitled to “more.”

3. Your tiredness- Being tired or burned out isn’t necessarily a sign you need to move on. It’s a sign that you don’t yet know how to do ministry in a sustainable way. Better to learn that lesson now, where you are, than putting it off with a move and having to face it again in a couple of years.

4. Your opportunities- not every open door is an invitation from God.

So, whose voice should you be listening to? Obviously, God’s, but not in the vacuum of our own minds where discerning the difference between “God wants” and “I want” is often made more difficult in times of stress and tiredness, or even boredom and mundanity. We listen for God’s voice, and we ask others to help us listen. We ask our spouse to pray and listen, we open up to some (or all) on our elder team and staff as to how we’re feeling (as scary as that sounds), and we ask them to help us discern.

It was a scary thing to ask my team of elders to let me know when I had tipped from an asset to the church I planted over into being a liability. But the funny thing is when they finally did tell me that, I had already been there for 6 months, and it came as a confirmation from some folks that I knew loved me. Because I invited that kind of feedback, I could welcome it when it came.

If you are in a season of discernment, widen your circle. Engage with a coach or a spiritual director. Take advantage of our Ecclesia staff- we’ve all been where you are and more, have observed and learned from many others who have navigated that same season. Lean on the wisdom and learn from the mistakes of others. Don’t make these kinds of decisions in a vacuum. Give your leaders and even your community as a whole (when it’s appropriate) a good model of how a follower of Jesus makes big decisions, in community and in dependence on the Spirit.

One last thought. My personal practice is to attempt as much as possible to give God the glory but take the blame for myself. In other words, the last thing I want to do is drop a life-changing announcement on folks and tag it with “God is leading me to…”

This kind of “God told me to” tends to invalidate the feelings of others, cut off any questions and discussion, and generally make people feel like God is doing something to them.

In situations like this, even when I feel like I have the leading of God’s Spirit, I try to preemptively take most of the blame. I will let people know about the prayer and discussion that preceded it, and the various factors that went into the decision, but ultimately, unless and until I can point to real, tangible, fruit, I want to avoid saying pinning the blame for something that I know will be difficult for some or many to hear on God.

Later, when we’re able to look back and see all that God has done, we can begin describing the leading we felt, the promptings of the Spirit we listened to, and give God the glory He deserves.

Fresh Eyes: Why You Need a Coach or Consultant

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 15:08:00 GMT

Recently I texted some friends a few “anti-inspirational” quotes about consulting, including my favorite: “If you are not a part of the solution, there’s good money to be made in prolonging the problem.” But this applies to much more than just consulting.

How many of us have started to do some remodeling and found out it would be harder, more expensive, and much slower than we thought? Or we take our car in for something that seems small only to find out that this “small issue” is connected to something much bigger and more expensive?

So the question remains: why would we seriously consider voluntarily inviting a consultant or a coach into our church if there is a chance they will make things more complicated, not less?

If you’re asking this, I get it. I was on staff and a pastor of our church for 25 years. What makes pastoring so difficult is not that we have complicated pastoral, personal, organizational, or theological issues to navigate; it’s that those issues are confronting us all at once.

So then, why would you ever invite more potential complexity or challenge by inviting a ministry coach for yourself or a consultant for your church?

The first reason is that consultants, physicians, contractors, and mechanics, who have expertise and integrity, are not inventing the issues; instead, they are directing your attention toward the areas and issues you might not be able to see. You know those times when you’ve driven to work or the store and you don’t actually remember driving there? We weren’t in a trance or asleep; our brains were processing thousands of micro-decisions along the way, and we weren’t overtly aware of them. We can easily look past things that are important because we do not see them as immediate needs. An experienced coach and well-trained consultant can help us notice what we have probably noticed at a certain level before, but they can bring it into our conscious awareness. And with that awareness, we can be in the best position to address those issues head-on.

The second reason: a good coach and consultant can give you a discerning partner in looking at the issues that you both notice. Even with 25 years of pastoral experience, I still needed an outside voice and perspective who could bring expertise that I did not have into our context. I needed someone to see things were fresh eyes because it was too “normal” for me to notice issues that could arise. I wanted them to bring their experience, training, a greater breadth of options or responses, and their awareness of structure. But they needed to appreciate that I and the other members of our church were the keepers of the story of God in our community. We knew the hurts and joys people had gone through, and those needed to be honored as well.

A good coach or consultant will appreciate that dynamic and it becomes a conversation from these different inputs where we discern together . If you want a good, quick test of whether your coach or consultant is interested in this conversational approach, just see how many questions or conversations they have with you before they start sharing with you what you need to do.

One pattern I’ve noticed: the majority of leaders I coach spend about half of each coaching session talking about how they are navigating the challenges they are facing. Having a safe person to let our hair down with, and a safe place to vent and openly share challenges we are facing is essential for pastors and leaders to navigate pastoral ministry in a healthy way. With great frequency, the coaching sessions with leaders start in one direction – and then a question will come up or a thought will be shared and the conversation will go in a completely different direction entirely. Having someone with whom you can share the whole story of how life is going, without having to assure them afterward that you really do still love Jesus and have hope for His church (we all know that feeling don’t we?), is incredibly important.

There are many more reasons, for sure: navigating the morass of ideas and strategies that are out there, helping you figure out the order of issues to be confronted, assessing whether what you are doing is working, developing the steps to take/having someone that will ask about your progress through them, or just talking to someone that has navigated what you are confronting multiple times in multiple contexts. These are all important benefits provided by a coach or consultant.

A good coach or consultant should have experience in what you are trying to do, needs to have a strong faith life themselves, and needs to be willing to listen as much as speak.

Ironically, when those elements are present, it doesn’t feel like coaching or consulting; instead, it feels like ministry . And that is what I love about it.

6 Ways to Frustrate Young Leaders

Thu, 25 May 2023 16:39:00 GMT

by J.R. Briggs

I was a few years into planting our church when I shared boldly and with strong conviction about an issue on my heart at an elder meeting. After I finished, I could tell that one elder wasn’t too happy; he asked to stick around after our meeting concluded.

“How old are you?” he asked, clearly with an agenda in mind.

“I’m 29.” I winced, bracing myself for what he might say next.

He squinted his eyes, wagged his finger, and said, “I’ve been doing ministry longer than you’re alive. So, listen to me for a minute…” I was taken aback and felt so belittled by the comment that I don’t remember what he said (but I can assure you how he shared lasted more than a minute).

On the drive home that night, I felt embarrassed and frustrated by the experience; I vowed never to ask the condescending question of a younger leader, “How old are you?” – and follow it up with a condescending lecture.

. . .

I have a driving passion to listen to, encourage, and invest in young and emerging leaders. And I especially want to ensure that no young leader feels as frustrated and lonely as I felt in numerous situations. As I’ve worked in leadership development over the years, I often ask emerging leaders what are the things that frustrate them in their leadership contexts, either in what they are experiencing or where they want to experience something, but aren’t allowed to do so.

If we want to frustrate young leaders, here are the ways I’ve learned to do it successfully:

[1] Delegate responsibilities, but refrain from empowering them to lead.

Many leaders erroneously believe that leadership development is the art of delegating tasks. But delegating is not the same thing as empowering. Delegation is about giving others tasks; empowering others is about giving people authority and permission.

Delegation says, “Get this done exactly the way I want it done.” But empowerment gives others authority and permission that says, “Here is the vision and the mission of what we’re about. You are capable and responsible. I believe in you. Take this and lead in such a way that best advances the vision and moves the mission forward.” This means others will most likely do it differently than you do. But remember: we are not trying to create clones, we are trying to develop and empower leaders.

Years ago I led the college and young adult ministry at a large church in Colorado. I remember sitting in a pastoral staff meeting when the executive pastor said to me, “We want to communicate to the young people in your ministry that they are the future of this church.” I told him that while he meant well, that mindset was a problem. He was confused.

“They are not the future of the church.” I said, “They are the present . And if we want to serve them well, then we need to start thinking this way. They’ll grow and develop more if we do.” When we over-emphasize the tasks needed to get done, we can easily under-emphasize whole-person equipping for formation. The ultimate, long-term goal is not to just get things done; it’s to empower and unleash people into their giftings.

[2] Assume that you know everything that young leaders need to know.

Certainly, there are some skills that need to be developed, perspectives that need to be gained, and character that needs to be formed in others in order for them to be healthy and effective leaders, regardless of their age. But many seasoned leaders take the mistake of assuming too much and trying to read younger leaders’ minds.

Some common faulty assumptions made are:

One of the greatest ways experienced leaders can keep from making faulty assumptions (and we know what happens when we assume) is to stop trying to read leaders’ minds and simply ask questions. Two of my favorite questions to keep us from stepping into the assumption trap is to ask: Where do you want to be more involved? And where do you want me to get out of your way? If emerging leaders are willing to give honest answers to these questions, it’s amazing what can be learned and discerned in these conversations.

[3] Offer complete freedom and autonomy without guidance and accountability.

Trust is essential for young leaders to grow and develop, but too much freedom without guidance can be demoralizing and disorienting. Simply sending leaders off to “figure it out on their own” is not a purposeful strategy for development.

I know one leader who described his leadership development process as “I throw them into the deep end of the pool and they’ll eventually figure out how to swim.” I asked him what happens to those who don’t figure out how to swim. “Well,” he said, “they don’t make it.” That doesn’t sound like a thoughtful strategy; that sounds like a good plan to help young leaders fail. Young leaders need freedom and autonomy, but they still need – and often long for – loving and constructive direction, structure, feedback, and guidance.

[4] Micromanage others.

While most emerging leaders I’ve spent time with have expressed that while they want direction, feedback, and structure, they certainly don’t want to be micromanaged either. (In fact, name any leader who actually likes to be micromanaged.) Leaders often micromanage others because of fear, lack of trust, or their own control issues. They often worry that the job won’t get done (at least not the way they want it).

Few things aggravate, demoralize, and crush morale more than when leaders control the environment so much that others can’t do anything without the leader’s permission or approval. Not only are they failing to develop leaders, they are actually diminishing the opportunity for leaders to grow in the future.

[5] Lead only in the style you’re used to leading in.

There are some time-tested truths and principles in leadership development. But there are also generational shifts that experienced leaders need to be aware of – and more importantly, make efforts to adapt to.

The old approach of leadership was to be the sage on the stage; the new approach is to be a guide on the side. The old approach believed we need a strong leader; don’t show us your failures, mistakes, and wounds. But the new approach says we need an authentic leader we can trust; show us your failures, mistakes, and wounds so we can learn from you.

Just as listening to music has shifted from 8-tracks to cassette tapes (all things younger leaders have little to no experience with!) to CDs to streaming services, we need to change the format of how we listen to the music of leadership development in changing times. Leaders must learn to adapt and change to meet emerging leaders where they are. This requires letting go of some control and being willing to be humble to listen to the way emerging leaders think, act, and feel.

[6] Expect perfection.

Few things cause anxiety to rise in the life of an emerging leader more than creating a culture and expectation that failure is unacceptable. Learning from failure is one of the greatest learning tools in the life of a leader, young or old. Failure is a terrible thing to waste. Bridgewater hedge fund manager and investor Ray Dalio articulated this well when he said, “Create a culture where it is acceptable to fail, but unacceptable not to learn from it.”

Certainly, we don’t want to over-protect young leaders from experiencing failure – that’s where the true learning comes when we reflect on failure appropriately – but we also don’t want to create an unsafe environment when they do fail. If failing in a learning environment is not safe, young leaders will be tempted to hide their mistakes, experience shame, and refuse to reflect and process valuable lessons to be learned through these experiences. As poet Archibald MacLeish wrote, “There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience, and that is not learning from experience.”

Much of what we are called to do in developing younger leaders is to live in the midst of the healthy tension: to give freedom, but not too much of it; to delegate tasks, without neglecting whole-person development by empowering and equipping; and not protecting them from failure, but cultivating an environment where they can learn valuable lessons when they fail. We need wisdom, humility, sensitivity, courage, and compassion to effectively engage in leadership development.

Let’s refrain from frustrating young, emerging leaders and instead empower them to lead. As Liz Wiseman said, the essential role of a leader is not to create followers; it’s to be a leader multiplier.

Want a practical way to encourage your Young Leaders? Check out the Emerging Leaders Cohort!

East Coast Regional Gatherings 2023

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 18:05:00 GMT

This year Ecclesia leaders gathered across the country in various regional gatherings for connection, equipping, and encouragement.

The most recent regionals were in March- one in Blacksburg, VA at NLCF and another in East Windsor, NJ at Next Gen Church.

During the Mid-South Regional in Blacksburg, we were joined by Mitch Marcello and spent our time learning how imagination and creativity can enhance our leadership and enrich our teams and ministries.

During the Mid-Atlantic Regional at Next Gen near Princeton, we were challenged to think about how we are teaching and discipling our youth and children.

Both gatherings included great times of worship together, time connecting around the table, and encouragement as we connected with friends both old and new.

Look for more Regional Gatherings in 2025!

Pentecost Offering: 2023

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 15:25:00 GMT

Ecclesia’s Annual Fund for Church Planting and Pioneering Mission

Late April – Mid June 2023

The Pentecost Offering is Ecclesia’s annual campaign across all of our churches and ministries to support church planting and pioneering mission. Each year around Pentecost, the Ecclesia family remembers this profound moment in salvation history by taking a collective offering to support new work in and among our family.

Over the last several years, congregations across Ecclesia have helped to support multiple new congregations and provided important training to aspiring planters and missional leaders. In 2022, the Pentecost Offering helped 3 new congregations give birth – Mustard Seed Church outside Baton Rouge LA, the Storehouse in State College PA, and Center Community in Fredericksburg VA.

This year, funds from the Pentecost Offering will help provide needed training and coaching support for a crop of new church planters emerging through Ecclesia.

Would your congregation consider participating in the 2023 Pentecost Offering?

Contributions can be received through the Ecclesia website or by mail at:

Ecclesia Network

P.O. Box D

Grantham, PA 17027

For more information contact Chris Backert, National Director, at chris.backert@ecclesianet.org

Leading in an Era of Upheaval

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 17:15:00 GMT

Shortly after the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic, a friend who has spent years working in Disaster Relief in Recovery remarked to me that they expected a major vocational transition among ministry leaders in the years following.

The basis for the prediction was their experience that 50% of pastors in an area hit by a major disaster often moved to a new location in the ensuing years. The theory was that at least one out of every two ministry leaders simply could not absorb the impact of ministering through such a period of intensity.

Of course, the circumstances of the last few years are enhanced by the fact that the “disaster” has been prolonged, and the implications have been much more extensive and all-encompassing. Each and every day the cultural shifts that were initiated in the last few years have become more apparent and they present significant challenges to the church.

Leading during such periods requires certain characteristics that are not necessarily essential in other seasons. As I have both observed the last few years and considered the ones ahead, there are three characteristics of church leaders that will likely rise in importance in the days to come.

I cut my teeth in ministry in the area of church planting. If there is a handful of defining characteristics that make a fruitful church planter, tenacity is certainly among them. Simply put, you must have a willingness not to give up, to keep going, to keep fighting, to stay afloat, and to stay faith-filled. Now, tenacity is not the same as resilience. Resilience has been a much-discussed aspect of leadership over the last few years, but it has a major distinction in dimension. Resilience implies a capacity to hold your ground and not give up. In juxtaposition, tenacity is the will to keep moving forward in the midst of our resilience.

Having planted multiple churches myself, and having coached and catalyzed dozens of others, it has been my overwhelming experience that a tenacious love for the gospel and the power it can have in people’s lives is a requirement for not only surviving but thriving through the difficult and challenging obstacles of starting something from nothing. That same tenacity can also flow over into our will to keep taking new ground (or not conceding ground) in our efforts to bring to life a new community of faith.

For most of my career in ministry, I have cast a skeptical glance toward those that would make comments like “One day we might have to choose between going to jail and following Jesus.” I can remember when Andrew Jones first made that comment in the early 2000s; such a thing seemed implausible to me. However, in the year 2023, such comments, while still seeming a stretch, no longer feel like the leap they would have even been in 2019. Perhaps because of the political polarization in our nation, the co-opting of the church by ultra-right ideologies, or the unilateral activism based on secular progressive thinking, now even basic Orthodox beliefs and practices held by generous centrist-type evangelicals seem to be at odds with the social power structures of the day. Some church leaders have tended toward a posture of “relaxing” their previously held convictions in response. I see this particularly in areas related to human sexuality, but also related to core Christological beliefs. Just before Easter, I read a post by an Asbury Seminary graduate who was musing on the prospect of hope for those who did not enter the kingdom of God during their human living experience. Such views of course are not new as they are not far off from the Catholic doctrine of purgatory. However, what is striking is the lifting up of such beliefs as an apologetic to the wider world as a “backdoor” for historic Christian views on salvation. While there may indeed be a “backdoor” into the kingdom based on what we know about the abundant and confounding grace of God revealed in Jesus, as Dallas Willard would say, “it is surely not the gospel.” We should hold forth the gospel because the gospel is what we can have confidence in, the “backdoor” is merely a hopeful conjecture even if it is based on a heart of love. The church of the future that will be in existence will be in existence because of the gospel and nothing else and it is our responsibility to hold to Orthodoxy with conviction. After all, if church history teaches us anything, it is that Orthodoxy prevails.

The church leader of the future will quite simply need faith. This is not a day of ministry for the faint of heart. Even if we can’t recall it ourselves, we’ve heard plenty of stories about pastors who served on hospital boards, as the trustees of colleges, as advisors to mayors, and in other positions of influence and prestige in communities. When I first moved to Richmond, Virginia in the mid-2000s, the major local paper still gave out an award for “pastor of the year.” The role of the pastor in any community has always taken a certain level of faith, but for the most part, pastoral ministry over the last several decades has not required the “God providing, unless God acts” kind of faith we’ve been told stories about. For sure, every Christian leader has likely had some experience in their calling and career where God simply had to come through and they had to step out in faith, trusting that God would act on their behalf. But in the days to come I expect that kind of faith will be an ongoing, at least annual reality in some form or fashion. It is likely that we will experience more stories of pastoral ministry similar to the era of the frontier period in North America than the Post World War II period that has shaped so much of our ministry context and imagination. In truth, we will grow in our faith because we will need to see God act in power and provision more than we are currently accustomed to.

Tenacity.

Conviction.

Faith.

This is a short list and so much more will be required. Yet without these, whatever practical ministry skills we need or other elements of character and Christian formation that is required will be lost without these essential foundations.

2023 Denver Regional Gathering

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 14:52:00 GMT

In January, about 80 leaders gathered at New Denver Church for a regional gathering. Some of those leaders were from local Denver churches; others came from Ecclesia churches in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and Texas. For two days, we discussed the importance of soul care for shepherds in ministry. Andrew Arndt, author of the recent book Streams in the Wasteland led those discussions. We also explored challenging topics like loving the LGBT community well, loving our (actual) neighbors well, walking with people through mental and emotional health challenges, and walking with people through deconstruction.

It was good to see old Ecclesia friends after the pandemic years. We made new friends as well. We shared stories of success, growth, and God’s faithfulness. And just as many stories of failure, learning, lament. Doing ministry is often hard. But it doesn’t have to be lonely. This gathering was a reminder of two vital truths. 1) Taking care of our own souls and bodies is one of the most important things we can do in ministry. And 2) leaders need support, encouragement, and community among peers as much as anyone else

Don’t miss our Next Regional Gathering:

North East Regional Gathering

West Windsor, NJ

March 24-25, 2023

The last three years have been tough on children and youth. Many churches have seen a decrease in their children’s and youth ministries and are sensing an invitation from the Spirit to rethink why we do ministry with and for our young people. Along with key voices throughout Ecclesia Churches in the Northeast, we will also hear from Bob Hyatt, Director of Equipping and Spiritual Formation for Ecclesia and the worship teams from Renew Community and Next Gen Church. This 2-day gathering is open to anyone interested in pursuing God’s heart for the next generation. The schedule will be full and we are asking the Spirit to do a work in us as we learn, immerse ourselves in His presence, and return to our churches.

Schedule:

March 24 – 6 – 9 pm

March 25 – 9 am – 2:30 pm (lunch included)

More Details/Registration

Halfway There: What Comes Next?

Mon, 20 Mar 2023 18:09:00 GMT

In the Spring of 2047, it will have been 50 years since I preached my first sermon.
I can remember the day vividly that I “surrendered to the ministry.” After I walked the aisle to answer the call, my pastor told me at the end of the service that “if I was called to ministry, I was called to preach, so next Sunday night you are up!” I looked up and said “Next week?” to which he replied, “The only way you learn to preach is by preaching!”

I didn’t know it at the time, but I stepped into the world of ministry at a moment that I would now describe as the finale of the church in the era of Christendom in the US. When I first went to school to study pastoral ministry later that year, it hadn’t been very long since The Purpose-Driven Church was initially published, one of the most popular periodicals for ministry leaders at the time was “Church Growth Magazine”, the conversation about future generations and church participation was aimed squarely at Gen X, and that was only in the tiniest corner of the smallest room, in the basement of the church complex in North America. In other words, to most pastoral leaders, church participation was largely stable and even growing. The surrounding culture of the common American city or town was either supportive or at least neutral to the values and worldview of the Christian Church. Further, most pastoral leaders were still respected and met with a common embrace and gratitude, even among those who did not faithfully attend.

By the time I reach my 50th year of ministry, the landscape that I entered into will have so vastly changed that I know it would be unrecognizable to the world of the 1990s. Like many of those who will be reading this article, I’m a “bridge leader” in ministry in the year 2023. I entered into ministry on the end side of Christendom and I will finish ministry when I expect that Post-Christendom will be so underway that nobody will even recall that there once was another side to the bridge. My ministry will have been summarized by a season that only a small portion of pastors since the Protestant Reformation will share in that, throughout our career, we will have crossed the bridge from one epoch of the church into another.

Not long ago it dawned on me that I am halfway across the bridge. I have been in ministry for about as long as I have left in ministry and now I am working on the back half of that bridge.

As many of us are somewhere in the same vicinity, it’s a good time to ask ourselves:

What echoes deep in my own spirit is that I want to do all I can to ensure that there is a faithful, vibrant, and flourishing church that is fully equipped for what we might now call a Post-Church era.

Ecclesia as a whole has always been on the same journey – and those of us who are a part of this family have been drawn together for this shared purpose. Although we might articulate it with different nuance, it is my conviction that the churches and leaders in our family have always been characterized by a heart to bear witness to the gospel among generations of people for whom standard approaches to church were ineffective. We certainly don’t know all that we need to know in order to carry out the Great Commission for the next 25 years – and we need to continue to learn from one another (and from others) – but we do have within our DNA several of the key essentials to fulfill the mission before us. More, we know that we are not alone.

[1] One constant theme in the life of Ecclesia over the last 15 years has been the number of leaders from outside Ecclesia who feel at home among us, but are constrained from having their church join us for one legitimate reason or another. Perhaps they share an understanding of the gospel with Ecclesia, sense a common approach to ministry, or perhaps most of all an affection for our relational posture. But, whatever the case, they have had the desire to come more closely into life with Ecclesia. This is why we beta-tested an Individual Membership option in 2022. Having found initial fruitfulness among a handful of friends, we are excited to share that we are now planning to make the Individual Membership option a formal part of our future plans.

[2] In like manner, we have also seen the rise of congregations within Ecclesia sensing the need to start local networks of churches within their city or region. These are popping up in all four corners of the country and run the gamut from city-wide networks cooperating around church planting to collaborative approaches to youth ministry across a town. Given that these networks are the outgrowth of the character and nature of leaders within Ecclesia, we believe there is a “tissue match” between Ecclesia as a whole and these emerging local relationships. For that reason, another growth step we have decided to take in 2023 is to become more proactive in encouraging the formation of local networks through Ecclesia churches as well as exploring how Ecclesia can serve these local networks through our churches..

As we move into the future then, we see the ministry of Ecclesia being centered around leaders, churches, and local church networks. While we do not expect to diminish our focus on the three important phases of healthy local congregations – Starting (years 1-3), Strengthening (years 4-8), and Sending (years 9+) – we do believe that now is the time to formally create paths that allow individual leaders and local networks connected to our churches to benefit from the ministry of Ecclesia.

As I stand now in the center of the bridge, these steps for Ecclesia resonate as the kind of actions that strengthen our capacity to be more faithful and fruitful in the unique time that we have been called to steward together (with others) on behalf of the gospel.

Does your own calling, wherever you are on the bridge, resonate with this? If so, we would like you to take a further step with us in 2023 in these ways:

And lastly, if you are a leader of another ministry that would be a “peer” to Ecclesia and happen to be reading this, and are wondering how we might team up our common efforts, then drop us a line because we are exploring that too in this season.

We are in a unique season as ministry leaders in 2023. The challenges in front of us are greater than those behind us – and yet, so is the kingdom opportunity! Let’s not lose heart as we emerge from these last few years of immense challenge and let us recommit ourselves to the cause of the gospel in our time and let us do it together.

Good News for Imperfect Pastors

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 22:29:00 GMT

Years ago, I was talking over breakfast with a young man. Between bites of bacon and eggs, he was telling me about his disappointment with his dad.

Having had a dad who paid little attention to me, spent no time with me, and was really only “dad” in the strictest biological sense of the word, as I listened I struggled with how to respond. The complaints I was hearing sounded to me like the description of a normal human being trying his best to be dad; occasionally preoccupied, often not sensitive enough to his son’s needs, maybe not as spiritually dialed in as he could be…

I knew telling him my own story of a bad dad might help give him some perspective, but I didn’t want to make it a contest. At the core of his disappointment was the idea that his dad hadn’t modeled the loving character of God in quite the way he wished had been done. And as I looked down at my own plate of (quickly disappearing) bacon, something occurred to me.

“Well, it’s a good thing your dad wasn’t perfect. If he was, you wouldn’t have needed Jesus,” I said.

What followed was a good conversation on the way fathers (and others) point us to God both in their successes and failures in their roles.

I was thinking of this conversation recently as I reflected on a recurring theme among many of the pastors I coach. It probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone that pastors often struggle. They struggle with the things that every human struggles with, but added to that, they struggle with the odd idea that they shouldn’t encounter struggles at all as spiritual leaders- that by the time they reach a position of leadership, they ought to be beyond all that. And worse, because they aren’t beyond all that, they are somehow imposters or frauds who will eventually be outed as flawed and failing by people who expect… more.

While there are standards of ethics and conduct for ministry that are vitally important, most pastors I work with aren’t dealing with the kinds of sin that would disqualify someone from ministry, but rather the everyday ups and downs of following Jesus. Everyday ups and downs like spiritually dry spells, the very human struggle with lust, envy, ambition, worries about the future, and regrets about the past.

And to those leaders, I would say “It’s a good thing you aren’t perfect. If you were, nobody in your church would need Jesus.”

“Follow me as I follow Jesus” was written by a pastor who himself was not beyond the spiritual struggles of an imperfect human following Jesus. Those words weren’t meant to say “emulate my perfect spirituality,” but rather “emulate me in both my successes and my failures.” Follow me as I walk in the footsteps of Jesus AND as I deal through repentance with the times I stumble off the path. See me in both the highs and the lows, and in that be pointed to the ONLY one who ever did it perfectly.

Pastor, you do well when you allow others to see how you deepen and grow in your discipleship. You would do equally well to allow people to see the harder parts of that journey as well. You aren’t perfect, and no one (at least no one whose opinion you should care about) believes you are or even could be perfect.

We’ll settle for someone who’s trying – someone who shows us what it really looks like to follow Jesus.

Leader Profile: Paul Hill

Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:30:00 GMT

Paul, and his wife Calana (pronounced – kuh law nuh), have led the Wheatland Mission Church since its founding in 2006. Having journeyed with the church through many ups and downs, they are grateful to see God’s work in this corner of his Kingdom. Married 27 years, they have two children, Savannah recently graduated from Kansas State, and Harrison who is a senior at Wichita State.

In addition to pastoring the Wheatland Mission, Paul enjoys teaching courses in Bible and Christian Spirituality at Friends University. Paul and Calana have made the most of this COVID season by planting bigger and bigger gardens and very slowly re-modeling their home.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Wheatland rents space from an American Baptist Church (Sunnyside Baptist) in the central part of the Wichita. We are one block from a large African-American congregation and the neighborhood is a mixture of Latino and White working class families.

How would you describe the journey of pastoring Wheatland Mission? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

Wheatland has been around for fourteen years and it feels as if we have been three or four different churches over the years. In our earliest days Wheatland followed the typical attractional model of church but on a small scale. However, we realized not long into our journey that that model wouldn’t work. We gathered a nice sized group very early on but most of that group disappeared near the one year mark. It was both devastating and clarifying. We realized that we had to retool our ministry.

For the next few years we tried to understand what God was calling us to do. In time, a path became clear to us. People who had been burned by the church often found us. Individuals who were struggling with belief but weren’t quite ready to give upon Christianity found us too. We saw ourselves as one of the last options that people gave themselves before giving up on church all together.

We rethought the process of spiritual formation. How do people become grounded in the faith, especially in a context where they have lost faith? This led us, in part, to adopting a more liturgical, Anglican-ish, approach to our life together.

Today we jokingly refer to ourselves as “feral Anglicans” or as “casually liturgical”. Neither term really describes who we are as a community but we have found a foundation in the Book of Common Prayer liturgy that has helped many of our people stretch themselves in faith and come in contact with Christ through the Spirit.

Most recently, Wheatland has been marked by this liturgical approach to life in our weekly worship as well thrice weekly prayer gatherings from the prayerbook. But, we have also been greatly impacted by our partnership with Hilltop Urban Church, a congregation of and for Wichita’s urban poor. Our friendship with Hilltop is changing our attitude about participating in God’s work in the world and seeing ourselves not as saviors, or as project managers, but as friends of God’s people wherever we find them.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started Wheatland Mission?

On a personal level, I wish I understood the power I had as a leader in the church. Influenced by Anabaptism, and also being a bit naive, I didn’t exercise the power that I had as the pastor of our congregation and some division and heartache was the result. Looking back, I failed to exercise the power and authority I had as pastor of the congregation in a way that would have helped us avoid some of the division. I considered my inaction to be patience. But, looking back I think I was just afraid of creating conflict and division. My avoidance created the very thing I was trying to keep from happening.

As shepherds of our flocks we have the responsibility to care for them. That will sometimes mean hard conversations, strong stances, and inflexibility in regards to sinful divisiveness.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

As I mentioned above, employing liturgical elements from the BCP has been a great experience for us. We’ve also embraced the liturgical year by observing Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent and Easter. We are encouraged because there are children in our church have always known Advent and Lent as part of their walk of faith.

We’ve also seen significant success in partnering both with Hilltop and with three different churches that we have rented from. We have had numerous shared worship services and special events. Currently, our youth minister and other leaders, have created a youth ministry in cooperation with Sunnyside Baptist the church where we rent our meeting space. It has been a mutually positive experience.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

Wheatland used to be involved in a mobile medical ministry in the city. It started off as a good experience but we soon discovered two things. First, the medical professionals from our church that staffed the clinic grew concerned that they were providing care that was superficial and kept patients from seeking more thorough care which was available in the city. Second, the clinic, while a good thing, did not lead to building friendships with people who were in different socio-economic and ethnic spaces than we were. We entered as professionals who provided services. There is nothing wrong with this on its face but as a church, we have discerned that our responsibility is relationship with the poor where from whom we learn and grow and find relationship.

This has led us to our strategic partnership with Hilltop Urban Church. We worship together a few times a year (mostly on special occasions) and we provide back-up help with worship and teaching. Above all, we seek to become friends who are blessed as much as we bless.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

Before Wheatland I was a part of a large church staff. I am confident that Wheatland is where God wants me to be and the church he wants me to serve. However, I sometimes feel that Wheatland is “not really” a serious church because of our size, the fact that we don’t have a building, we meet on Saturday nights, etc. As a pastor I sometimes suffer from an inferiority complex.

Wheatland is unique and important and I think that God is saying, the Wheatland Mission is what the Wheatland Mission is supposed to be. Not perfect, with lots of room for improvement and growth, but, who Wheatland is essentially right. Don’t be ashamed of it. Don’t run away from it. God is with us and God is at work.

What do you dream/hope/pray Wheatland Mission looks like in five years?

First, I hope our strategic partnership with Hilltop increases and improves. My hope is that most of our middle-class educated congregation would be meaningfully connected to people from our sister church.

Second, we need to re-develop our small group ministry. In earlier years this was a central part of our shared life. But, in recent years this part of our ministry has suffered and we are working at creating a rhythm of life at Wheatland that includes not only corporate worship and service but smaller communities of more intense and purposeful growth.

NOTE: the photo above is of our staff, Nathan Hansen, Shawntel Shirkey, Devin Withrow, and myself.

Leader Profile: Stephen Redden

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:36:00 GMT

Stephen Redden is one of the founding pastors of NDC and oversees our church multiplication efforts . He is also the director of The Church Cooperative of Denver , the local church network NDC helped launch in 2017. He is a graduate of Mississippi State University (B.S. Computer Engineering, M.B.A.) and Dallas Theological Seminary (M.A. Biblical Studies). Stephen also does a variety of projects outside of NDC. He is the founder of Third Circle , a consultative coaching practice, where he works with individuals and organizations to maximize their effectiveness. Between 1996 and 2000 Stephen worked as an information technology specialist at IBM Global Services before leaving to work on a project with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Kazakhstan and Russia in 2000-2001. After returning to the US in 2001, Stephen joined the staff at North Point Community Church to help lead the Community Groups ministry. Stephen married Kate in 2002, and they welcomed their first son, Ethan, in 2004 and were blessed again in 2007 with the arrival of their second son, Andrew. Stephen loves football (Go Broncos and Hail State!) and futbol (Go Rapids and Gunners!), snowboarding, and considers himself a closet redneck and a geek at heart.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Urban neighborhood

How would you describe the journey of pastoring New Denver? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

We started the church 10 years ago, and I was one of the founding pastors. In that time there have been a number of seasons and milestones along the way. The early years were marked by a lot of work to slowly build relationships and patiently serve our fledgling community as it grew slowly. In time, somewhere around year four, we hit a point where momentum began to build and we began to feel more stable. We had a steady self-sustaining community and focused on the tasks of growing our roots deeper. In some ways that season continues today in our main location, but four years ago we committed to making significant investments in multiplying our influence. We built on the momentum of our existing ministry residency and started a church planting residency as well. Two years ago we helped our first church planting resident launch a new church – Westside Church Internacional – a bi-lingual, multicultural church in west Denver. Today we continue to look for opportunities to grow and expand our influence at New Denver, but we are also exploring opportunities to bring on another church planting resident or work with an existing church to replant or revitalize a community.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started New Denver?

Perseverance is the key to longevity in ministry. Everyone faces challenges and adversity, and things rarely go the way that you expect. If you can hold your expectations open-handed before God and believe that he is always at work in ways that you cannot fathom or understand, it allows you to persevere through the inevitable highs and lows of pastoral ministry.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

From the beginning, we sought to be a values-driven church. Our values have changed over time, but our commitment to discerning the few things we want to focus on as a community has remained consistent. This clarity of values helps us to know who we are and how we focus our limited energy and resources. In pursuit of living out those values, we never get too attached to programs or methodologies. One of our values is community, and to date, we’ve tried a variety of different approaches to living that out. The goal remains the same, but we hold loosely to our strategies. Lastly, I think one thing we’ve done well is to try and steward the people who come through our community well. Our city is very transient, and it has been easy at times to get cynical about how many people come and go. But the more we remain open-handed – celebrating people when they come and when they go and making the most to guide them and develop them while we’re here, we seem to see God bless and multiply our efforts.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

We’ve had to re-think evangelism over and over. In the early days, we were so desperate to “get the word out” and make new connections that it was difficult to be patient to see and appreciate the slow work of God. We were always pushing people to invest in others and to invite them to church. As we have been able to grow slowly, it has allowed us to be patient and see that in very post-Christian contexts like Denver, it may be years to see people open to engaging somehow in the life of the church.

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

In the early days, we were trying to create gatherings to build relationships and get some momentum going. I remember we did an event at someone’s house, bought a bunch of food, and invited 20-25 people. Three people showed up. It was so disappointing, but I tried to value and appreciate those three people well. It prepared me for the coming years when there would be low-attendance Sundays or seasons when attendance and participation would mysteriously drop. We developed a mantra – “Love the church you have, not the church you want to have.”

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

I turn 49 this year, and over the last few years, God has been impressing on me that innovation and leadership to engage coming generations doesn’t come from 50 and 60-year-olds. It’s time for me to start getting serious about moving from the “front” to the “back” – to get behind younger leaders and use everything I have to push them forward. This is not something that I’ve seen done particularly well by the church leaders in the generations ahead of me, but it’s something I’m convinced we need to do better.

What do you dream/hope/pray New Denver looks like in five years?

In five years I’d love to see us continuing to grow and engage people at our current location. We currently share space with the aging and dwindling congregation that owns the building where we meet. It’s been a great relationship, but over the last few years, we’ve felt constrained by their refusal to make space for us to grow by adding additional Sunday services. It would be great to get that resolved. But I’d also like us to continue to engage with reaching people through church planting and looking for ways to invest outside our current community.

Becoming a Distributed Church without Becoming a VIRTUAL Church.

Tue, 31 Mar 2020 20:05:00 GMT

One of the things I have thought a lot about over the last two decades is the intersection of technology and church, particularly as it relates to how church communities are formed or mal-formed by their use of technology.

The current crisis of quarantines and social distancing has led to nearly all churches developing an online presence and streaming their worship and teaching. Many were prepared because they have been doing so for years, developing digital congregations who’ve never been a part of a live gathering, or “podrishioners” who have connected to the church via the medium of podcasting. Others have been scrambling to figure out how to be the church when we can’t be with each other.

In this time of upheaval and racing to figure out how to keep the basics of community together without physical presence, there is an opportunity for formation, but also a danger of malformation.

1 st , Christianity is an incarnational faith, an embodied vision of the advancing Kingdom of God.

That’s not to say that spiritual impact can’t be made from a distance, but it should shape how we interact over distances. In other words, if the ecclesia is the “gathered” group of believers, then during this time substituting watching a video of a church service for the actual fellowship, accountability, touch, and sacrament of gathering is just virtual church… just church enough to be dangerous. Dangerous because it cements people into patterns of passivity, of watching rather than participating, of judging the quality of the service as they are serviced by religious professionals rather than experientially joining with others in listening to the Spirit of God.

But… If during this time, our preaching becomes more interactive, and more voices are heard, not less (1 Cor. 14:16), if we see people who would normally enter and exit a church service without speaking to others now discussing the Word in breakout rooms, getting to know others, praying for others, people sharing their requests and thanksgiving with the whole body, becoming more mindful of the needs of others in their church, the ecclesia will be closer to what it was meant to be after this crisis than it was before. More of the Body of Christ using their gifts for the good of others, not less, more people feeling connected and cared for, not less, and more people invited into the Kingdom and folded into the body of Christ because they went online looking for some encouraging content to consume, but instead found a community of people ready, willing and able to use digital connection as a bridge to real-life connection and companioning.

2 nd , the choice between walking down the road to virtual church or distributed church is a choice being made right now, this minute.

As you are thinking and planning (and hopefully praying about) what you are planning for the next few weekends, the question is not “How do we do everything we normally do on Sundays in the same way we normally do it- just digitally and with increasing excellence?” The real question should be “What opportunities does this crisis and this medium, in particular, offer our church for growing deeper and broader? What does the Spirit want to do in us during this time?” One thing I’m fairly certain God is uninterested in doing is making you into a fantastic producer of digital church service shows for people to passively consume.

In fact, my prayer during this time is that God will use this crisis in North America to break us of our consumerism, to deepen our hunger for real connection, to disperse more and more of the Church from mega-gatherings of people there for religious goods and services to smaller groups of Christians, equipped by their leaders, blessed and sent to do the work of ministry themselves in their particular contexts of neighborhood, schools, and work.

3 rd , understand that when life begins to go back to normal, people will be back at work long before they are “back at” church.

My suspicion is that restriction of gatherings of 50+, 100+, 1000+ will continue for a while as we deal with waves of infection rising and falling. That means that the future of the church (at least in the near term) is found in distributing itself, not in creating clever workarounds for a couple of weeks until we can get back in the building.

Many churches will not survive the coming months . That’s a harsh reality we’re going to have to deal with. The ones who don’t aren’t necessarily big or small, young or old. They are the churches for whom the Sunday gathering is the irreducible minimum without which they cannot survive. I suspect the churches that do survive are the ones who right now are ramping up their equipping efforts, not their production values. They are driving hard toward a vision of a distributed church, where they may gather to worship together (digitally or otherwise), but everyone knows the majority of the work of ministry is happening throughout the week, because discipleship and nothing else, is their highest value.

Churches that focus on digital excellence and producing a virtual version of their Sunday gathering will find only fewer people in the seats when they are able to reopen their doors, because they’ve shown people a more comfortable alternative to getting up and getting dressed on Sunday morning- a way to “get their church on” without leaving home, speaking to another person, or being asked to serve in any meaningful way.

But, churches that focus on becoming more distributed during this time will find themselves with new life after this crisis is over- fresh expressions of church being birthed out of the connections that have been made, by the people who have been encouraged to step up and lead out in ministry to others, in places that will be open to smaller gatherings long before mega-churches are able to reopen.

Becoming a Distributed Church: Why It’s Worth the Shift

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 17:19:00 GMT

If the government restricted your church from gathering each Sunday, what would your church look like?

If your church was unable to gather in groups larger than 50, or even 10, what would your church look like? And how would it shape the way you think about your church in how it joins God’s mission?

Over the past several years I’ve posed these hypothetical questions to numerous groups of church leaders. In light of the COVID-19 global pandemic, these questions are no longer hypothetical; they are our new reality, whether we like it or not.

As we’ve already felt – and will continue to feel for quite some time – the myriad effects of the coronavirus, the Church is in unprecedented times. How shall we respond? Despite the difficulties, uncertainties, and setbacks this has brought (and will continue to bring) to our global village, there are many reasons for hope as we think about what localized distributed expressions and extensions of the Church could look like.

But this will necessitate an un-learning and relearning, which will require large doses of wisdom, courage, and compassion. American futurist Alvin Toffler said, “The illiterate of the 21 ^st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”And so, it is with courage that we must lean into these unprecedented times by being prepared and ready, while also remaining full of hope and expectancy for the Spirit to work. And it is our calling to follow that Spirit.

How do distributed churches think and act?

This new reality created by the virus won’t go away in a few weeks. Eventually, we will leave our homes freely, our children will go back to school, and we will once again worship in the flesh. But the economic, psychological, social and ecclesial shifts will be felt for months, years, maybe even decades. Therefore, we can no longer afford to think about the future with the same mental models that worked in our past. With our churches, leaders must think and act less like centralized hubs and more like networks, a distributed web of God’s people.

When I work with pastors and church leaders I often ask them if they would pass the Bread Truck Test.

Here’s the test:

If the senior leader of your church was hit by a bread truck and died, what would happen to the church? Would the church fold because everything depends upon the leader at the top or are people already empowered to lead and confident to step up and lead in his or her absence?

It certainly sounds a bit morbid, but it’s quite helpful for leaders to diagnose if their churches are centralized or distributed. Distributed churches embrace the power of the Spirit which resides in each believer, not just the seminary trained or denominationally ordained.

In addition to passing the Bread Truck Test, leaders of healthy distributed churches create cultures which emphasize and embrace four essential elements:

More specifically there are four values healthy distributed churches possess:

[1] Distributed churches are known for their seating capacity, but are known even more for their sending capacity.

Churches committed to being distributed realize, like we’ve all felt in the time of “social distancing”, the power and need for gathering together. But they also realize that an approach that only involves a strategy for gathering together is anemic and ineffective in the new reality.

In doing so, distributed churches take up the mantle of responsibility to challenge each individual in their congregation to think strategically about their own sphere of influence. The Greek word for sphere of influence, network of relationships or friends and family is oikos. In Mark chapter 5, in the dramatic story of the demoniac and the drowned pigs, we see the once-crazed man in his right mind asking Jesus if he can travel with him from the Eastern (Greek) side of the lake over to the Western (Jewish) side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus denies the man’s request – not because Jesus is being mean, but because he is being strategic. Jesus knew the man was already deeply rooted in his Greek oikos – his set of social norms and relational networks which included Greek language, customs, rituals, food, and values quite different from the Jewish context on the other side of the lake. Jesus told him, “Go back to your [ oikos ] and tell them all the things the Lord has done for you and the mercy he’s had on you” (verse 19).

The sane man, who now possessed a dramatic redemption story, returns to his social network and tells them what Jesus had done for him. It says the people were amazed (verse 20). A few pages later in our Bibles we read that when Jesus returned to the Eastern side of the lake, he was mobbed like a rock star. Why? Because the man did what Jesus told him to do within and among his oikos . In much the same way, we must see the importance of helping people identify, embrace and love those in their unique spheres of influence and already existing relational networks.

Sociologists say that we live in five “neighborhoods: familial (our extended blood relatives), geographic (our literal neighbors in close proximity to where we live), relational (our friends and acquaintances), digital (our online relationships and social media friends and followers) and phychographical (those with whom we share similar interests, affinities, and passions – think of Mac users, runners, young moms or those who do CrossFit). Each one of us lives in five neighborhoods; these collective neighborhoods are each person’s oikos.

Distributed churches help people see their geographic neighborhoods as a place for them to be missionaries cleverly disguised as good neighbors, thinking with a kingdom mindset in all five of their neighborhoods.

Here’s a simple exercise pastors can engage in: take out a map and plot out where everyone in your church lives. Then have them gather regularly in these spaces asking the Spirit to show them how they might tend to the presence of Christ there.

Another simple exercise: encourage everyone in your church to open their front door, step out onto their porch or front stoop and look around. For all the homes they can see from that physical vantage point, challenge them to see themselves as missionaries to those people. Challenge them to pray regularly for the neighbors who live in the homes they can see, check in with their neighbors regularly, prayer-walk their neighborhood, and look for simple, practical ways to serve. Encourage them to start small – with what is literally right outside their front door.

Resources:

[2] Distributed churches understand the value of structure, yet realize that the structure must always submit to the Spirit.

Distributed churches think carefully, courageously, and strategically about how to structure for mission . Structure is not inherently bad; but too much – or too little – structure can have detrimental effects on your church’s ability to join in God’s mission. Churches with too much structure are clunky, bloated and unable to move with flexibility and creativity. Churches with too little structure cause frustration and inefficiencies that leave people confused, annoyed, disheartened and oftentimes paralyzed.

Just as the skeletal structure of the human body exists for support, alignment, and movement, so too the structure of churches exists to provide support, alignment and movement as the Spirit directs. But the skeletal structure involves both bones and cartilage. Bones are set and hard, but cartilage provides much needed structure, support, shape and contour, it also provides flexibility. Distributed churches include bone structure and cartilage structure in their church bodies.

This will, as stated earlier, require uncomfortable unlearning, including how we think about our buildings, paid staff, budgets, and where and how our people spend their time. Additionally, it requires we rethink carefully our metrics of “success” in the days ahead. How your church defines success will define your church. Despite the intestinal fortitude required in this new ecclesial and missional reality, if we are willing to dream, pray, implement, and operate more like a network than a centralized entity, we can structure for mission and movement with flexibility, fluidity, and creativity.

Resources:

[3] Distributed churches empower their people to live as pipes, not buckets.

Distributed churches have a strong, clear and robust plumbing theology. What flows into a bucket, of course, stays in a bucket; but what flows into a pipe flows out of a pipe. We talk often at our church about embracing our call to be pipes, not buckets – that what flows to us is something we, in turn, pass on to others. As leaders of DC’s we must think about equipping, empowering and unleashing leaders in our churches – right now. Leaders: look for the outliers, the dreamers, the kingdom renegades in your midst. They are there if you truly look for them.

Idea 1: challenge every Christian in your church to think hyper-locally and to serve as a neighborhood (or block) captain.

This involves taking healthy ownership and responsibility for your neighbors, as we looked at earlier. Checking in with neighbors regularly, asking what their needs may be, and keeping them appropriately informed with the needs of others in the neighborhood. Captains offer to lend a listening ear, to pray, to help. No one has to be certified to be a neighborhood captain. No one has to have education. No credentialing is required. All it takes is people raising their hands and saying, “I’ll do it.”

Idea 2: Entrust a handful of neighborhood captains with a small budget and challenge them to dream, brainstorm, and initiate some neighborhood “kingdom experiments.”

Consider giving captains some financial resources with four perimeters. Their kingdom experiments must:

Pastors and leaders: let your people dream. Don’t try to control them, censor them or shoot down their ideas. Just be patient and see what creativity emerges and what stories arise from these mission-oriented kingdom experiments.

Idea 3: Develop asset-based thinking and conversations

Resources:

[4] Distributed churches are aware of and courageously embrace tensions that exist in a missional orientation.

Three significant tensions come to mind:

First, distributed churches understand and implement the value of different size communities.

In the 1960’s American anthropologist Edward T. Hall, in his book The Hidden Dimension, outlined the four spaces of human interaction: public, social, personal, and intimate. Hall defined the literal distance between people in those spaces.

Hall’s work formed the foundation of what is called ‘proxemics,’ the field of study focused on how physical space impacts communication and culture. Joseph Myers keenly noted in his book The Search to Belong that this also impacts community. A distributed church feels the tension of the value each space plays into healthy human interaction and the way church can be structured incarnationally.

Second, distributed churches navigate the fruitful use of technology while also understanding its limitations.

We’ve already witnessed several creative expressions of church that have emerged online because of the social distancing, quarantines and lockdowns. While incarnational, flesh-and-blood church is preferred, digital expressions of church have emerged for meaningful places of connection and ministry. But these creative elements and utilization of technology can be in play long after the required quarantines are over – but with careful and critical discussion and discernment, as nothing is as significant or meaningful as flesh-and-blood incarnational ministry.

And third, distributed churches honor their past, but look courageously, creatively and expectantly to the future.

Our church heritage is rich and stories and can provide meaningful contours of our individual and collective identities. But we must realize that when it comes to God’s mission, the future of our churches is more important than our past. As leaders of DC’s we must graciously and boldly help our people see that the way they’ve always done ministry in the past in all likelihood won’t apply to the way it will be done in the future.

This is a difficult task, as it requires people wrestling with their own ecclesial idols of comfort, preference, certainty and convenience. It was Dallas Willard who said, “The seven deadly words of the church are, ‘We’ve never done it that way before.’” We can – and must – help our congregations name and grieve the loss of those treasured old ways we’ve done ministry. But also, we can – and must – help our people unlearn old ways of church and then help them rethink ministry and mission with a theological conviction and missiological vision that engages with where our culture is and where it will be. Yes, we can expect it will be messy and uncomfortable. We must remember that it is in these spaces of uncertainty and instability where the Church has always been at her best. Because where there is mission there is always mess.

Resources:

Dreaming and embracing a vision for a distributed church is not pursued out of a reactionary posture to a global pandemic. It’s not pursued out of fear to dwindling numbers of church members. It is not pursued because of a desire to be on the cutting edge, relevant, or innovative.

This is what being a distributed church is really about, whether in crisis or calm.

Leader Profile: Adam Avery

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 14:39:00 GMT

Adam Avery is one of the Pastors at Church At the Well in Burlington, VT. Asie from having been once punched in the arm by Bernie Sanders, he’s also the newest member of the Ecclesia Board.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

All of New England has a strong “town hall” vibe to it. Slow is valued here because anything worthwhile will take time and need to be talked out and walked out. It’s a fun contest for ministry because it’s interactive and very thoughtful. When people decide to follow Jesus here, it’s legit. They’ve taken the time to process it and think it through and when they’re ready, they’re ready.

How would you describe the journey of pastoring Church At the Well? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

So many milestones and monuments have been built over the 11 years I’ve been here. The one we’re celebrating most these days is financial sustainability and increased staffing. We’ve done so much with so little for so long that we’re blown away at God’s provision during this current season. It’s been 10 years in the making and God has been faithful at every turn.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started Church At the Well?

I wish I had known that God is never in a hurry and it’s ok for a church to go 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Owning that from the get-go would have been extremely helpful. Losing & finding new worship space, saying goodbye to friends who moved away, financial ups and downs, seasons of transition, etc. are all part of the dance called ministry. It isn’t a comfortable dance to learn, but when you figure it out it feels more graceful than it used to.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

Team ministry and collaboration. I always believed in it conceptually, but I’m sold on it through and through now. Plurality of leadership is tricky at times but well worth it.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

Ha! Almost everything! We’re constantly debriefing and tweaking things around here. One of our mantras is that structure must submit to spirit, so we even rework and rethink the things that are working!

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

Not asking for help. There have been numerous occasions when Ian, Abby and I (staff pastors) have stepped into roles and responsibilities that we should have invited others into instead of taking them on ourselves. We’ve succumbed to micro-managing on more than one occasion and have learned that it robs us and our community of opportunities to serve God and others faithfully. Paying your taxes hurts a little, but it builds infrastructure and more opportunities for growth and discipleship.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

How important consistent communication is. Sometimes I fall prey to the notion that if it’s clear in my own head and I’ve talked about it once or twice, everyone else is right there with me. “Town Hall meetings are valuable and worth the time, Adam” – that’s what God has been saying.

What do you dream/hope/pray Church At the Well looks like in five years?

We’re praying that Church At the Well will become more of a place (we’re currently renting space only on Sunday morning and want more of a physical presence) and a community where people are invited to practice the way of Jesus with us and thirst for the life that he alone can give.

A Thought at the Beginning of Lent: She, Out of Her Poverty, Gave

Wed, 26 Feb 2020 05:56:00 GMT

“Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.'”

I was remembering recently a time when, years ago, during a group lectio divina meditation on this Scripture, the line the Holy Spirit highlighted for me was this: “She, out of her poverty…”

As we sat with this passage, the question that came up for me was “Where is MY poverty?… And what would it look like to give out of it?”

I suspect that too often, in our context, we are overly-focused on giftedness. We want people to know their gifts (and ours) and, in a sense, to operate out of their “riches.” When it becomes clear that someone is good at something, or has resources in a particular area, we want them to begin serving, giving, worshiping God with that . And so the musician who plays well is encouraged to play for God. When it becomes clear someone can speak and communicate well, we encourage her to use that gift for God and for us. The good graphic designer is pressed into using that gift for the community, the natural leader to lead, the one with the gift of hospitality to be hospitable. And there’s nothing wrong with that. God has given those gifts to us for a reason.

But giving out of our gifts, out of the riches of what we do well and willingly is easy. Maybe too easy , in many ways.

In sitting with the question of where my poverty lies, I realized- we all have areas within ourselves of relative riches and relative poverty. And God wants it all. He created us, bought us at great cost to Himself, and desires that we give to Him our whole selves- that our worship of, devotion to, service of Him be wholistic .

But I wonder if, like us, God tends to smile at certain gifts more than others- not that He doesn’t take delight in all service, all worship honestly given, but…
In the same way we value the hand-made gift, the hand-written note, the thing that shows effort and thought, I wonder if God sees gifts given out of our riches a little differently than gifts given out of our poverty? The easy gift of operating out of our strength vs the harder gift of having to dig deep into our less-comfortable and less competent places.

For me I know I am very comfortable in certain areas of ministry and less so in others.

And as I sat, meditating on this, I became convinced that God wants me to worship Him not simply out of my surplus- to give to Him what costs me little because I have so much of it, or am good at it. He does want those things- but perhaps what is more worshipful of Him, more forming for me, and ultimately maybe even better for others is when I take stock of the areas where I am poor and decide to give God everything I have there- to step out, and as an act of worship, do what is less comfortable, less likely to end with the positive ego-enhancing feedback we all so love.

God, this Lenten season, may I learn to value my poverty more than my giftedness- my weakness more than my strength. Because it is in my weakness that Your strength and grace are shown and bring me to maturity.

Leader Profile: Dustin Bagby

Wed, 05 Feb 2020 19:29:00 GMT

Dustin Bagby co-pastors the Evergreen Community in Portland, OR (with Luisa Gallagher). He has an M.Div from Western Seminary in Portland, and a B.A. in Preaching and Bible from Lincoln Christian University in Lincoln, Illinois. Dustin is married to Kelli, and they have two boys; Gram and Owen, and daughter Rose.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

How would you describe the journey of pastoring Evergreen? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

I’ve been at Evergreen for 13 years so there have been a lot of different seasons. It’s been exciting to be a part of a church that has been a healing place for so many people in the “formerly Christian” camp as well as people experiencing Jesus for the first time.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started at Evergreen?

I’m not sure it’s as much about what I wish I would have known as much as who I wish I would have been. Certainly, we can’t become that person without a lot of experience and difficulties getting there, but to have been introduced to some works like Edwin Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve and the concepts that come with it earlier would have been VERY helpful.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

I think one of the key things we’ve tried that has worked well and has always been appreciated is leaving space for dialogue on Sundays as well as other environments where people can share honestly. It’s in that sharing where people realize that we’re not encouraging people to fake life or pretend everything is okay all the time. That honesty and authenticity have gone a long way in people realizing their need for Jesus and being able to encourage one another and care for each other.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework? What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

It seems like God has revealed lately a root of some of the challenges we’re experiencing right now. In an increasingly polarized and divisive time, it is very hard to continue to try to bridge the middle and be a church where conservatives and progressives are worshipping together as family. We’re encouraged to “take sides.” At Evergreen we are encouraging people to take Jesus’ side- who critiques both conservatives and progressives in deep ways. In Portland, sadly even amongst those who would call themselves Christ-followers, that is not a popular option.

What do you dream/hope/pray Evergreen looks like in five years?

In five years, I pray that Evergreen is a church community that has realized its potential for inviting and welcoming more people into the life of the family of God. I think a lot more formerly churched and unchurched people could meet Jesus, heal, and really thrive in our community if we continue to invite friends and neighbors into relationship with God and Evergreen.

Equipped for the Future

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 20:40:00 GMT

I’ve been involved in the Ecclesia Network for about 11 or so years now. Something that sometimes happens is that I’ll meet someone who tells me something I taught at a Genesis training, or in one of the Spiritual Formation days I’ve done, or written in a book, a blog or an article really contributed to their ministry or their personal formation in a significant way. I hear this as more of a statement about the value of belonging to a network of leaders that contribute to one another more than as a statement about the value of what I personally bring. Throughout the last 11 years I was focused on planting and growing a church in Portland, OR. But beyond that, because of Ecclesia , I’ve had the opportunity to impact people and places across the nation. As the saying goes, because of Ecclesia relationships, “my fruit has grown on other people’s trees.”

Over this last season, I’ve been heartened to see how many people are leaning in with our network, not just to take part, but to actively contribute to the lives and ministries of others. It’s the goal of our Network to partner with, equip and multiply missional church communities and leaders. And much like a local church community, what this doesn’t mean is that it’s the job of the staff to partner with, equip and multiply… What it does mean is that everyone , every community that’s a part of this network has a role to play. YOU have a role to play.

As our network continues to expand and grow, my personal dream as Director of Equipping and Spiritual Formation is not just that we’ll be able to offer more and more avenues to equip leaders within (and beyond!) Ecclesia, but that more and more of you would grab hold of the opportunities inherent in a relational network and find the joy of not only following God in your local ministry context, but also what it means to walk alongside others in our network and own the task of partnering, equipping and multiplying.

To that end, here are some of the big dreams I sense God forming for the next season in our network:

Big Dream #1: Equipping for more stages of ministry life

We’ve done, I think, a pretty phenomenal job of making sure that someone who is in their first 3 years of church planting and pastoring has access to some amazing equipping, coaching and more. We know what it looks like for pastors and churches in year 3… but what about year 5? Year 10? Year 15. Over this next season we need to be thinking and praying about what it looks like to partner with and equip leaders and churches in those seasons of life and beyond.

Big Dream #2: Broader and deeper connections

Our Leaders Circles continue to be one of the best ways for people in our network to connect with one another- whether it’s new church planters, more seasoned leaders, spouses of church planters, worship leaders- we’re continuing to push out broader and broader in the numbers and kinds of leaders we are able to connect relationally. We’d love to see that continue to expand to cover those engaged in various kinds of ministry in our network churches- children and youth, discipleship/formation, associate pastors, those leading men’s/women’s ministry. Wherever there would be benefit in leaders supporting each other and sharing resources and encouragement, we want to work (for you and with you) toward that.

Big Dream #3: Walking with YOU, come what may

5 years, 10 years, 15 years in… Ecclesia isn’t just for those in the initial stages of planting. As J.R. said in his update- ministry can be lonely and it can be hard, regardless of what stage you find yourself in. We know you desire for your church community to be a “family on mission” together. We dream of our network being that same thing- leaders and communities, one relational family, on mission together over the span of years and years. Praying for one another, encouraging one another, cheering each other on, and contributing in significant ways to what God is doing in each others’ lives and contexts.

Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?

The Spiritual Discipline of Remembering

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 20:34:00 GMT

A few months ago I was leading a small group and explained the theme of the book of Deuteronomy. If one could summarize the entire book into just one word it would be: remember. Before entering the Promised Land, Moses wanted to remind the people of Israel of God’s faithfulness and His command that they remind faithful to this Faithful God. God’s lovingkindness was clearly seen all throughout Israel’s story; before a new chapter was about to be written, Moses wanted to make sure the people did not forget God and His call in His people.

This idea of remembering God’s faithfulness in each season has been – and continues to be – crucial for God’s people because we are quite forgetful people. We forget important formative moments in our lives and in the stories of our churches. As I reflect back on the past year in our network, I have certainly learned new lessons; but what has been most significant has come by way of reminders of what I already know (but, on occasion, had somehow forgotten). Three particular reminders stick out to me from the past year.

Reminder #1: Ministry is difficult. We’ve walked with leaders, pastors and elder teams through some difficult situations this year. Sometimes ministry hardships are unfathomable. There are moments I’ve shaken my head and thought, “You can’t make up this stuff!” The Evil One is real and he can be quite strategic at times. There’s not a single pastor I’ve ever met whose pastored for more a few years who hasn’t told me being a pastor is hard. Yes, as if I needed the reminder, ministry is difficult. Excruciatingly difficult.

Reminder #2: If we try to take the ministry journey by ourselves, it can be toxic and harrowing lonely. We know, of course, community is important. We preach series on it in our churches. We write this as one of the core values on our websites. It’s so important we just can’t get away from it. It’s crucial not just to churches, but also for pastors and leaders, too. In October, as I led a few sessions at this year’s Genesis Church Planter Training Week in McCall, Idaho, I reflected upon the friendships that were first forged with other planters a dozen years ago at Ecclesia’s first-ever Genesis week in Richmond, VA. And I have told numerous potential Ecclesia member churches and pastors, “I shiver to think where I would be today without these friendships and relationships in my life.”

Reminder #3: Perseverance and steadfastness is way forward. Although ministry is hard – and it can feel deeply lonely at times – I was reminded it’s also worth the effort. But the effort comes not through flash-in-the-pan gimmicks or instant success changes. It’s about the faithful plodding, week in and week out. Faithfulness is not about quick and easy jumps to the top. It’s a marathon – and what is needed is a gutsy resoluteness to not give up. It is the long-view perspective is keeps me us all in ministry.

These reminders are not brilliant lessons; they are what we already know, but often forget.

Ministry is hard. It’s can’t be taken alone. It’s a marathon that involves perseverance and steadfastness to the cause of Christ. These are nothing fancy, nothing sexy. But it is the call of Jesus on our lives and in our ministries. Which makes me all the more grateful for our network, which values, affirms and reminds me of these important truths often.

From the National Director: Our National Gathering, 2020

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 20:29:00 GMT

This year, we made the decision to move our time together out of the Mid-Atlantic and into the balmy January temperatures of Florida. For us, this represents the steady growth […]

Are You Doing What You Should Be Doing?

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 18:59:00 GMT

When we first start off in ministry, whether as an intern, a youth pastor, or an associate, our ministry duties mostly consist of what other people give us to do and things we have to do because they are in our job description or because there’s no one else to do them, irrespective of whether we enjoy those things or are even good at them.

And if we’re not careful, that pattern can persist throughout our ministry “career.” Doing what we do because it’s expected of us, because there’s seemingly no one else who can or will do those things, and precious little time and attention given to the pieces of ministry we actually love.

This passive stance towards our own job descriptions leads to burn out, dejection, and pastors who either quit… or wish they could.

But freeing ourselves from the hamster-wheel of duty and expectations and embarking on the journey of moving our job descriptions towards what we are good at and passionate about is easier than you might think.

And it all starts with identifying what you do, what you love doing, and what you are good at doing.

Take a look at the chart above. Begin to think thru all you do in the course of your ministry. What are the things you are good at? Not great at? What are the things other people could do if they were given permission or mentoring? What are the things only you can (currently) do? Draw this quadrant grid and start plotting!

Is there anything is that lower left corner? What will you do with those things? The one thing you probably shouldn’t do is keep doing them? What’s in the lower right quadrant? What steps will you take to get batter at those things? Spend some time thinking and praying about how to get better here- what classes (online or local) can you take, books can you read, mentors or coaches can you enlist?

Now do the same with the grid above. What pieces of ministry do you LOVE? Which would you never do again if you could avoid it? Plot it all.

Now, put your results together. What are you good at AND passionate about doing? What should you be working towards getting off your plate? And…

What would the IDEAL future job description look like? What conversations with staff, elders or others do you need to have to move closer to this? What would you ADD if only you had time? What can you give away to MAKE that time? What do you LOVE doing, but need to get more skillful at? And how can you grow in those things?

Doing this exercise as a Lead Pastor with 10-15 years under her/his belt will look different than doing it as a first year associate. When we start out we have little power to shape our jobs- but we can identify what we love doing, what we need help in learning how to do better and what we could give away. Later, as we gain experience and seniority, and with it, the freedom to choose more and more what we will do and what we won’t, intentionality and being honest about what we are good at, could get better at and is worth our time getting better at, and what we can and should just give away will help us make it for the long haul.

Do yourself (and those working with and/or for you) a favor and spend some time thinking about what you are doing, what you could stop doing and where you could grow.

Leader Profile: Eric Scwartz

Wed, 08 Jan 2020 20:36:00 GMT

Eric Schwartz serves as the pastor at The Gate Community Church in Bethlehem, PA. He and his wife, Maria, have been married for over 19 years and have 2 beautiful daughters. They both have a passion to make disciples for Jesus Christ. Pastor Eric has worked as a youth pastor, young adult pastor, and discipleship ministries pastor at House on the Rock Family Church for 7.5 years before obeying God’s call to plant a church. He is also a graduate of Moravian College with a B.A. in religion, and is also currently enrolled in Moravian Theological Seminary, pursuing a Master’s in Theological Studies. Pastor Eric’s desire is for all people to come to know their Creator in an intimate and authentic way.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Urban.

How would you describe the journey of pastoring the Gate Community Church? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

Seeing the community of loving and gracious individuals God has brought together has been the highlight and joy in my time as The Gate’s pastor.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started the Gate Community Church?

It’s ok to not know what you’re doing, because I still don’t. ?

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

Creating a format of open discussion during Sunday morning sermons where’s it not just me speaking the whole time. I am also super proud of what we call Deep Cuts. It is a series of bible studies where we discuss some of the deeper and more theologically controversial issues which the church at large is facing.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

A youth group. Yeah, we haven’t made that work yet.

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

With our open discussion format I learned the hard way not everyone likes to speak or be put on the spot.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

I’m re-learning what it really means to trust in Him.

What do you dream/hope/pray the Gate Community Church looks like in five years?

I pray we can reach more of the church Nones, Dones, almost Dones.

Disappointment and Christmas

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 20:59:00 GMT

Christmas is nearly here. And with it, for many people, the “Post-Christmas Letdown.”

Some of the strongest memories I have are of the two sides of Christmas- the first side being the anticipation- looking at all the gifts under the tree, wondering what could be in them, sneaking out early on Christmas morning to raid my stocking and shake presents trying to make a mental tally of the heavy ones which probably had something cool in them and the light ones that were more likely to be underwear or socks or something else that was so NOT a Christmas-y gift, but would get wrapped up anyway just to “up” the present count.

I loved it, and even though it was hard when I was younger, as I got older I eventually even learned to love stringing out the anticipation by stringing out the opening of presents. Some years it seemed to last most of the day- none of the everyone-tear-in-and-get-’em-opened-in-15-minutes-or-less stuff. Of course, I could never last quite as long as everyone else. So often, my grandparents would still be opening their last presents after dessert, at 7, 8 o’clock at night, while I just watched.

And that’s the second feeling I remember- not quite as nice as the first. The feeling, when it was all over of.. That’s all? That was pretty cool, but…

Anticipation. Disappointment. And if the disappointment didn’t come right away, it came eventually. As an only child, I almost ALWAYS got what I wanted, and more. But all of those things I was sure would complete me, make me into the kid I dreamed of being… all those things seemed a little less vital, a little more chintzy a day, a week, a month later.

What does that disappointment year after year, when we got what we wanted but then realized it was not quite as meaningful as maybe we thought- what does that tell us ?

Something crucial.

There’s a story in the Gospel of Luke where Mary and Joseph take the newborn Jesus to the Temple for dedication. It says

At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

“Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
as you have promised. -Luke 2:27-29

What would it take to get you to say, “ Now , I can die in peace”?

Simeon had been waiting his whole life just to catch a glimpse of the salvation that God was sending- talk about anticipation. And when it came, he knew. He knew- this was it- the real thing .

I have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared for all people.
He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!” -Luke 2:30-32

I love that for Simeon, all the waiting, all the anticipation actually paid off . Why? Because he was waiting for the right thing .

All his waiting had led him to Jesus.

For us, at this time of year- disappointment is found mainly in two places- when we don’t get what we want- when things don’t turn out the way we had hoped- and when they do , and we’re still not quite satisfied, not quite happy, not quite filled.

Let me tell you two stories.

My dad died about a few years ago. We had a real rocky history- more of a non-history, really- He just wasn’t around. And he died and I never got what I wanted from him. That had always been a huge disappointment, a source of anger and discontent for me. I needed my dad and my dad was never there.

So, what do you do with something like that? It seems you can either let it make you more and more angry or sad, which will destroy you, especially after any hope that the situation might change is gone. You can just “get over it” which in some ways is to say “pretend it doesn’t bother you.”

Or… you can allow that kind of disappointment to point you towards something better.

Awhile after he died, I was meeting over breakfast with some guys I had breakfast with every couple of weeks, and I found myself feeling the craziest thing: gratitude for my dad.

We were talking about various things God was doing, pushing or pulling us toward, and one guy was mentioning how grateful he was for having a wonderful dad. He loved his dad and tried to look past the one or two little things that really bothered him about their relationship because he knew his dad cared. But still, there were these one or two things that felt something like a wound…

As we talked about those one or two little things, my only thought, and what came out of my mouth was this: Well, thank God your dad isn’t perfect. Because if he was, you wouldn’t have needed Jesus.

It was a revelation to me when in High School someone told me my view of God was likely very much shaped by my view of my father. While the correlation wasn’t perfect, I could certainly see some of the ways it was true.

We get angry when our parents fail us, or when our dad isn’t the loving, gracious, patient (fill in the adjective) father we want. We get even more angry when we realize they were meant to be a certain way, draw a certain picture… Our parents, and for the sake of this discussion, our fathers, are meant to point us to another Father.

But here’s the thing: more than meant to- they DO. Even the crappy ones.

They point us to God in both what they do well and in what they do poorly. They point us to him when they succeed in loving us and when they fail to.

How? How could they point us to Him even when they fail, when they disappoint us?

Because if they were perfect, did it ALL right, offered us unconditional love that was always patient, always wise, always nurturing and building into us… well, I guess we wouldn’t need God, right?

We’d be satisfied with that guy over there in the Lay-Z-Boy and completely miss the God of the Universe, the God who made us, pursues us, died for us. I had a choice of what to do with the disappointment left by my dad- and here’s what I chose: to be thankful for a dad who didn’t get much right (and that’s probably about the most generous assessment I’ve ever done of his fathering). I’m thankful because though he never pointed me to God intentionally, by his absence and indifference he drove me to lean all the more heavily on the God who is always present and never indifferent- the God who loves me, like the Psalmist says, with an everlasting love.

I realize that may be an odd way to appreciate my dad, but it’s the truth. The disappointment he left me pointed me to something even better. And if that’s ALL my dad ever did for me, I think it’s enough.

But sometimes- the problem isn’t that we don’t get what we want. It’s that we do- and it’s still not enough.

A few years ago I was living in the Netherlands, working as an associate pastor- doing mainly youth and worship and I had youth group at my house on Wednesday nights. I’d have 25, 30 kids in my house each Wednesday night, pack the place out, do a lot of crazy stuff, eat, sing, pray- it was a good time. And each week, after everyone would leave, I would spiral into a deep depression- some weeks actually crying. I had a house full of people- a ministry where kids were showing up, connecting to Jesus… and yet after each and every week I would nearly break down.

It took me awhile to figure out why that was. I was really lonely while I was there. I was about 27, 28 and the whole church consisted of people aged 0-18 and late thirties on up. I was in this gap with ten years on either side of me, not married, in a foreign country… and I started to look forward to filling my house with people. Not because I wanted to help these kids know more about Jesus, though I DID want that- but more and more I realized, I wasn’t trying to fill my house, but my soul- something was missing and I was asking these kids to fill in me a social and spiritual need that they just couldn’t. And the real tragedy is, I feel like because of that, I actually missed out on simply enjoying what was . They were great kids, it was a great time of ministry… but I was asking it to do something for me it couldn’t. And it wasn’t until I began to look somewhere besides people for that sense of love and affirmation, that I was even able even to begin to relate to people in the right way.

Our problem isn’t so much that we don’t get what we want- especially around the holidays- we often do! It’s just that we ask those things to do for us what they simply can’t. And so we’re disappointed again, and again, and again. We hope that this year will be different- that the family dinner will be perfect, that the opening of presents will be just so, that everyone will love exactly what we got them, no one will fight… and what we find is that it rarely happens exactly that way and we’re disappointed.

Or worse, it happens exactly that way and still, somehow, it’s not quite enough…

Simeon was satisfied, because he was looking to and for the right thing.

But before you think he was just a wild-eyed dreamer, look again. He was pretty realistic about the trouble this Savior would bring. Look what he said next.

Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”- Luke 2:33-35

Simeon prophesied that Jesus would have a confrontational effect on the world around Him. He’d cause many to fall, but would be a joy to others. Sent as a sign from God, and yet… opposed. Like so much in life, how Jesus impacts you depends on how you take Him. And as a result of that dynamic, we can say along with Simeon that Jesus reveals the deepest thoughts of our hearts. How?

Just by showing up. Just by being the presence of God to us, the salvation that God has been promising since the beginning. Christmas… Christ , reveals the deepest thoughts of our hearts by breaking into our world and claiming our allegiance. By saying: Here is salvation, and nowhere else. Not in your family, your job or career, your artistic pursuits, not in your 401k. Not in getting what you want, no matter how good what you want may be.

I love that for Simeon, who had waited all his life, Advent was no disappointment. Why? Because it revealed the deepest thoughts, hopes, dreams, and aspirations of his heart. And that heart was set on something real, something deep- something that wouldn’t disappoint. What He was waiting for was Jesus. And Jesus is who showed up.

What’s the deepest part of you? What do you worship? What do you rest all your hopes of happiness and fulfillment on?

Jesus, as the angels sang, the Savior, Christ the LORD, by showing up and claiming our worship, reveals where we place that worship, what our hearts are resting on.

And no matter what it is we put our hearts on, it will always come up short. Just try it. Try looking to your spouse to make you happy. Your kids. Your anything… anything but Him. Whatever it is, no matter how great, just like unwrapping that thing we so thought we wanted, when we actually get it, we find, it doesn’t do quite all we had hoped it would do for us. No- nothing wrong with family, job, career, 401k… But don’t ask it to do for you what only Jesus can.

Satisfy.

Bring lasting peace…. Save you.

Every year we have in Christmas a beautiful reminder: A reminder that God has shown up on the scene, become Immanuel , God With Us, to be our salvation, our peace, our joy. AND a built in-reminder when we stare at the pile of torn wrapping paper and presents we’re thinking about returning… that nothing else can fill that place for us.

So- this year- enjoy Christmas. Enjoy the presents, the family, all the trappings of the Season. There’s nothing wrong with that. But remember- when you inevitably feel a twinge when it’s not exactly like you hoped it would be, when even should you get everything on your list, you find that there’s still something missing, something not quite there … that is, in a sense, Christmas doing its best possible work : Pointing you to your need for something deeper, pointing out where you are putting your hopes for happiness, on people, on presents and things, and pointing you towards something, Some one , that truly can bring peace, Jesus.

Advent Can Be One of the Hardest Seasons for Pastors…

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 23:21:00 GMT

Advent can be a particularly challenging season for church planters and pastors in younger churches.

I remember the first few years of our church plant, Advent was a season of decreased attendance- most of the people in our church were younger and would either travel to be with family over the holidays or head to church with their parents. Advent always left me wondering where everyone had gone.

As we got older, more and more people began to stick around for the Holidays, and even bring family and friends. That was great, but only increased the pressure we felt to make things special.

Let’s just be frank- Advent can be exhausting. In addition to planning extra events like Christmas parties or serving the poor, Advent means being there first and probably leaving last on Christmas Eve or other special Christmas services.

What for most people is a family celebration is for many pastors an exhausting special event- work.

What all this means is that at Advent, we as ministry leaders need to take special care. Here are three things to be mindful of this season.

Have a blessed Advent this year that does in your life and heart the same things you hope and pray for others.

ENG 20: Get to Know Our Presenters- Scot McKnight

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 18:11:00 GMT

At ENG 20 Reflecting the Son , you’ll experience a mixture of traditional plenary sessions and “TED”-type talks, along with workshop options in specific tracks around theology, discipleship, leadership, and multiplication . We’re excited that Scot McKnight is joining us as a featured speaker as we seek to recover Church in the image of Christ!

Dr. Scot McKnight is a world-renowned speaker, writer, professor and equipper of the Church. He is a recognized authority on the historical Jesus, early Christianity, and the New Testament. His blog, Jesus Creed, is a leading Christian blog. A sought after speaker, he has been interviewed on several radio and television programs as well as spoken at numerous local churches, conferences, colleges, and seminaries in the United States and around the world. Scot McKnight is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies.

For more info and registration on the Ecclesia National Gathering 2020, click here !

Leader’s Profile: Matthew Shedden

Tue, 19 Nov 2019 18:57:00 GMT

Matthew Shedden grew up in the Chicago Suburbs and left at the age of 18 to attend Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. There he met his wife Kelli, and finished a degree in history before moving to Seattle to attend the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology where he received an MDiv. They then moved to rural Oregon where he worked and learned as an associate pastor for 6 years.

When given the chance to move back to Colorado they jumped at the chance to lead Defiance Church . When he’s not working or reading at the church, you’ll find him on the river fly-fishing or on the slopes skiing and enjoying the wonderful area he, Kelli and their two kids live in.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Rural (10,000)

How would you describe the journey of pastoring Defiance Church? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

Pastoring Defiance Church has been an exciting journey. After starting with 10 people and being given the charge to replant or reenergize the church we’ve tackled a lot of challenges. The congregation has been flexible and generous with new ideas and new life and we pray in continues into the future.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started at Defiance?

I wish I had know how slow it would be, how small 10,000 people really is, and that the highs don’t last long and the lows should last shorter.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

We’ve worked hard at NOT trying a lot of things. Our goal has been to keep the structure and the work of church simple. I joke that our slogan could be “Church -(or worship) we believe it works. So that’s something that’s worked really well for us.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

I think many of the missional ideas and strategies haven’t worked well because they came as programs. Now I’m trying to get back the change in disposition to life over a set of programs.

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

The biggest error I’ve made is trying to restart our leadership structure without a new structure in place. I’ve learned that as much as I take on the work of the church, I still need others around me.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

Don’t go alone and take a breath to enjoy the view.

What do you dream/hope/pray Defiance Church looks like in five years?

I’ve long looked at our church as a well instead of a community pool. So instead of being big and wide with plenty going on, we pray and hope to be drawn deeper into the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

How I Discerned The Call To Plant A New Church

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 19:20:00 GMT

Kevin and Brooke Fontenot were part of our October 2019 Genesis Church Planting Training in McCall, ID. Here is some of their story of being called to plant a church.

I always knew that I would plant a church. It was not a matter of if, it was a matter of when. Every time I thought about it, I figured it would probably be ten years away. All that began to change at the end of 2018.

Earlier in the year, I felt the Lord leading me to finish my bachelor’s degree. I’ll be completely honest, it was not something that I was excited about. I literally waited until the week before Fall 2018 classes began to register. I’ve always loved to learn and am a voracious reader, but have struggled with the constraints of a formal education. Yet, my decision to follow the leading of the Lord has led me down a path that was completely unexpected.

As I began to work through my classes, the Lord began speaking through the course material about church planting. It began to seem like something that was more real and a lot closer than I had ever expected. Instead of thinking about church planting as something that would happen in ten years, I began to consider it happening in the next couple of years based on how the Lord was leading.

Where To Go?

In October/November 2018, my wife Brooke and I decided to buy a house! At the time, we were renting an apartment in Carrollton, Texas where Brooke worked. We got a killer discount and knew that it was only temporary.
We began talking with our real estate agent about where in Denton we wanted to purchase a house and ended up touring three others within the next week. The home we ended up purchasing is in a fast growing area in town that is full of shopping, dining, and entertainment options that have all been added within the last few years.

We closed on our house mid-December and moved in after doing a little painting. That week was when our timeline for church planting really began to change. I began reading two books that struck me deeply The first was Richard Heitzenrater’s excellent book, Wesley and the People Called Methodists, and the second was Francis Chan’s book, Letters to the Church.

I wrote the following after reading through both books:
“Can the church be reformed from within? Our chief end cannot be numbers! We must produce quality disciples who spread the gospel of Jesus, root out sin in their lives, and are fully devoted to God. I feel God calling me to pursue this.”

This struck me so heavily that I took the next day to pray and fast as I sought the Lord for direction as I began to feel the weighty call of planting a church much sooner than expected. I began sketching out a model influenced by both John Wesley’s structure in the early days of methodism as well as a church in Houston called Church Project.

Over the next month, I was struck by what I felt the Lord calling me to do, but was still wrestling with the timing and the place. I knew that the Lord had birthed a vision in me, but I wasn’t exactly sure when and where that would happen.

In January 2019 is when I felt the Lord reveal that the reason we had moved back to Denton and that the reason we had purchased a house where we did was because he was calling us to plant a church in North Denton. So, I did what any faith-filled person would do… I started to do research on all the reasons we shouldn’t plant a church in Denton.

Getting Confirmation

As a data nerd, one of the first things that I did in my research was to find as much data as possible. What I found, was actually pretty shocking to me. The first piece of data that I came across was how much Denton had grown. In less than two decades, the population increased by about 70% from 80,537 in 2000 to over 136,000 in 2017. On average, our city added a net increase of 3,278 people per year in population.

While this was certainly compelling, it wasn’t enough to convince me that the Lord knew more than me. I began trying to uncover data related to the number of churches in town. As someone living in the Bible belt, there are seemingly innumerable churches all around. I was sure that I was going to find data showing that there are already enough churches in Denton.

Yet, what I found was that Denton ranks number 3,042 out of 3,143 counties/parishes in the United States for lowest ratios of churches to people. In other words, about 97% of all counties in the United States had a higher ratio than Denton.

Denton County averages 7 churches per 10,000 people, a statistic it shares with Providence, Rhode Island and Baltimore, Maryland. Interesting to note, Denton County does rank as one of the top 100 counties with most churches, which gives the perception of effectiveness, but is also one of the 50 largest counties by population.

Armed with this data, I recognized that the Lord did indeed know more than I did. By the end of January, I was 100% confident that God was calling us to plant in Denton and a sense that it would be within the next 18 months.

The next month and a half was spent having a lot of conversations with Brooke about what it would look like to church plant and praying through the nuts and bolts. In late February/early March we began to tell others about what the Lord was revealing and were very encouraged by the response. We were dreading a few conversations, but in every conversation we felt affirmed and encouraged in this calling.

On Easter, we publicly announced that we were planting City Church in Denton, Texas in early 2020.

Advice For Others

This is my story of sensing and confirming the Lord’s call to church planting. As I have read countless others stories, I recognize that most are different. You may be sensing the Lord’s calling and approach it completely differently than I did.

My biggest piece of advice is this: take it slow. It can be easy to want to run as fast as possible once you’ve sensed something from the Lord, but there is wisdom in going slowly and ensuring that what you are sensing is indeed from the Lord. God was faithful as we sought him to confirm what we were sensing.

Also, if there’s another piece of advice I could give it’s this: your calling doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s. We’re planting a church in a way that is different than the way most are planted. We’re intentionally continuing to work full-time jobs. We’re not planning on a big initial launch. We’re not raising a huge launch budget. We’re simply following the Lord and allowing him to direct our steps. Consulting outside resources is great and I highly recommend it, but don’t get too caught up in how everyone else is doing something so much that you listen to their advice more than what the Lord is calling YOU to do. Only you can answer the question of, “Am I called to plant a church?”

If you have any questions/comments/prayer requests, feel free to email me at kevin@trainedup.org .

Also, if you’re interested in learning more about our church plant, head over to citychurchdenton.com .

(This article originally appeared at ServeHQ . )

Leader’s Profile- Gary Alloway

Tue, 29 Oct 2019 22:34:00 GMT

Gary Alloway serves as the Pastor and Director of Mission for Redemption Church in Bristol, PA. Gary is an alumnus of Penn State and Princeton Theological Seminary. He is passionate about seeing the healing love of Christ spread throughout the world. He also loves indie rock, startup businesses, community ventures, and his family.

We recently had a chance to ask him a few questions!

How would you describe the area your church is in?

A post-industrial suburban small town.

How would you describe the journey of pastoring Redemption Church? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

When we first started, we were young, immature, and ambitious. 3 years in, we re-booted, spending the next 6 years in a house church model, which helped us develop depth, a culture of discipleship, patience, and a willingness to invest in small things, rather than try to conquer the world. House churches forced us to focus on relationships, both inside and outside the church. We re-launched our weekly gathering this past year with a whole network of local relationships to invite in, rather than just a good idea for a new ministry in Bristol.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started Redemption?

I wish I had known how slow things would go. We planted in a dying post-industrial town and expected to see growth and change right away. If I had had a more realistic expectation for the pace of change, I would not have been as discouraged in the early years and would have spent more time rejoicing over the little victories along the way.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

Community partnerships. As a small church with a small budget, there are limitations on what we can do on our own. However, when we have partnered with both individuals and community organizations, we have been able to accomplish things far beyond our scope. We have helped launch a housing non-profit, a coffee shop, and a community festival. We have worked with local businesses to host Bible studies, storytelling nights, and discussion groups. Our resources and possibilities grow tremendously when we work with others rather than only within ourselves.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

One mistake was thinking that there would be dozens of people in Bristol who were excited about a new church. In our post-industrial, post-Christendom setting, nobody was excited that we showed up. People were interested in who we were and what kind of neighbors we would be, but not what we were offering on Sundays. It has forced us to think about how we do Monday through Saturday well, not just think about Monday through Saturday as a means to enlarge Sunday.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

God continues to bring me back to the truth that it is all about discipleship. We can build a big church, but all that really matters to God is whether we are being shaped and formed to be like Christ. This the reason we exist. And if we invest in this, whether the church grows large or dies, we will be successful.

What do you dream/hope/pray Redemption looks like in five years?

I hope and pray that our church community is even more enmeshed in the life of Bristol. That we would be the salt and light not only on our main street, but in every neighborhood, on every street, in our schools, etc. I pray that even if we grow large, we wouldn’t lose sight of the fact that individuals matter to God. That we would love our neighbor, not as a concept, but instead, actually love our particular neighbor.

ENG 20: Get to Know Our Presenters- Winfield Bevins

Fri, 25 Oct 2019 21:11:00 GMT

At ENG 20 Reflecting the Son , you’ll experience a mixture of traditional plenary sessions and “TED”-type talks, along with workshop options in specific tracks around theology, discipleship, leadership, and multiplication . We’re excited that Winfield Bevins is joining us as a featured speaker as we seek to recover Church in the image of Christ!

Winfield Bevins is an author, artist, and speaker whose passion is to help others connect to the roots of the Christian faith for discipleship and mission. He is the Director of Church Planting at Asbury Theological Seminary. He frequently speaks at conferences on a variety of topics and is a regular adjunct professor at several seminaries. Having grown up in a free-church background, Winfield eventually found his spiritual home in the Anglican tradition, but freely draws wisdom from all church traditions. Having authored several books, his writings explore the convergence of liturgy, prayer, and mission. His latest book, Ever Ancient, Ever New, with Zondervan examines young adults who have embraced Christian liturgy and how it has impacted their lives. He and his wife Kay have three beautiful girls Elizabeth, Anna Belle, and Caroline and live in the Bluegrass state of Kentucky.

Find out more about him on his website !

For more info and registration on the Ecclesia National Gathering 2020, click here !

Surviving The Seven Year Slump

Thu, 10 Oct 2019 21:42:00 GMT

The question was one I’d answered countless times before… but the response to my answer was one I’d never heard.

I was speaking at a church planter’s training when Chris Backert, the National Director of the Ecclesia Network asked me “How many years has your church plant been going?” I told him we had just hit our sixth anniversary.

“Oh… Year seven in church plants is traditionally the worst.”

At the time I nodded and laughed nervously. We had recently hit a few bumps in the road so what he was saying made some sense. In retrospect, what I wish I had done was to sit down and grill him on every aspect of what I’ve come to think of as the Seven Year Slump.

Chris’s anecdotal wisdom, gained through observing countless church plants and church planting networks in his Ph.D. work proved to be exactly on the mark. In truth, year seven was hellacious for both me as a pastor and for our community. I wish we could have seen it coming. But then again, he tried to warn me, didn’t he?

For us, year seven was marked by relational breaks in the staff, people leaving, and a general malaise as we drifted unable to focus on vision or mission while we worked exhaustingly to put out fire after fire. It seemed like we had reached a point where the way we had been doing things, and doing them successfully, no longer worked.

In the midst of all that, I remembered the one other thing Chris had told me about all this. “Year seven is all about endure, endure, endure. If you can make it through, years 8-15 are generally pretty great.”

I clung to those words.

Since then I’ve seen this pattern repeated in church plant after church plant. I wouldn’t call it an absolute law, but rather a general truism: somewhere around year seven, a new church hits a place of crisis, a place where what got them there in terms of leadership skills, structure, and ways of dealing with problems no longer works.

Why does this happen?

There are a number of reasons having to do with both the pastor and the people. Generally speaking, years 1-2 are years of excitement. Even in the hard parts, there’s a novelty and a joy in working out the issues, in finding the ways that this new church will handle problems, talk about the hard parts of community and together become who they are becoming . In years 3-4 that community and its leaders are finding their footing and in years 5-6 experiencing the fruit of their work and enjoying having hit their stride.

But by year seven the cracks are showing. The leaders are tired. There are some natural churn points where people leave and year seven is one of them. In fact, it’s often the point where some of the last of the core group who helped start the church decide to move on. This can have a huge effect on both the pastors and the congregation as these folks whom everyone thought were so central to the life of the community decide to leave.

This is also often the point of pastoral burnout . Regardless of how many people are helping, the emotional and psychological toll of the previous seven years often means that at this point a pastor will feel he or she no longer has anything to give, that the well has run dry and worse, because the church has changed drastically over the last few years, the lessons and skills learned at the beginning no longer seem adequate to take the community forward.

Year seven is where the impatience and unrealistic expectations of a community are often revealed – we thought we’d be farther along, better able to handle problems… more mature as a community. Even harder, as the pastor is tired and butting up against the ceiling of their own skill set, the community begins to feel the restlessness that often hits leaders around this time.

Even established churches are not immune to this seven-year cycle. I recently heard of one church on the east coast that has existed for 200 years, and with the exception of two pastors, every pastor’s tenure has lasted between six and eight years. The cycle repeats itself.

How do we handle this seven year slump? How can we navigate the twists and turns of what one pastor friend of mine recently described as “the worst year of his life”?

First, as was mentioned earlier, year seven is all about endure, endure, endure.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and the issues you face during this time will not be easily resolved in one elder meeting, or with some quick changes. This is a time to throw yourself not into problem solving and working harder, but into a deeper dependence on God and a heightened listening to the Spirit. God is at work, both in the hearts of the leaders and in the community itself, and year seven is a time to pay special attention to that.

Second, realize that this is a normal thing.

You are not the first leader or community to experience this. It’s not an indictment on you or your skills or your walk with God that you are hitting this rough patch. It’s a natural phase in the growth of a church, and more, it’s a necessary phase.

Richard Rohr, in Falling Upward , says

The seven year slump then, is not so much a problem to be managed or fixed, but a necessary part of our journey. It is a period of life that God uses to get our hearts and the collective heart of our church off of the grandiose dreams of “success” we held at the beginning and onto something deeper, onto God Himself.

Third, year seven is a good time as a pastor to revisit and re-evaluate your call.

Some people excel at planting churches and new works. Some people excel at maintaining and growing to slow maturity what has already been planted. Not everyone can excel at both. Year seven is a great time to look in the mirror and ask yourself what type of leader you are. Are you a planter/pioneer who needs to be involved in new things to stay vital? Are you a shepherd/homesteader who can plant him or herself for the long haul? Are you someone who has thought of themself as the first but now is being called by God to do the hard work to become the second? The key to asking and answering these questions fruitfully is brutal self-honesty. There’s no point in just cutting and running from the seven year slump as things get hard. No matter where you go it will be waiting for you just down the road.

These kinds of soul-searching questions of call need proper space to be processed, and that’s why…

Fourth, year seven is the year you should take a sabbatical.

The natural burnout of this season, combined with the need to do some serious thinking about the church and about yourself as a leader demand time and space, away from the urgency of ministry. You need time to be alone with God, time to rest, time to find clarity.

Someone might say that year seven, with all the turmoil I’ve described in the life of a church is a terrible time for a leader to be absent. On the contrary, it’s a great time- not only because the leader him or herself with all their tiredness and anxiety is often an underlying source of the turmoil, but also because another necessary part of church maturity is allowing others to lead, to make mistakes, and to learn. Letting go and prying your white knuckles off the wheel for a season is the best thing you can do.

Year seven and the period directly after it is a wonderful time for corporate reflection as well. It’s a time to evaluate our expectations over and against reality. We thought we would be that type of church, at that size, at that place of maturity… But we’re not. Can we give thanks and enjoy being the church God has allowed us to be and let go of the church we thought we would be?

It’s also a good time to evaluate the practicality of structures and skills. What works in a church plant doesn’t necessarily work in a church 7 or 8 years along. What needs to be let go of? What needs to change and grow? What’s missing that needs to be addressed? Working through these questions can aid greatly in dealing with the emotional slump that is often felt in year seven communities and bring back a sense of excitement and forward movement. In addition, as leaders, it’s a time to look not only at our call, but at our skill set. As we are becoming and have become a very different community than in the past, do I need to learn new leadership skills, new ways of leading and loving these people? Can I admit to myself that if I am to remain and lead this community in its next season of life I need to learn some new things, read some different books than I have been reading, take a class or in some other way learn to lead in a different way for a different time in the life of our community?

Lastly, the seven year slump is a call to see, and to help our congregations see struggles and problems, from relational issues to questions about how ministry or leadership should be structured, formationally.

In other words, it’s a great time to remind a congregation that growth, not numerical growth but spiritual maturity as a community, comes not through the easy times, but through the hard ones. That as much as we’d just like to fix everything and move quickly on, the reality is that if we do that, we run the risk of missing what God is doing through the growing pains, through the relational struggles, through the mess.

For our community, the seventh year was an incredibly hard and painful one. But as we moved past it, we began to see how God had been at work, stretching and growing us. For me personally came the realization that while I thought I had gotten the pastor thing pretty much down, I really hadn’t, and in fact needed to go back and unlearn some things, rethink some things, and generally stop thinking I/we had “arrived.”

The gift of the seventh year was to humble me and make me into a learner again. I took a sabbatical, took my hands off the wheel for a season, and came back more relaxed, and more trusting of God than my own skills. I did reevaluate my call during this time, wondering if it was time to hand things off to the leaders I had helped raise up in our community over our seven years together. Ultimately, I decided that there was more for me to do in this church, but not in the same way. Whereas I had been the “Lead Pastor,” after this time we transitioned to more of a team leadership where the elders as a whole led the church. And those elders freed me up to try some new things and take on some new roles outside our community; coaching other pastors/church planters, and working with our church network. This allowed me to feel good about staying, but also scratched the itch I had to do some new things. It allowed me to continue to lead, but in completely new ways, alongside others, rather than over them.

Due in part to some hard decisions we had to make, and in part to communicating them poorly, during this period we lost about 1/3 of our people. Those who chose to remain, however, were committed. They had been taught through this time the necessity of praying for their community, its elders and its pastors. We all together had learned valuable lessons about how we communicate with each other, support each other, and what it means to be formed by God together through the pain of community.

As we emerged from this painful time, we began to realize that life was continuing, our community was still there and most all, God was still present and working.

One of the real beauties of the year seven season is that year eight comes after it. It’s tempting to think when you are in the middle of the mess that the mess has become your new reality- that this is how it will now always be. But take heart, endure, listen to what God is doing in your midst, and know that should you choose to stay, years 8-15 are generally pretty great. And should you go and your community continue on, both you and your community get to start over. In either case, God is present and at work, bringing you and your church to further maturity in Christ.

ENG20: Get to Know Our Presenters- Keisha Polonio

Fri, 04 Oct 2019 16:20:00 GMT

At ENG 20 Reflecting the Son , you’ll experience a mixture of traditional plenary sessions and “TED”-type talks, along with workshop options in specific tracks around theology, discipleship, leadership, and multiplication . We’re excited that Keisha Polonio is joining us as a featured speaker as we seek to recover Church in the image of Christ!

Keisha Polonio is the Associate Director and Coaching Director for the Tampa Underground Network . As a certified leadership coach, she invests in the lives of leaders who have kingdom dreams. She provides them with the tools necessary to accomplish their goals within their businesses and their personal lives. Originally from Belize, Keisha serves as a storyteller and champion for Created Women , a ministry committed to serving vulnerable women caught in the sex industry. Through this ministry, Keisha is able to showcase God’s compassion and love towards women who are often times left in the dark and forgotten about. Her husband Ryan and Keisha disciple young leaders how to emulate Jesus everywhere they go, in their weekly home church, Kindred . She and Ryan currently reside in Tampa, FL, and are the parents of two wonderful boys: Jarron and Evan. As a cancer survivor, Keisha remembers to always be present and fully celebrate and conquer the trials and joys of life.

Find out more about her on her website !

For more info and registration on the Ecclesia National Gathering 2020, click here !

Leader Profile: Adam Wood

Wed, 02 Oct 2019 17:34:00 GMT

Adam Wood serves as the lead pastor at The Neighborhood Church in Garland, TX. A native to the Dallas area, Adam served as a worship leader and young adult pastor before joining the community that would re-plant as TNC in 2016. Adam loves music, the Dallas Mavericks, nights out with his wife Amy, and dance parties at home with his two red-headed daughters.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Garland is a large suburb just to the northeast of Dallas and TNC is smack dab in the middle of it. Our area can be described by a lot of “Multi’s” — multi-ethnic, multi-socioeconomic, and multi-generational. We do most of our community engagement and relationship-building in and around an ecumenical community center situated in the middle of a dozen different low-income apartment complexes.

How would you describe the journey of pastoring the Neighborhood Church? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

The Neighborhood Church relocated and re-planted with a core team that had a strong sense of who we were called to BE before we ever determined what we were called to DO as God’s people together. That season of discerning our identity — of a “being” that precedes “doing” — almost directly parallels my own journey as a pastor.

Like many church plants, we built TNC with wet cement. Our identity, place, and core convictions are a strong foundation that also gives us just enough flexibility to figure things out as we go. But “going” out into the neighborhood together was a vital shift in our early days. If we were ever going to live up to our name, we had to get out into the neighborhood. The wet cement of how we do what we do has taken different shapes in these 3 years. We’ve hosted block parties, picnics, movie nights, VBS for neighborhood kids at a community center and we’ve made significant partnerships with two of the largest homeless ministries in Dallas. Most significant, however, is our Neighborhood Clothes Closet. By offering free clothes, shoes, and toiletries we’ve been able to pray with and build relationships with over 250 families in our community.

Ultimately, we’re just trying to follow Jesus together for God’s kingdom in our neighborhood. What I’ve discovered is that cultivating a Jesus-centered culture of embrace, transformation, and mission takes time (especially in the land of consumerism and mega churches). We are really good at raising money to support our kingdom partnerships or to start kingdom experiments. Now we’re in a season of learning the slow work of building a kingdom presence and a kingdom community.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started the Neighborhood Church?

That it is NOT all up to me! The church’s vitality is not solely contingent upon my preaching, my leadership, my guidance, or my amazing ideas. Because our church was moving through significant transitions and toward an eventual re-plant, I believed the lie that it was up to me to fix it, build it, and hold it all together.

Every time I’d sit with Jesus I’d be reminded of my identity as a beloved son of the Father’s… but then I’d stand up, walk away, and try to earn it. God used that time to remind me that 1.) I’m not alone and 2.) He’s always working. It took some time for that to sink in.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

We launched a Neighborhood Clothes Closet that has provided clothes and toiletries to more than 250 families and school uniforms for almost 200 children. Really, though, it’s about the slow work of building relationships, praying with our neighbors, and seeing God’s kingdom come in unexpected ways.

We’ve seen physical and relational healing. We’ve seen lonely neighbors find a friend. We’ve seen new Christians in our church catch a fire for loving their neighbors as themselves despite socioeconomic or ethnic differences. After 2 years, however, we’re still asking the question, “How can we become more effective in helping our neighbors become part of God’s family?”

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

What hasn’t worked well is the move from serving our community to incorporating our community into the life of the church. We thought it was because our neighbors we met at the Clothes Closet or VBS just needed a ride to our worship gathering. What we’ve seen so far is a lot of interest that have translated to only a few visits.

I think Verlon Fosner of the Dinner Church movement is right when he says that our churches have a sociological problem. Are our worship gatherings hospitable to all people and not just young, white, middle class Christians? Is our church building hospitable to seekers? Are our worship gatherings really the best “front door” to our church?

In an effort to re-imagine the expectation that “they” should take a step toward “us” — we’re trying to take a step toward our neighbors by creating space for relationships to grow in our shared space within the neighborhood. This Fall we plan to launch our own expression of a Dinner Church we’re calling The Neighborhood Table. We started with the relationships we’ve already formed through the Clothes Closet and we’re excited to break bread together and see where God takes us.

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

When I became the primary preacher in what would become The Neighborhood Church, I doubled the amount of sermons I had ever preached in only four months’ time. We were in a season of transition and I had placed some unrealistic expectations on myself. I thought I had to preach my way into becoming a vibrant church and pastor. I soon found that I couldn’t sustain my unhealthy rhythm of work and rest, nor could I live up to the emotional, spiritual, and functional qualities I had judged myself on.

All of this led to a panic attack moments before I was going to preach one day. So there I stood on stage in a very awkward and pregnant silence, unable to speak with all the anxieties still swirling in my head. Eventually, I said I’d pray and that we would just sing again. (Of course, that’s the service we had a guest worship leader!) That’s when someone said, “No, we’re going to pray for you.” Our community surrounded me and as they laid hands on me, the idol of self-reliance began to crumble.

I’m still learning to create space for healthy disengagement. I’m still learning to follow Jesus’ rhythm of work and rest. I’m still learning to let go of the unrealistic expectations I put on myself and others.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

The phrase “Give me an undivided heart to revere your name” from Psalm 86.11 has been echoing in the back of my head for the better part of a year. God is continually inviting me to stillness, rest, and contemplation to allow him to put the disparate pieces of my life into something that is both holistic and wholly his.

What do you dream/hope/pray the Neighborhood Church looks like in five years?

My hope is that we would become a life-giving church in the neighborhood that would one day reflect the neighborhood in all its diversity as we follow Jesus together. Basically, we want to live up to our name as we invite all people into life with Jesus in the kingdom of God.

Reversing Our Way- How Technology Can Keep Us from Doing What We Should (Pt 1)

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 19:11:00 GMT

I was in a Red Robin restaurant awhile back with my family.

It was dinner-time, the place was packed, and as we were standing around waiting for a table, I noticed another family doing the same. Mom, Dad, two teenaged kids. They were all standing facing each other, all looking down at their phones, none of them saying a word to each other. Later, after we had eaten, I got up to use the restroom and noticed the same family at their table, eating, still all with phones in hand, not saying a word to one another. I heard that ample of divorce cases has been filed by people as there is lack of love and affection between spouses because of mobile addiction.You can also get divorce lawyer’s help in Fresno when you get pissed off by your spouse and family limitations.

I’m assuming they were Instagraming pictures of their food so everyone would know what a nice meal they having together…

Here’s the thing about technology that we want to consider today as we discuss its uses in mission and the life of the church.

Technology makes it so that we can do so much, that we often are unable to do what we should do.

My general experience with trying to get work done these days is that I have 15 browser tabs open at any one time. I’m simultaneously trying to catch up on the news, respond to email as it comes in, catch up on the shows I missed last night AND get some work done. And I can do so much through technology that I often fail to do what I should .

Right now the Church is in the midst of some massive sea-changes in regards to the use of technology. It’s opened up new possibilities: I can be a pastor in Seattle, WA, or Atlanta, GA or Grapevine, TX and speak weekly , be the teaching pastor for groups of people in Albuquerque NM, or Colorado Springs, CO or Miami FL. I can now holographically project myself onto a stage in a church a thousand miles away from where I am, and only the most perceptive in the crowd will notice it’s not really me. I can extend my congregation through the magic of the series of tubes known as the internet to people sitting on their couches, in their pajamas, singing along, worshipping as part of an internet “congregation.”

And so we as a church CAN do so much through technology- but is it keeping us from doing what we should? And more to the point- is it forming us, both as individuals and communities, in ways that it shouldn’t?

None of this is new.

In the early 1950s when Robert Schuller and others across the nation combined a growing car culture with “Church,” they believed they were reaching a segment of the population traditional church wouldn’t or couldn’t. “Drive-In Church” allowed parishioners to hear a sermon, sing some songs, even receive communion and give—all without the fuss and muss of face-to-face interaction. Except for a through-the-window handshake from the pastor as they rolled away.

And while they may have been able to point to a number of folks who “attended” who otherwise might not have, the question of what was being formed in these car congregations through limited interaction, a completely passive experience, and a consumer-oriented “Come as you want/Have it your way” message, meant that (thankfully) after a brief period of vogue, “Drive-In Church” has remained a niche curiosity.

The problem with the drive-in church model isn’t that it isn’t church—it’s that it is just “church” enough to be dangerous. What this almost-church does is park people in a cul-de-sac where they have access to the easiest and most instantly satisfying parts of church while exempting them from the harder and more demanding parts of community. And in that, it became a malforming influence on the people involved. Church became consumerized. Something to ingest, critique, consume , but with only the minimum amounts of commitment being asked.

And in my mind, it’s exactly those same malforming influences we need to beware of as we integrate technology in our communities. Whether it’s the simple stuff like putting the words to Scripture on a screen all the way up to starting an internet campus of our church. The question is: How is this forming us for mission or failing to form us for mission?

Here is a maxim of technology that we need always to be mindful of: Technology, when taken to its logical end, reverses on itself.

In his book, Flickering Pixels (which I encourage you to check out!), Shane Hipps makes this point:

In case of accidents you can also find attorneys for personal injury claims or you can also find personal injury leads to claim compensation. In other words, what was originally meant to make us go fast now slows us down, what was meant to make us smart now increases our ignorance (well, never our ignorance… just other peoples’, right?) and what was meant to make us feel safe now makes us feel exposed. With the support and aid from the attorneys for traffic tickets claims in Long Island , the mistakes occurring in road transportation can be brought to the court’s knowledge.

This is the rule: Technology, taken too far, creates the opposite of what it was intended to create.

Ask yourself- Email was meant to keep you in touch and ease communication, right? But when you are trying to process 100 emails a day, you don’t feel in touch, you feel crushed. You’re not communicating- you are wading through spam, forwards, fyi’s… Your emails get shorter and shorter, more and more terse, and mis-communication happens more often than not.

Reversal.

Here’s what was happening in Drive-In Church. More people were being gathered because of the magic of technology- little speaker boxes on their windows allowed them to drive-in, and avoid the hassle of ever having to leave the parking lot. And as much as many of us have had the experience of driving up to church, sitting in our cars and wishing we didn’t actually have to go in, the point is, we actually have to go in. The point of church is not hearing a sermon. It’s hearing it together . It’s not singing a worship song, it’s worshipping together . It’s not being changed by the Word of God, it’s being changed by it together . And that particular use of technology, as innovative and creative as it was, actually produced the opposite of what it was intended to create. Whatever it made, it didn’t make church.

In Part Two, we’ll talk specifically about how technology mis-shapes the church, and what we can do about it.

Planter Profile: John Trotter

Tue, 17 Sep 2019 21:31:00 GMT

John is the Pastor of Love Carrick . He and his wife Charity together lead a house church that meets at the Concordia House. John graduated from Trinity Bible College with a BA in Intercultural Studies and Biblical Studies and went on to get a MA in Intercultural Studies from Asia Pacific Theological Seminary. He is currently working on his doctorate in Intercultural Studies/Missiology at Fuller Theological Seminary. John has over 17 years of ministry experience, serving in the N. Mariana Islands, the Philippines, Nepal, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Pittsburgh. In 2015, the Trotters moved to the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Carrick with their 3 year old son Amos.

So your church is in Pittsburg, PA. Tell us a little about it!

We are in the Carrick neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Carrick is an urban neighborhood within the city limits and is home to about 10,000 people. We are a low-income, blue-collar community with one of the most diverse schools in the metro. We are home to 1500 Bhutenese-Nepali refugees who have moved to the area in the last decade. There is a lot of civic pride here, a good bus line, and is the destination for a lot of people to get back on their feet again. Though violence, heroin use, and poverty are realities no one can deny, there is a lot of collaboration and resilience among the residents.

Talk to us about when you starting feeling the pull towards church planting, and the process/discussions that followed.

I have been involved in church planting internationally and domestically for a number of years now. I assisted in a church plant in the Philippines, did work among unreached people groups in Nepal, planted an AG international church in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and my family of course launched Love Carrick a little over a year ago. The call to plant Love Carrick was birthed out of a desire to see our community come together through neighborhood focused initiatives revolving around the discipleship process. After living in the community for 3 years we realized that there simply was no church presence that reflected the make up of our community and culture. The story is long but little by little God began to birth the dream of Love Carrick in our hearts.

What are the distinctives you are hoping to embed in the DNA of this new church?

We would like to be neighborhood focused and Gospel centric at the same time. The confusion and cross over between neighborhood org and local church is truly a distinctive we are after. Being hospitable and gathering in homes is somewhat of a distinctive as well; this sets the tone saying to each other and our community that we will know and care for each other deeply. Extravagant prayer is a distinctive that we seek as well. Ensuring that women in leadership is at the top of our list of distinctives is important as well. Community dinners, neighborhood involvement, extravagant prayer, and our Bhutanese-Nepali focus are distinct points for us.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in getting this church plant off the ground, what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

Being involved in the neighborhood and partnering well with secular and religious organizations has gone exceptionally well. Being visible and building relationships with neighbors and serving in practical ways seems to be working and bridge building is happening in people’s attitudes towards the church.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

The balance between gathering and scattering has been a real challenge. In the first several months we were great at scattering but had not developed a great way to gather. Also it is tough in an inner-city neighborhood because you are dealing with a lot of people in dire need where their lives feel like they are falling apart on a frequent basis. I feel like we could improve on seeing some more stable folks from outside of the neighborhood commit to Love Carrick and help balance things out a bit. So there is definite room for growth in that area.What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?By far the biggest challenge this last year has been some inter-personal challenges amongst our leadership. We are still doing all we can to communicate and understand each other well and it has been difficult. What we have learned is that we must own our own sin and shortcomings, apologize well, forgive well, and assume the best in each other.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of planting?

I am learning that a healthy team equals a healthy church. If we can each individually stay healthy, and even better if we as a team stay healthy, the church and community grows and blossoms. Easier said than done.

What do you dream/hope/pray this new church looks like in five years?

I hate this kind of question. I don’t know that I care a great deal what it looks like in 5 years. If we can just keep doing what we have done over the last year – know our neighbors, be involved in the community, multiply house churches, meet people at the point of their need, address our dysfunction appropriately, I will be satisfied in five years. For the sake of the question though, this probably looks like multiple house churches, larger community events, more attendance at community meals, a multiplication of more leaders and hopefully a community that is not so racially divided.

The Missing Piece

Wed, 11 Sep 2019 19:36:00 GMT

There’s one thing that’s vital for every church community- but in particular, for communities that see themselves as “missional.”- It’s a non-negotiable for those that want to move beyond being a “congregation”- literally just a gathering or grouping of like-minded people, to being something more radical- a community which follows the Spirit of God out into to the world so that they might cooperate with what He’s doing.

But it’s not something we talk or think about very often.

When we talk about the “missio Dei”- the mission of God- what we are really talking about is not God’s desire to get individual butts up and over the goalposts of Heaven. No- what we are talking about is God’s plan from the beginning to create for Himself a redeemed community, living in a renewed earth (that has had heaven come down on it- Rev 21 & 22), in relationship with each other and with the Triune God. In other words, as you read the OT, though God started with one man- Abraham- and then one family- Jacob/Israel’s, and one tribe/people- the Hebrews- the plan has always been that eventually that circle would continue to expand until everyone, everywhere, heard the invitation to join God’s covenant family, his redeemed community. That’s what God said when He called Abraham- I bless you to be a blessing to all the world. That plan and promise is hidden throughout the OT- in such a way that had they been paying attention, and really seeking to know the heart of their God and His mission, the people of Israel would have known and recognized and co-operated with this.

But instead, they became insular, inward-facing. They lost the missionary impulse of their missionary God – and took the Law that was meant to be a set of cultural protections from the idolatry around them, and turned it into a self-righteous, legalistic means to control insiders and exclude everyone else.

This is why Jesus was so angry when he found the money changers in the Temple- not because they were cheating people- though that was undoubtedly part of it- but what did He say when he waded in there with a whip, overturning tables? “This was meant to be a house of prayer for ALL NATIONS, but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” They had set up their religious marketplace in the Court of the Gentiles – the place where everyone, regardless of whether they were Jewish or not, could come and learn about and worship God. They weren’t just robbing people of their money- they were robbing them of their chance to experience God. They should have used that area to love and welcome those who didn’t know God, seen God’s heart in the design and followed Him into mission- instead, they filled it up with animals and tables and moneychangers- and tried to make a buck.

What should have been their greatest witness became the reason Jesus judged them.

The Book of Ephesians slotsright into this story and presents us with a very similar choice.

Ephesus was a Roman town in what we would now call Turkey- Paul had gone there on a missionary journey and returned a while later and spent 2-3 years there, during which he encountered a lot of opposition. In spite of this, a vibrant local church emerged- made up of Jewish believers in Jesus AND Gentile converts to Christianity. Paul was later imprisoned in Rome, and he wrote this letter to the Ephesians from his jail cell.

One of things that concerned him, was this growing dissonance between Jewish and Gentile believers. He wants them to understand that their faith isn’t just an individual thing- but it’s a wholistic life-change which revolutionizes every area of their lives, including their relationships with one another . God the Father planned throughout history for Jesus to create a multi-ethnic, diverse community of followers. Men and women, Jews and non-Jews, free people and slaves, high class and low-class- these followers form the covenant family, the redeemed community God promised to Abraham. More- They live in solidarity/unity as one body in their families, neighborhoods, and churches because of God’s grace- and as a witness to God’s grace.

Ephesians chapter one talks about God’s amazing, awe-inspiring grace to us, and how God has always planned to bring us together into a covenant family, a redeemed community of restored humans who are united with Jesus and united into one metaphorical body- the church- unified in the mission of God and energized by the Spirit of God.

In Chapter two Paul declares that God’s grace invites all people, Jew, Gentile, whoever- to join in Jesus’ resurrected life and this diverse redeemed community He is creating- and become this new, unified humanity that lives together in peace – because Jesus has broken down the walls that separate us.

And because the Good News of Jesus, the Gospel- unifies and brings together all different kinds of people, who are all empowered by the Spirit of God, who see the love God has for them in Jesus and can’t help but be inspired to love others in the same way- Paul says in Chapter three – that God’s purpose in all of this was to display Himself. In other words- the greatest evidence we have of the truth of God’s work in the world, the greatest apologetic we possess for our faith, the primary means by which we tell others about Jesus- comes down to the way we love each other AND the unity we possess.

So, Paul says in Chapter 4:1

What is the calling? It’s all we’ve talked about so far- That we would partner with God in His mission to create a redeemed community of people who look to Jesus for salvation, for life. And what does it mean to lead a life worthy of that calling? He lays it out-

What’s really interesting here, is that in describing a life that is congruent with the calling of God, Paul could have talked about a lot of things- our worship, our morals, our sexual ethics, the way we live out justice in our neighborhoods and our world- and all of those things are important- but in light of the thread, the narrative he’s weaving in this letter, what does he focus on?

The way we are with each other.

It starts with our inner lives- Always be humble and gentle . Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself- as CS Lewis said, it’s thinking of yourself less. It’s not thinking “I’m a terrible person,” it’s thinking about the other person and what they need. It’s the opposite of pride which puts my desires, my preferences, the way I see things and the way I believe they ought to be front and center. Humility doesn’t deny that I might have gifts, or a unique insight on the problems we are facing- it just refuses to push itself, it’s needs and wants forward at the expense of others. And that’s why he adds gentleness – because occasionally we do have conflicting opinions/conflicting worldviews. And when we bump up against each other in community, if we both assume a posture of humility, and proceed with gentleness, we make room for God to work. If instead we choose pride and either forcing my way, or passive-aggressively manipulating people or situations to get my way, we’re boxing God out saying “I’ll take it from here, God- I’ve got this.”

He says “Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other’s faults.” We probably all have an idea of what patience is- but what does it look like to make allowance for each other’s faults in community?

Making allowances doesn’t mean ignoring hurtful or sinful behavior, it means making room for people to be humans- humans who are flawed and always in process . It means seeing people as individuals who have certain biases, certain giftings and certain flaws. For example- the church I planted and pastored in Portland Or had a strong value of women in leadership- we wanted to see women serving in every layer of leadership, and represented well on the stage, preaching, leading, etc. Because of this value, certain folks were attracted to our community because they felt strongly about that issue. The problem came when there would be a week when, despite our best efforts , it ended up that those doing announcements, those leading meditations, leading worship, preaching would all be dudes- that’s just the reality of a small community- only so many people are willing and able to serve in those roles, and sometimes, especially during summer when a lot of people are away traveling, you have to settle for who’s around, who’s willing? And occasionally- it would just be all dudes.

On those weeks, we knew we could count on hearing about from one or two people- they wanted to let us know that wasn’t okay. They didn’t know all the effort we had gone to, the number of women we had asked who said they couldn’t or wouldn’t be in town… they did know our value, our track record, but for one reason or another, they chose to ignore that and let us know we had, in their eyes, committed a community faux pas.

On hearing that, we could go two ways- One would be to become defensive and think “who does this person think they are? Don’t they know how hard we’ve worked on this issue? Don’t they recognize we’re trying?” and maybe even power-up and push back in a number of ways.

But…

Another way- they way Paul is urging us here, would be to make some allowances- to recognize that this is a particularly sensitive area for a lot of people. That someone coming in may not be completely aware of all the history, all the effort, all the ways we’re trying. They may just be dealing with a case of having a very mature value, but an immature way of expressing it. If that’s the case- the right answer isn’t defensiveness, it’s not making excuses, it’s saying “You are totally right and I agree with you- it’s not always possible on any given week or at every event to make sure things are balanced in the way we both would like them to be- but I hear you. Trust me when I say this is something we care about and are working for.”

There does come a time when, in the midst of making allowances for the faults of others, that we have to actually confront immaturity and character faults- especially when they are hurting themselves or others in the community- but we do it humbly, gently and, Paul says, “because of your love,” – out of love for others, not because they are annoying us. Out of love for the community, not because someone isn’t living or thinking up to my standards.

Humility- gentleness- love. Paul is pointing us here towards Christ-like character.

He says, as here’s maybe the toughest part-

If God’s plan from the beginning was to, by uniting them with Christ, unite people from all the disparate tribes of humanity into one new family, one redeemed community, and if as Paul said in chpt 3 God’s purpose was to use the Church to display this plan, to showcase it, to be a sign and a foretaste of where He’s taking the world- then unity takes on a VERY high value in our hearts and minds.

Or at least it should.

A couple of things about this- First, unity doesn’t equal unanimity, or uniformity. It doesn’t mean we all think the same, believe the same, or act the same. What it does mean is that we recognize that at the very center of our relationships, of our community is the person of Jesus – not myself and my preferences- but the person of Jesus and HIS values, His goals, His vision for the community, and we are united around a common goal of knowing HIM and His values, goals and vision for our community and for the world and helping others do the same. Unity means we recognize there are A-level things, B level and even C and D level things- and our focus is on how common understandings of the A-Levels things unite us in spite of differing views on the B, C and D level things.

Second- this takes effort . It’s not easy. The human tendency is to constantly devolve down into ever smaller groups of warring tribes and communities. We LOVE doing this. It doesn’t matter what group or community you are talking about- take a closer look and you will see sub-groups who have disagreed with another subgroup, and now lost sight of the overarching thing that united them and have separated down into competing factions. You can’t just be a “feminist” anymore- because there’s First Wave feminism, Second Wave Feminism, Third Wave Feminism. There’s Radical Feminism, Separatist Feminism, anti-pornography Feminism, Sex-positive feminism. Anarchist Feminism and Socialist Feminism, Liberal/Individualist Feminism and Post-structuralist feminism. Eco Feminism, Christian Feminism, Lesbian Feminism… All with different ways of expressing feminist ideals- and if that were all they were, good enough- the problem is they all critique one another, all compete to one extent or another, and many view the others with much suspicion…

The human tendency is to devolve down into ever smaller groups- but as we’ve seen- the plan and the purpose of God is to put back together what is broken- to bring humanity together in one, multi-flavored, diverse community where differences aren’t ignored, they are simply recognized as secondary .

This is what God is working towards in the world, so it’s imperative we must follow Him and work it out in our communities.

Regardless of what it may look like, there’s only ONE Church- one Body of Christ. It has a lot of different parts, a lot of different expressions worldwide- but because Christ is the one we are uniting with, we are necessarily united to everyone who’s united to Him. So, those Christians you really have a hard time with? Those Christians who believe x, and support y, and do allow or don’t allow z? They’re family . They may be the crazy uncle of the family, but they’re still family. Why- because the same Holy Spirit has baptized them into the same Body of Christ . There’s only one Lord, one faith, one baptism- even though we may have different ways of expression- we’re still one Body.

There’s a lot to unpack there, and we can do that in some of our Q and A times- yes, there limits and provisos, and caveats- but what we really want to do is bring it down to the very local, the very personal. To here and now for Veritas.

Henri Nouwen famously said that community is where the person you like least always is.

If we understand what God is doing in the world, then the hard parts of community- the disagreements, the competing visions and values, the ways we rub each other the wrong way- these are not flaws in community- they are features, not bugs- in other words- it’s those very things God wants to use to help us live out the Gospel and display it to the world!

If community was ONLY people who thought exactly like you, how would you ever learn?

If community were only people who never stepped on your toes, how would you practice and grow in forgiveness?

If community were only people who you got along with, how would you ever learn patience, grace, kindness?

It seems like if God wanted us to be formed into people who look more and more like JESUS, who learn how to live in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, He couldn’t have come up with a better mechanism to stretch us and grow us in those areas than this messy, challenging, inspiring, comforting and troubling thing we call church.

Ecclesia Speaks- Adam Wood, Garland TX

Wed, 11 Sep 2019 19:15:00 GMT

Leader Profile: Chris Breslin

Tue, 03 Sep 2019 20:57:00 GMT

Oak Church, Durham NC

Chris Breslin serves as the pastor at Oak Church in Durham, NC. In the summer of 2014, the Gathering Church sent Chris and Rachel Breslin along with a core team to plant a church in the Lakewood neighborhood of Durham. Oak Church launched on October 26, 2014 after a huge neighborhood block party and pig pickin’. The church gets its name from Isaiah 61: “Oaks of Righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His Splendor,” and strives to be a community of “ hope, healing, and hospitality in and through Christ .”
Chris is the proud husband to Rachel, dad and jungle gym to Noa June (2011), Titus Eliot (2013), Emett Ruth (2015), and Simeon Holmes (2017). He enjoys reading and learning about intersections between theology and the arts, tending a small flock of laying hens named after pop divas, adding to his vinyl music collection, following FSU football, Bulls baseball, and Duke hoops.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Urban/University Neighborhood

How would you describe the journey of pastoring Oak Church? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

Our journey has been a patient journey of learning how to be good neighbors. We had a place before we had a church, and a block party before we had a worship gathering. For that party, about 300 neighbors/strangers showed up. The next morning, 2 new people came for worship. This disabused us of the notion of “if you build it they will come” or that being neighbors and building relationships of trust and care would be quick and easy.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started Oak Church?

To some extent, I’m glad that our knowledge and understanding of this place has been gradual and ongoing. It’s forced us to pay more attention. I probably would have prayed for and invested more in an older contingency for our initial core. Relying on tested wisdom and stability.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

1) Experiencing liturgy/church year as hospitality- this framework has connected us to Church beyond ourselves, oriented us to a steady backbeat bigger than our emotions or timeframes, and created space for folks at every stage of their journey of faith in Christ. 2) Partnering with other institutions in the neighborhood and experiencing others not as rivals, but as neighbors, people of peace, and potential collaborators for the good of our neighbors.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

I think we drastically underestimated our ability to develop stable leadership in such a highly transient area. We invest and equip quite a bit, but often don’t get to experience the fruit of this work. I would have imagined much more stability and continuity in our leadership. This has caused us (in an ongoing way) to reconsider how we structure and what we expect.

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

To a large extent, these past (almost) five years, have been haunted by a sort of “Spiritual FOMO.” I fight the feeling that I’m/we’re missing out on something the Spirit is doing or someone the Spirit is giving us as a gift. That I don’t have eyes or an imagination for receiving, developing, and deploying these gifts. There have been many failures which validate this fear. Folks who’ve showed up on our doorstep in need who I’ve simply not had an adequate imagination for what the Spirit wanted for them and for us. Folks who’ve showed up on Sundays looking for an invitation either socially or vocationally, and my timidity (mostly shrouded as “humility”) has prevented me from calling them into something deeper. Or relational limits, which have caused us to miss out on digging into deeper healing and participation in God’s renewing work. These failures, also help me to want more and be more open in the future. They’re constant “teaching moments” to be more and more open and attentive and grateful and skilled at receiving.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

Continue to make space and hold tension. Perhaps there’s even a tension in those two things. Making space requires so much patience and courage. Holding tension similarly asks for endurance and imagination. In this time of dissonance & fragmentation, we’re tempted to rush and resolve. But instead we’d be wise to trust that the Jesus holds all things together (Col 1:17) and that there is more than enough.

What do you dream/hope/pray Oak Church looks like in five years?

I pray that our churches continue to know and love not just their neighbors (in some hypothetical sense) know and love their neighborhoods- the real, complicated people and places with conflicting motivations, but common hopes and desires. That this work would plunge us headlong into trusting in God and into the patient work of seeing and receiving gifts from the Lord who provides.

Planter Profile: Robert Frazier, Boise ID

Fri, 16 Aug 2019 22:53:00 GMT

Raised in Boise, Idaho, Robert is an avid Boise State and Boston sports fan, he loves film, design, coffee and home-brewing and is currently looking for opportunities to play old-man soccer. He runs a creative consulting firm called solidcreative.media.

In August of 2016, the Fraziers moved back to Boise to plant a church- Redemption Boise .
…

So your church is in Boise, Idaho. Tell us a little about Boise!

Boise is a unique city for many reasons. It’s growing like crazy, it’s beautiful and so close to great outdoor recreation, and it’s one of the least religious cities in the country. It’s also where I grew up. When we sensed God calling us to plant, we were open to anywhere but excited to invest our lives in a city that we love so much.

Talk to us about when you starting feeling the pull towards church planting, and the process/discussions that followed.

I was being recruited by a large church to be there executive pastor. It wasn’t a good fit with my giftings and passions, but at the end of a long phone call the senior pastor told me that I was built like a church planter and if I wanted to do that he would support us. He didn’t end up supporting our church plant, but he did call out this apostolic gifting in me that I didn’t see. We started to process with the church we were leading in, and they reluctantly agreed that God was calling us to plant, over the course of about a year of discernment. We moved to Boise and a year later with a great launch team we started Redemption Hill.

What are the distinctives you are hoping to embed in the DNA of this new church?

My ministry from the beginning was shaped by the missional conversations of the early aughts. I spent 10 years as a missionary to teenagers, so outreach was the driving force behind the church plant. We wanted to be hyper-local, missional, evangelistic, built to make apprentices of Jesus and multiply disciple-making communities. Some of that is happening, other parts are still aspirational.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in getting this church plant off the ground, what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

We’ve had some early success connecting with families in our community through movie nights, a sports and arts camp and a Christmas indoor fair. Our community groups and discipleship classes have been vital parts of building the community…and we instituted a short coffee break before the sermon that has really been a surprisingly great part of our community life.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

We have a million little kids, so anything with just adults, classes, formation, missional communities has been difficult to move quickly. In our community group we have 15 kids and like 17 adults. And almost all of the kids are under 8. We haven’t solved that Rubik’s cube, but we are starting to lean into the rhythms of parenting rather than fighting against them.

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

The first year we were awful at new people integrating with the community. We had a bunch of people checking out the church and almost none of them stayed. Some simple processes and culture shifts around hospitality have been a huge part of turning that around.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of planting?

My job is to equip the saints, not do the work for them. I’ve been trying to set aside more time for developing people rather than doing “ministry.”

What do you dream/hope/pray this new church looks like in five years?

That we have planted 2 churches and are regularly developing great leaders to send as missionaries into their neighborhoods. I hope 100 people can say: my life was transformed by good news I heard and experienced at Redemption Hill.

The Church Planter’s (or everyone’s) Secret Weapon

Fri, 16 Aug 2019 18:27:00 GMT

I was sitting on the floor in my office, looking at my ceiling trying to figure out what was going on. Everything felt numb. I had no energy, no passion, no excitement, no desire. All I wanted was to lay on the floor and stare at the ceiling.

Although as a pastor, I have helped many people through their journeys with depression and anxiety, I am not prone to bouts of melancholy, and yet here I was staring at my ceiling, wondering what went wrong.

I peeled myself off the floor and like I have done many times, I wrote down what was going on in my life. The responsibilities, vital relationships, the stressors, the roles. During seminary I had been taught well through a discipleship process to take stock of my life and build a rule of life that would keep me on the tracks.

As I started to pour out my list, it kept going and going. It would not be good for you or for me to list everything on that list. I am a high energy leader and entrepreneur so I end up with a lot of things on my plate. A lot of people who are important to me, and a lot of work that I expect myself to do week in and week out.

But there was one culprit in my life that had left me laying on that floor. 8 months prior in a fit of idiocy I decided to put an addition on our house, by myself. The plan was to take time off of my work, say no to some contracts and lean in to get this remodel/addition done in 12 weeks. I had a plan, a schedule and a lot of help…not to mention a ton of pride.

I worked like a maniac. 12-14 hour days, so long that when I held tools I could not feel my fingers. And when there were delays around the drywall guys and the schedule got extended, I made a really stupid decision, I added back in all of my day-to-day responsibilities as a business owner and a church planter alongside trying to finish my house. Pretty soon 6 days stretched into 7 long days of long hours and physical and mental demands that wiped me out. After 5 months of hustling every day, in every area and feeling like a complete failure, I was laying exhausted on the floor wondering how I would recover from this exhaustion that felt like a weight on my back. My daughter had come to me that morning and asked: “When will you be done with the house? I miss you Daddy.” That was the straw that broke this camel’s back.

I don’t listen to a lot of other Pastor’s sermons. I find too much comparison in my heart when I do, but when I walk or run I listen to John Mark Comer at Bridgetown in Portland. My wife does too. She sent me a link and said “Listen to this, we need to talk”. Comer had been working through a sermon series on spiritual practices and there was a long series on Sabbath that transformed my life.

We all know about Sabbath. The 4th commandment, a rule and a gift from God, built into the fabric of creation. We need to take one out of every 7 days to rest, in obedience and as an act of faith. You have probably all preached on Sabbath at some point, maybe when you were preparing your congregation to go on your first sabbatical. My wife and I have tried to have a day of rest at times throughout our 15 years of marriage. Between her work as a nurse with hospital schedules and my work in ministry as a missionary and pastor, we have had a hard time building a consistent time of rest. But this winter, we looked at our lives and said…we can’t keep going at this pace, we need rhythm to our weeks that include regular rest. So that is what we did.

We committed to doing nothing from dinner Friday to dinner Saturday. It works for us because of her work schedule. We don’t answer emails. We don’t answer work texts. We only schedule things that bring joy, we follow the Marie Kondo method of Sabbath. We don’t work on our house, and my wife doesn’t even clean up our house during sabbath. We watch very little media, we don’t stress about our schedule, we say no to parties and things that are busy and are not restful. We say no to activities that are on Saturdays for us or our kids. We try not to shop or eat out.

It is the best decision we have ever made. Something has happened along the way. I haven’t gotten rid of anything from my life. It is still hectic and crazy. I probably need to say no to some things that come along, but at this point I can handle the crazy pace because I know that Friday night is coming. I know that rest will refresh me. I know that for one full day I can trust that God will provide without my striving, without my work. And by Saturday evening, instead of feeling restless and annoyed with how little I have gotten done, I am ready to hit another week of work with joy.

I had believed for most of my life that if I make good decisions and work really hard I can make anything happen on my own. And God let me get to that ultimate spot of surrender where I literally couldn’t work anymore. I couldn’t keep going. I didn’t have any drive to push through and finish one more project, and as I reached my natural limit, I found God waiting for me saying: “Here is the rest I set aside for you. To sustain you. It is a gift for you.”

It sounds crazy and it sounds hard. You may be thinking: “you don’t know how busy I am, how much I have to do, there is no way I can take a day off each week.”

First , I am a bi-vocational church planter less than 2 years after launch. I have 3 small businesses I run and a wife that works 30hr/wk and 3 kids under 5 years old. If I can take a full day off and still thrive in my work, you can too.

Second , God gave you the sabbath as a gift. 15% of your week is meant for no work. Then he gave us a command because we are idiots and don’t receive gifts well. But if you don’t receive the gift, or obey the command, God gives you an ultimatum: Rest or Die. Burnout, exhaustion, depression, suicide, stress, heart disease, obesity….you will literally kill yourself in a half dozen different ways without Sabbath.

So today is the day. I promise you, if you honor God by receiving the gift of the Sabbath, if you trust him enough to cease your work and rest in the joy of His grace, you will experience joy in the journey of church planting that you can’t get anywhere else. For a couple primers on Sabbath take a look at “The Rest of God” By Mark Buchanan and “Celebration of Discipline” by Richard Foster.

I truly believe and feel in my heart that I can stay long term in the race of ministry if I keep receiving this gift of sabbath. For the first time ever I feel like this rhythm is a sustainable pace for me and for our family. Have you ever committed to regular rest? What has it meant for your family?

Postscript:

For some of you reading this article, it might be too late. You may be fighting depression and anxiety, exhaustion, burnout or even suicidal ideation. For you, a day off is a good start but it won’t be enough to restore your soul. There are two other parts to sabbath that get over-looked by many people but are a part of the rhythm God made for us as humans.

What Do You REALLY Want?

Mon, 12 Aug 2019 19:47:00 GMT

An interesting thing happened to me on the way to church planting: I got offered a 70k a year job out of the blue.

In 2003, before we felt drawn (or pushed… pushed probably fits better!) to plant a new community in Portland, OR. I had been sending out a lot of resumes. I knew it was time to get out of the media job I had been doing at a large church and back into pastoral ministry, and to that end I was putting out the feelers far and wide. But… I kept being number 2. It came down time and again to me and someone else, and yet in the end- always someone else.

At about that time, God really grabbed my attention. I was told my media job would be ending, and I’d have 3 months to figure out what came next. We had just bought a house, gotten pregnant… mild panic began to set in.

I woke up one morning, and was laying in bed, resolving to redouble my efforts at resume-sending, when my beautiful wife opened her eyes and the first words out of her mouth were, “Well, we could sell the car, sell the house…”

“Don’t worry,” I said, “I don’t think it will get that bad. I’m sure we’ll find something.”

“No,” she said, “I mean, so we can plant a church! It’s what you’ve always said you wanted to do.”

Always said , and never really had the nerve to do.

Until that day. That was the first of many conversations that day which God used to move me from “I need to send resumes out” to “We need to plant a church.” October 27th, 2003. It was a big day.

About a week later, I got a call, though. It was someone offering me a job. No thanks, I told him. We’re going to plant a church. 70k? Uh… no, no… we’re going to plant a church. Over the next couple of weeks I kept getting the same call, from the same guy. It was as though my resolve to plant just triggered something in him- “That’s EXACTLY the kind of person we want for this position!” he told me repeatedly.

I’ll confess- there were a few moments where I looked at my pregnant wife and thought- really? Wouldn’t the wise thing be to take this job instead of planting a church?

As I prayed it through, I felt God pretty clearly putting the question to me: Do you really want to plant a church ? All this stuff you have been saying about the people who are missing from the standard evangelical churches in Portland, all this about My kingdom, about presenting the Good News of Jesus in ways that people who aren’t part of the church world can grab ahold of… Did you mean it? Because here’s a simple way out if you didn’t.”

I meant it. We turned down the offer, stepped out and planted a church community. But I’ve since seen that scenario played out time and again with new church planters. It seems to be something of a motif in the way God often (not always, but often) works.

I saw it again 7 years later in a very similar question I heard.

We were in year 7 of our community, the year I’ve been told marks something of a speed bump for church planters/new communities. The year it gets hard. The year you either endure or fold.

For us, it looked like a general season of churn, hard conversations, an uphill battle to flag some lagging enthusiasm, a need to refocus on mission… And lots of fun conversations about finances.

Oh yes.

We had never missed a paycheck in 7 years or been unable to pay any of our other of our pastors. We all either did work on the side or raised support, so none of us looked to the community for 100% of our income, and yet- it was still the majority and very much needed. And then, one month in year 7, we looked at the bank account and giving trends and realized- we may not be able to make payroll. Further, our treasurer, the only one with a real detailed view into who gave (someone’s gotta do those tax statements!) let us know- so far that year, only 56% of community members had given anything at all. The conversation that came out of us letting the community know both of those facts was hard, but very good. In the end, people stepped up and a month later we were actually OVER what we asked for from the community for the first time that year.

All good? Not exactly. The next month we were back in the same position, wondering if we were going to get a paycheck, wondering why that month only 15% of our community had chipped in to pay the bills. I was seriously asking myself, “Are we really all in this together? Do we care? Or are we just playing church?”

I woke up one morning with a heavy heart, thinking about all of this- wondering what the answers to those questions were. As I lay there, I started praying “God, please… I want this thing we started to continue, to live on…”

And that’s when I heard the familiar Voice: “Really? Why ?”

God was asking me- is this about building a church? An institution? Or is it about something, or Someone , else? All this stuff you have been saying about the people who are missing from the standard evangelical churches in Portland, all this about My kingdom, about presenting the Good News of Jesus in ways that people who aren’t part of the church world can grab ahold of… Do you mean it?

And that’s when I realized God had brought me full circle.

There in year seven, I feel God pretty clearly asking me- What do you really want? What’s it about for you?

I believe in church- but church isn’t an end to itself. I wanted a paycheck that month, and was occasionally tempted to start looking at the pastor porn of Ministry Job Boards and dreaming about other places where things might be more predictable. But…. For me, the church we planted was a means to an end, and the end was and is Jesus .

Here’s what I really want: I want Jesus . I know church comes with Him (it is His body and bride after all), but first and foremost, I want Jesus . I want the church we planted to go on, not for my sake, but for His – and for the sake of those He is loving into the kingdom through that community.

Working that out in my heart brought a lot of freedom.

Eventually I realized I’d probably never get to pastor the fully committed, already mature and financially stable community that, in my weaker moments I’ve always daydreamed about. More, I’ll always, to one extent or another, be dealing with questions like this, because I’ll always be working to move hearts and minds (including my own) from places of immaturity towards growth and greater depth of commitment to Jesus and one another.

But I’m okay with that. If Jesus is the end, and ministry (paid, volunteer, whatever ) is just the means, I can be content whether ministry feels uphill or easy, a struggle or a breeze. I can be content knowing whether or not my church “makes it,” God used it and brought me and a good number of other people closer to Himself. And that’s enough.

Ecclesia Speaks

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 21:36:00 GMT

Hearing from Ecclesia Leaders Around the Country

Leader Profile: Doug Moister

Tue, 30 Jul 2019 18:10:00 GMT

The Renew Community, Lansdale PA

Doug Moister serves as the lead pastor at the Renew Community . Doug and his wife Mear accepted the call to come on staff with Renew in 2011. Today, besides his pastoral and preaching duties with Renew, Doug is a life long learner, a church history nerd, a coach in the community, and an enthusiastic fly fisherman. Doug and Mear enjoy spending time with their kids and thanking God for all He has done and continues to do in the community.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Lansdale is a northwest suburb of Philadelphia that sits along the R5 rail line(a rail line that runs into the heart of the city). It is a small town that has been growing its image and identity over the past 10 years. Some things folks notice when they come to town is the walkability, new construction, and renovations of old buildings. We have had an influx of coffee shops, breweries, and unique restaurants in the past few years. Which has shown a jump in the housing market and made things tougher for our lower income friends. Lansdale is culturally diverse, we have a thousand member mosque within walking distance from where we meet. Lastly, there are a ton of young families who live in Lansdale.

How would you describe the journey of pastoring The Renew Community? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

Around year 7 we experienced a really difficult season with some good folks leaving well and not so well. It also seemed that some of our most steady healthy folks were going through some really hard things. I believe looking back that Renew was invited into a season of growing up during that time and trusting the Lord to take us through that process. Another significant season for us happened a year and a half ago when J.R. Briggs the founding pastor stepped down but did not leave, that brought about the hiring of Ben Pitzen and he has been such a blessing to our community. We are also grateful that we get to tell a story of a founding pastor stepping down, handing over the reins and being part of the community. Lastly, our Elders ROCK! 3 years ago we added two women elders and that has built trust and been a blessing on so many levels to Renew. I could go on…

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started at Renew?

I don’t think there is much I would change, maybe the way I personally handled certain situations, or things we tried. I would have started seeing a spiritual director about 3 years sooner.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

I would say we have made it goal to be more creative in the arts and take risks in our gatherings and House churches. We have and it has paid off as we are seeing creatives come out of the woodwork for us.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

I am constantly evaluating what is working and not working. one thing I would say that has been something I am burdened about is continuing to push Renew outside of herself. We have been given the gift of a healthy community, and we need to use that to move beyond ourselves. Particularly in our house churches. House church is part of our hybrid structure and I am rethinking how we do mission in and to our geographical areas where our 9 house churches meet.

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

Wow, just one…. A few months ago I was getting up to teach on a Sunday and I sensed the Holy Spirit put something on my heart which would have been a complete change from what I had planned. I didn’t listen, the teaching went off well, but I missed an opportunity to obey.
What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?
That God is faithful, and I need to grow in my own trust of his leadership.

What do you dream/hope/pray The Renew Community looks like in five years?

My prayer is that we plant two churches, one to the west of us and one in Philadelphia.

Why the Disciplines Matter

Wed, 17 Jul 2019 19:31:00 GMT

While acknowledging no community is perfectly mature, I often think that the reason more communities are not more spiritually mature is because their leaders are not more spiritually mature.

Why aren’t they? As Dallas Willard points out in The Spirit of the Disciplines , while we want to react as Christ would react, behave as Christ would behave and lead as Christ would lead, we are unwilling to do the things and practice the disciplines that enabled him to react, behave and lead as he did.

Willard writes,

Programs and teaching series will not do half as much good in a community as elders who transparently live their lives and their practices before a watching community.

Disciplines for God

Many times I have sat with both pastors and elders who spoke of being spiritually dry. What I hear over and over again is that it’s difficult to find or make the time for reading Scripture; it’s hard to pray in a disciplined and consistent manner; and it’s nearly impossible to set aside time simply to sit and be present to God in the midst of the busyness and rigors of life, work and ministry.

When I was a youth pastor, one day I sat at my desk, staring down at my open Bible and wondering, Would I do this if I thought no one would ever ask me if I had? At the time, my truthful answer was no. It was then I realized I needed a major paradigm shift in how I related to God.

Leadership demanded that I engage with the spiritual disciplines, but leadership was not sufficient to make those practices vital and real in my life. What I needed was to fall in love with God again—to see in him a loveliness and a value apart from how he contributed to my position in church leadership. Leadership will “call the question” in your life: do you love God for God, or God as a means to an end? To put it another way, are you in love with Him or are you seeing relationship with Him as a necessary means to maintaining leadership and your reputation?

Disciplines for others

One of the main reasons leaders find it so hard to be disciplined in spending time in God’s Word, solitude and stillness, prayer, meditation and fasting is that they feel they are so busy with life, so busy in doing good, so busy serving God and the community that they neglect the care of their own souls. As Richard Baxter, the 17th century Puritan wrote, they are busy preparing meals for others even while they themselves are starving. You simply can’t feed anyone without having been fed yourself. What you offer to others will be of little nutritional value to them unless it flows from a vital, connected, disciplined relationship with God.

This can be particularly difficult for leaders who are bi-vocational or not in paid ministry. There is a temptation to see serving the church in leadership, attending meetings and fulfilling all the obligations of an elder as, if not sufficient for our spiritual lives, all that we really have the bandwidth to do.

When talking with pastors and other ministry leaders, I urge them to see their own spiritual formation as a way of not simply growing in relationship with the God who loves them, but also of loving others around them. My wife, my children and the people in my church need me to be in prayer and in Scripture regularly, in solitude and silence often. They need me to be grounded spiritually and growing, because that’s the only way I’ll ever be able to discharge my responsibilities to them faithfully. Seeing what we do publicly as loving service to our community is only half the story. Seeing what we do privately as we care for our souls also as loving service to others is the rest.

Disciplines for ourselves

The late-night phone calls, the inevitable conflicts, the difficulty of seeing others make wrong choices—all of these have an impact. Practicing the disciplines helps shape that impact for our good.

Implementing the spiritual disciplines in our lives also helps us minimize our anxious reactivity and choose a more constructive response instead. For example, the practice of studying the Scriptures brings the cognitive perspective to an emotionally-laden situation. We are reminded by the words on the page to love our enemy when our natural reaction is to lash out in anger. As we pray for our enemy, we open ourselves up to consider compassion and mercy. As we confess our sins, we face our sinfulness and avoid over-focusing on the sinfulness of the other. Gradually, we experience transformation, becoming the kind of people who are actually capable of forgiving an enemy.

How do some handle the stress of leadership and life so they grow from it while others feel more and more like burned-out husks, stumbling through another meeting, dealing with another crisis? I would venture to say it comes down to how they view themselves and those stresses. Spending time with God reminds us of His presence, even in the most difficult parts of life and church leadership. It grounds us in the character of Christ and informs our reactions. It enables us to choose loving responses rather than react or be defensive. And it reminds us that even in the hardest parts of leading a church community, God wants to use what we go through and our responses to it to form and shape us and our communities.

This post is adapted from Eldership and the Mission of God- Equipping Teams for Faithful Church Leadership , by J.R. Briggs and Bob Hyatt

Dallas Willard and Jet-Lag

Mon, 15 Jul 2019 18:30:00 GMT

Dallas Willard isn’t an easy man to create small talk with.

What do you say to a distinguished professor of Philosophy at USC who has chosen in his spare time to write life-changing books like The Divine Conspiracy and speak to Christians regularly about spiritual practices and disciplines?

But as I got stuck sitting by him, against my will, at the Ecclesia National Gathering I felt like I should say something to him rather than endure the awkward silence that surrounded us. I didn’t realize our short conversation would leave me thinking for weeks.

I opened with, “So, did you get in from California yesterday?”

He said, “Yes.”

I waited for a few awkward seconds but that was clearly the only thing he intended to say. I followed up with: “Still on California time?” An innocent and somewhat silly question, but I was nervous and was feeling pretty wrecked myself after having just arriving from Portland the day before. His response was not what I expected .

“Let me tell you something” he said gently as I can imagine a grandfather saying to one he loves. “I used to travel a lot, and I particularly remember a 14 hour flight to South Africa where they practically had to scrape me off the plane. It was then that I heard the Lord tell me very clearly, “Dallas, when you travel I want you to do three things: fast, prayer, and memorize scripture. And if you do those things, I will sustain you.” He continued, “And so I started doing those three things anytime I flew longer than 2 or 3 hours and since then I’ve never felt the effects of jet-lag again. He has sustained me.”

At this point in the conversation I felt about a half-inch tall. Dallas wasn’t trying to make me feel small, it was simply that in his presence there was no way for me to not feel small, and petty, and trite. You can sense when you are in the presence of someone that is genuine and real, just as easily as you can sense when you are in the presence of a complete phony. And Dallas is the real deal.

People like Dallas Willard are special not just for what they say, but because they model what a faithful Christ-follower looks like. After you hear or interact with such people, you’re not just left with great ideas, but with a desire to be the quality of person that they themselves are. It’s easy to find pastors who are wise and give you great ministry advice, it’s a lot harder to find pastors who you see and think, “I want to be like that person because they are like Jesus.” I hope that when I’m 75 years old, people will say that about me. But I know for now I have quite a distance between where I am and what I aspire to be. I also know that Dallas Willard didn’t become the kind of person he is naturally or easily.

I don’t aspire to be a “famous” pastor. Nor do I aspire to write a great book, speak at conferences, be known by a lot of people who have tons of twitter followers, or make a name for myself. I simply want to be the kind of person who has the depth of friendship with God that people like Dallas Willard have cultivated over the years. If I can model for people what that looks like as I grow older, I will feel more than successful.

6 Marks of Vitality for Today’s Church

Tue, 02 Jul 2019 16:27:00 GMT

Over this last year, one of the key goals we have been working on during our family’s homeschooling adventure is an understand of homophones, homographs, and homonyms. In case you are forgetting your beginning Greek and Latin, a homophone is a word that sounds the same, but is spelled differently, and with a different meaning. In contrast a homograph is a word that is spelled the same, but sounds different, and also carries a different meaning. Related, but apart from both of those, are homonyms. These are words that sound alike and are spelled alike but have different meanings. “Church” is one of those words.

For many people, when they talk about a church, they are talking about the “local” church. That is, a community of people, covenanted with one another, and gathered around the risen Jesus in a specific location. For a long time, this has been associated with a building or a place of meeting, but we all know that it means much more than this. This is the primary use of the word ekklesia in the New Testament. In addition, there is the “universal” church. A concept we clearly get from the pages of scripture and we can all acknowledge is that such a reality “exists.” Yet, as Dallas Willard once remarked, “The problem with the “universal” church is that we can never see it. Only God sees it, and it is probably better that way.” However, in the pages of scripture, there is a third understanding of the word ekklesia , and it is the one most important to our network.

The Kind of “Church” that is Ecclesia

Craig Van Gelder goes to great pains to demonstrate that this usage of the term ekklesia is where we get our conception of networks, families of churches, or denominations both historically and textually. This usage referenced the connection of local churches beyond their own individuality. Yet, the reason we do not notice these texts as often is because their direct application is varied. In some cases, the texts describe leaders that are sent out from congregations, in others they are teams sent for resourcing purposes, and still others describe apostles and overseers that serve beyond one local church. In all, Van Gelder describes this usage of ekklesia as “mobile mission structures” that exist beyond local churches for the intertwining, coordinating, and expanding of ministry.

For obvious reasons, in this season of life, this is the nature of “church” to which I pay greatest attention. Whether we are talking about denominations, associations, or networks, the nature of “church” here all refers to something beyond the local church, but more concrete than the universal church. It is something covenantal, purposeful, and connected.

With this in mind, I want to share 6 areas that are marking the “churches” in our time who are demonstrating vitality and momentum. The truth is, the great majority of “denominations” today are severely challenged, so it’s not as difficult to observe the common marks of those that are not.

Mark 1: Most churches (within the family) demonstrate an outward orientation from an Orthodox position related to the core understandings of the church throughout the ages.

What is important about this marker is that it illustrates that BOTH of these dispositions are vital. A network of churches (and the individual churches themselves) must generally be focused outward in bearing witness to the good news of Jesus Christ in their community AND they must maintain Orthodoxy despite the cultural pressures attempting to dissuade them from such a posture. It’s also important to note the reverse of this mark – church families that, as a whole, do not face outward and do not maintain Orthodoxy are struggling. For all of my looking, I have yet to observe a denomination or family of churches that is departing Orthodoxy (or moving left of center) that could be said to be living in vitality and with momentum.

Mark 2: Most churches have learned to be perseverant, steadfast, and opportunistic according to what is called for in the right season.

Here is the recognition that often what makes a congregation fruitful is that it knows how to wisely carry itself in different seasons of life. Families of churches that are encouraging each of these postures in their corresponding seasons create a culture where congregations understand the season in which they find themselves. Ministry is not always stable. There are seasons of difficulty and pruning. Our response in those seasons is to persevere . If the season never ends, we may be able to safely assume that a more permanent decision related to the congregation’s life is in order, but for the most part, difficult seasons come and go. This is particularly true in church planting. When we are in more stable/plateaued seasons, the important key is not to assume that everything needs to change. In our world of immediate demands for success, when things are not moving “up and to the right” our tendency can be to assume something is wrong. Instead, it may be simply important to just hold steady. I can think of many, many churches within our network (Evergreen, Kairos, New Denver, Neighborhood Church, All Souls, Renew, and many others) that demonstrated perseverance through challenges and patience in steady seasons.

Finally, and this is perhaps the greatest skill congregations need to hone, is how to move into a mentality of opportunity when a “harvest time” arises. I cannot even count the number of situations I am aware of that a church did not act upon the opportunity in front of them. Had they done so, it could have had a dramatic impact on the faith of the community and the vibrancy of the church for years to come. Yet, a lack of faith, or a spirit of mediocrity, or an unwillingness to double effort for a season caused the door of opportunity to close. In contrast, there are many churches in our network (Church @ the Well, Brick City, Redemption, and many others) who saw opportunities in front of them and took steps of faith even when the outcome was not certain.

Mark 3: The family is making preparations for a future where the average participant is less wealthy, and less “western”.

Families of churches that are demonstrating a path toward a vibrant future are fully aware of the demographic changes taking place in North American Christianity. They understand that the people of the world have come to North America and that the shape of the future church will not be determined by the people that have shaped the past. There will be more congregations in each family representing particular people groups and more congregations reflecting the multi-cultural nature of our cities. As the “Anglo” church shrinks in number, it is critical that an appropriate transfer of leadership and authority be enacted. Where this reality is present, the “church” is doing better. Further, these associations of churches also understand that the average member of the family will, most likely, have a smaller economic capacity than in the past. The cause of this is partly from generational shifts, partly from the multi-ethnic composition of the future church, and partly because of slow growing or stagnating wages impacting most people that call the United States home. All in all, the church will not enjoy the financial capacity it has been accustomed to for the last several decades. Where we are learning to get “leaner and meaner”, there is vitality. In some aspects of this Ecclesia is strong, and in others we really need help. We are great at not being “wealthy,” but are not as far along at being “less western.” Our heart yearns for this though.

Mark 4: Most churches maintain a hopefulness in God’s work and a commitment to trust that God’s ways will prevail.

There is much to be said about the capacity for faith among churches that are prevailing in the midst of our cultural moment. In fact, it’s hard to find thorough examples of churches that are prevailing without a high degree of faith and trust in the Kingdom of God revealed through the person and work of the Jesus Christ and manifested most clearly within the pages of scripture as illumined by the ongoing work of the Spirit. Ultimately, churches that put their hope in this reality in spite of whatever circumstances they are facing, will see God come through for them in due time. The churches in Ecclesia that have trusted in this aspect of God’s action and character have seen surprising outcomes. The churches that have followed this path in Ecclesia over the years are too numerous to name. I can say that many of them have seen God’s clear action and redemption on the other side of their faithfulness. Yet, some still wait, but they stay faithful.

Mark 5: The family as a whole gives the majority of its efforts to clear strategies that make and multiply disciples.

Groups of churches that are moving with vibrancy today focus on fewer areas in their life together. Once upon a time, families of churches (mostly in the form of denominations and associations), attempted to cover the full gamut of Christian experience in their resourcing and common life. It would not be abnormal to find everything from Christian camping to annuity planning and from worship resources to Sunday school. Today, those moving with strength are really focused on whatever it will take to make and multiply disciples. Typically, this manifests itself in areas of focus around developing leaders, church planting, church renewal and growth, evangelism and community impact, etc.

Mark 6: Theological clarity exists among the churches and theological coherence exists between the churches.

This one is perhaps far more important than many leaders in our day might first consider. In just about every family of churches that demonstrate clear signs of momentum today, very little time is spent on debating divergent theological views. In other words, churches associated with one another have clarity about what they believe together and their beliefs are coherent with each other. Coherence is not the same as complete agreement. Yet, incoherence is detrimental. For instance, it is hard to cohere together two divergent understandings of what Christian marriage means theologically and scripturally. It is also difficult to cohere a hermeneutic that leads to either of those opposing positions. I’m using these as examples since they are the most clear demonstrations of theological incoherence impacting families of churches today. Again, I am hard pressed to find any example of a family of churches that is thriving where such incoherence is present. Out of a commitment to both what we believe to be faithful and fruitful, we press fully into this reality.

What This Means For Ecclesia

As I’ve reflected a great deal on the networks of churches that seem to be cutting against the grain of struggle, I’m encouraged by many of these aspects within Ecclesia. There are some where we are doing well as a “church” together and there are others that clearly need more focus and attention. Like any local church our “church” is a work in progress. Nevertheless, as a leadership team for our network, we are committed to strengthening, developing, and growing further in each of these marks as they represent a concrete set of guidance for how ministries like Ecclesia are thriving today. Of course, we are only striving for these markers in so much as they represent many of the very same things that are helping our churches (as a whole) thrive today as well. Within Ecclesia we hold up the primacy of the local church – for it is the epicenter of God’s action in the world. Yet, primacy is not the same as autonomy or independence. We are better as a “church” when we act together, cohere together and stand in faithfulness together. My long-term contention has been that the early church network probably looked a good bit like what Ecclesia (and others like us) looks today. I hope that in so doing we honor Christ and have even a small percentage of the impact as those first followers of the Resurrected Son.

Leader’s Profile- Mandy Smith

Tue, 25 Jun 2019 22:45:00 GMT

Mandy Smith is the lead pastor of University Christian Church in Cincinnati, OH. We had a few questions for her!

How would you describe the area your church is in?

A diverse, walkable urban context by the University of Cincinnati campus and lots of restaurants. Culturally very post- (even anti-) Christian.

How would you describe the journey of pastoring UCC? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

The church is 30 years old this year and it feels like we’re going through the same kinds of things we go through as individuals when we reach that stage of life–thinking longer term instead of just getting by. It can feel challenging to pastor in a place that is in so much transition all the time but it’s also exciting.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started at UCC?

That it was normal for this work to feel impossible.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

1. Praying for everything, all the time! 2. Inviting groups to pray for everything all the time.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

When we opened our cafe 16 years ago we wanted so much to be hospitable to the neighborhood that we said yes to everyone all the time, even letting people keep tabs without asking them to pay, letting folks misuse the space etc. We’ve had to see that hospitality without boundaries is actually welcoming a few people at the expense of others. We almost had to close the cafe as a result of this misunderstanding of hospitality. How would that have been blessing the neighborhood if we said yes to small, unhelpful things so much that it meant saying no to being here long term?

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

I can think of many things I wish I’d/we’d done differently but at the same time I see how powerfully God’s grace was shown in them (to me and to the church) so I genuinely have a hard time thinking of failures.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

It’s okay to not have a five year plan but to discern the next step ahead and then, after learning from that stage, to discern what’s next. God provides guidance like he provided manna in the desert – a little at a time. I think it’s so we remember we need him every day.

What do you dream/hope/pray UCC looks like in five years?

Sending even more folks out on mission (in the broadest definition of that term), developing more folks for Christian leadership in whatever work they’re doing. Bringing folks into relationship with Jesus for the first time (not only helping folks recover from church baggage)

We also recently featured Mandy on our Ecclesia Podcast- you can listen here

Our Faith Journeys

Thu, 20 Jun 2019 19:28:00 GMT

This week I had the opportunity to attend a conference with Sharon Daloz Parks, a Christian author and scholar whose field of expertise lies in mentoring emerging adults (18-35 year olds) through life’s big questions. She spoke quite a bit about mentoring, spiritual journey, and the important role we each play in shaping and encouraging each other’s faith journeys, particularly for mature believers to mentor young believers. There are many metaphors and examples for faith journeys, from tilling the soil like the sowing of the seeds, to stages of faith formation by James Fowler, or the story of the Pilgrim’s progress. I will share one with you today that I found insightful.

Richard R. Niebuhr, former theologian from Harvard Divinity School, described faith as a journey that transitions from shipwreck to gladness to amazement. There is something so profound about this image of faith as a shipwreck. When we come against suffering, find that God hasn’t met our expectations, are unsure if we believe Jesus’ claims about himself, or are faced with the harsh realities of the world, we can feel like we’re sinking and that all is lost, and this can devastate us. Yet, as we scoop ourselves out (or better yet, as God scoops us out) of the waves and wreckage of our former faith we are filled with gladness that we survived such loss. We are able to re-order our world with our new knowledge and belief in God, and we can have a more adequate knowing than before. This depth and growth leads to amazement.

Yet, we don’t do this Christian journey alone. We journey in faith together as the body of Christ, and we are guided in faith by the Holy Spirit of God. In the Church we are able to walk with each other in moments of shipwreck, and we seek those around us with deep faith lives to speak truth into places of hurt, truth about the nature and character of God, his deep love for us, and for an assurance of faith.

This journey is about death and resurrection. A death to self, and our desires and wants, and a new life in Christ. Though we die, yet we live.

One Simple Way to Reduce Ministry Stress- Be a Sheepdog, Not a Rabbit.

Tue, 18 Jun 2019 17:15:00 GMT

It’s often said that it’s not so much what happens to you in life, but how you react to it.

There’s a lot of wisdom in that thought. What if I told you that how you react could literally determine what chemicals your brain produces?

We’re all born with a hardwired stress response- when we get dumped into the middle of a stressful situation, our brains produce cortisol . A built in alarm system, cortisol is produced by our adrenal glands, and triggers the “fight or flight” mechanism.

So, if you are hiking, and slip off the side of a path and find yourself hanging by your fingertips on the front face of a cliff, your brain is going to start pumping cortisol .

But here’s the funny thing- find yourself in the exact same position, not because you slipped, but because you chose a rock-climbing adventure, and your brain reacts in a very different way.

When stressors are forced on us, our brains and bodies react like a prey animal. Like a rabbit. Your heart rate rises, the cortisol dump begins, your senses become hyper-aware to danger, and your body begins to prepare to either run away or go down fighting. But when we encounter the same stressors, not as a result of having them forced on us, but rather out of choice, there’s a whole different physiological response. Less like a prey animal, more like a predator. Our heart rate might rise, but there’s no dump of cortisol. We’re excited, our senses are heightened, but there are different parts of our brains that are being activated.

When stress is forced on us, we’re like a rabbit- when we chase the stressor, the danger or the challenge, we’re more like a sheep dog, running into the scary situation willingly, sometimes gladly.

It matters whether or not you frame the hard parts of your life and ministry as something you are choosing to face , or something you are being forced to face. Your brain and your body will react very differently. Your body knows the difference between being a rabbit and a sheep dog.

At a particularly tough time in ministry, I began to notice my bodily reactions to hard ministry situations. It felt very “fight or flight.” Most of the time, I wanted to run away. Some of the time, I wanted to fight. But nearly all of the time, my response was unhealthy, and unhelpful in a ministry situation.

I knew I needed to change how I was reacting to the criticism, the complaints and the “concerns” I was facing as a leader, because “fight or flight” was just making everything worse. But to change how I was reacting to those things, I had to change how I thought about them.

I began to say to myself “This is a challenge, not a threat.” I wanted to see the hard parts of ministry, not as a threat to my position, my authority or my person, but rather, as another way to level-up in ministry, to learn and grow- even if that learning came by handling the situation wrongly- at least I’d know what to do next time.

I know ministry is not a game, but when I began to think in game terms, seeing each new “issue” I was facing as puzzle to figure out, a challenge to be willingly faced, another lesson to be learned (and here is the magic part) as something I was willingly engaging with , the challenges didn’t get any easier, but… facing them sure did. And more, my adrenal glands really settled down. I was able to come a little bit closer to being a “non-anxious presence” in leadership.

This is something I’m still working on- in parenting, in marriage, in life – seeing whatever challenges come not as something that’s being forced on me, but as part and parcel of all the things I am proactively choosing. I chose to be a husband- so when marriage gets tough, I can tell myself I chose (and am still actively choosing) this! I don’t need to run from this, or fight for my life- but I can grow through this hard part. Same with parenting- I may not have actively chosen all the hard parts, but I chose to be a parent (and even if I hadn’t initially chosen, I’m choosing it NOW) and that means I’m choosing these challenges. No need to bury my head, ignore them and hope they will go away or any other rabbit-like behavior.

The same holds true in ministry. None of us entered the ministry dreaming of the hard personalities we’d have to deal with, the dire budget numbers, the seemingly complacent Christians who don’t seem interested in growing. But in choosing ministry, we chose those challenges. And the way that we face them will make all the difference for us.

The Difference Between a Mentor and a Coach (and a Therapist and Spiritual Director) and Why You Need One

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 23:38:00 GMT

The Blue Brothers may not have said it first, but they certainly said it best: Everybody needs somebody . For the leader, this is especially true. The loneliness and difficulties inherent in ministry can lead us further and further into isolation. And for those of us in pastoral leadership, the anxiety, depression and poor decisions that can be brought on by isolation mean we should avoid isolation at all costs.

So, you need someone, but who ?

There are four main options for leaders seeking to connect with someone who can help them in leadership and ministry.

The first is a mentor. A mentor is one who gives you the benefit of his or her experience and learning. You ask them questions and they tell you their answers. Like a mother or father-figure, they invest in you by giving you their time and their stories. The expertise in the relationship lies with them as does, by and large, the agenda. They have some lessons they think you will benefit from learning. The problem is, mentors are few and far between- if you want one, you’ll need to pursue him or her. Find someone whose life and ministry you admire and want to emulate, and then ask them for some of their time. Don’t be surprised if they say no- if you see value in having some of their time, chances are others do too. You may have to ask more than once.

The second is a coach . A coach is vastly different than a mentor. While a mentor tells you their stories and comes to the relationship with their own agenda, a coach flips that and works completely on your agenda. Their concern is in asking what your goals are, and then asking good, open-ended questions which will help you figure out how you are going to get there. Good coaches ask rather than tell. The expertise in the relationship lies with you, the client, and your agenda- you are the only one who knows where you want to go, and what you’ll have to do to get there. The coach is merely there to help you figure it out. The good news is there’s an abundance of coaches out there. But since most of them don’t work for free, you’ll have to invest if you want good coaching. And trust me, there’s a difference between good coaching (client-focused, question-based) and poor coaching (coach-focused, with more telling than asking).

Beyond mentors and coaches, there are therapists and spiritual directors.

A therapist is someone who listens to your stories and gives you the benefit of their learning. The vast majority of them, working with a cognitive-behavioral orientation, are focused on your current thinking and beliefs that lead to issues and problems in your life. The agenda is set by you, and the problems you’d like help untangling. They ask what you are thinking when you do such and such, or when such and such happens, and then help you adjust that thinking to achieve different outcomes. Good therapists ask good, open-ended questions and spend a lot of time listening, but ultimately the expertise in the relationship lies with them, as they diagnose the thinking errors they are hearing and help you come up with alternate ways of looking at things. While a mentor is (hopefully) a long-range or even life-long relationship, and a coach a mid-range one year to two year relationship, a relationship with a therapist can range from weeks to months to years, depending on the need. There are a lot of therapists out there, but finding one that “fits” can sometime take a couple of tries.

Lastly, a spiritual director is something of a combination of all three of the above. Like a coach or therapist, the agenda is set by you and what you feel is important to talk about. But like a mentor, they may share the benefits of what they have learned, particularly as it relates to listening to God and living the spiritual life. Their concern is helping you to hear God and figure out what it looks like to respond appropriately. The agenda is ostensibly set by you, but really by God, as He is invited to be at the center of the conversation, directing, nudging, speaking. The expertise in the relationship is spread between you, as you relate what it is you are hearing from God, the spiritual director, as he or she expertly helps you listen and tune your ears to hear the voice of God, and God Himself, as He directs the conversation and relationship in a way which brings formation in your life.

I was lucky that God brought me into just such a relationship at just the right time. I was about 6 years or so into a church plant and staring down the barrel of burnout. I hadn’t yet fallen off the cliff, but I could see it fast approaching and knew that if I didn’t get some help, I would surely tumble over. I knew of a man in town who had spent years in ministry and after getting his doctorate in spiritual formation had transitioned to being a coach and spiritual director to pastors. So, after seeking him out, I told him over coffee the state my soul was in.

We talked for awhile that day and I immediately felt encouraged. I was encouraged to know I had an objective listener, one who was willing to listen to me complain about my situation and gently, so gently, push back on the pieces I was maybe fooling myself about. I came back the next month, and in fact nearly every month in the nine years since. It was bracing to find support, counsel, a listening ear, and a wise presence all in one place. He has helped me listen to God, and figure out what I should do in response. What my coach/spiritual director has provided for me has been invaluable, and so certainly worth the roughly $75 a month our church paid to support what he is doing.

So- back to the beginning. Everybody needs somebody. Most of us need a mentor or a coach. Many of us could use a therapist. Nearly all of us need a spiritual director.

If you are in the first few years of pastoring, you may think your top need is a mentor- someone to tell you what they did so you can do the same. That’s not going to be as helpful as you believe. Mentors are at their best when they are sharing life lessons with us, not ministry strategies that may or may not translate into our own context. Seek out a coach instead- maybe one who has done something similar to what you are doing, so there can be a bit of mentoring mixed in, but who will ask you the good questions that will help you define your priorities, goals and ways to get there. Church planters especially need coaches, as they often have vague-yet-exciting ideas about what they want to do and create. A coach can help you drill down to nuts and bolts, and see the best way to achieve what you want to achieve.

Additionally, coaches can help those who have been pastoring for awhile but are beginning to realize that what got them where they are probably won’t take them any further. They know they are facing more complex ministry issues than they have had to in the past, and need someone to help them figure out how to make it all work. A good coach can you unlock your thinking, clarify what’s really important, and see the way forward.

If you are deep in the weeds of ministry, seek out a good mentor or a therapist. A mentor can provide a sympathetic ear (they’ve been there, after all) and let you know how they were able to endure what you going through and answer the questions you are currently facing. Or maybe a therapist if you sense that what you are experiencing is more than simply the rigors of ministry and may, in fact, be depression or higher-than-normal levels of anxiety. A therapist also provides a good listening ear, some concrete solutions and strategies, and truth be told, they’re a lot easier to find than a mentor.

But wherever you are in ministry, you need a spiritual director- someone to help you hear the voice of God over the din of ministry. A spiritual director can come in many shapes- maybe another pastor who will be a sounding board and who will commit to helping you discern how God is speaking in your life. Or maybe someone who works formally as a director and has training.

It’s possible to find someone who will combine the best aspects of mentoring, coaching and spiritual direction. Someone who’s been-there-and-done-that when it comes to your stage in life and stage in ministry, someone who’s trained as a coach and knows the coaching process, but also is keenly aware that they best thing they can do, even more than helping you figure out your own goals and how to reach them, is help you listen for the voice of God and figure out how to respond appropriately.

But whoever you find, I would urge you to find someone. Loneliness is rampant in ministry, and between the increasing number of people being trained as coaches and spiritual directors, in addition to technologies like Skype or FaceTime, there’s just no reason why everybody can’t have somebody .

(Interested in finding out more about coaching? Click here .)

Leaders Profile- Ryan Braught

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 16:15:00 GMT

Ryan Braught is the founding pastor/church planter with the Veritas Community in Lancaster, PA. We had a few questions for him!

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Veritas is based in the city of Lancaster, a city that is growing.

How would you describe the journey of pastoring Veritas? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

One of biggest milestones over the last almost ten years, both for myself but also for the community was my sabbatical in the summer of 2017. It helped me rest, rejuvenate, and reconnect with God and family. But more than just what it did for me, I believe it truly grew our community- People saying “this is our community,” people taking ownership, stepping into leadership roles, and become active participants in the mission and ministry of Veritas. Another milestone or series of milestones relates to our connection with our denomination (the Church of the Brethren). They have a process of planting where plants start as a project, move to fellowship status, and then become a full congregation. We have been able to walk through this process becoming a fellowship in 2016 and this summer will become a full-fledged congregation within the Church of the Brethren.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started Veritas?

Just the amount of turnover that happens each year, especially as we have connected with a younger generation. And to look at that turnover as a blessing- that we get to disciple them for a season, then send people to other places around the country and the world, and commission them as missionaries from Veritas. Also something that i wish I had known is just how slow missional church and missional church planting can be. And how much patience I need to trust Jesus, rely on him, and really lean into the belief that He grows the church- and not succumb to the latest church growth fad to try to numerically grow the church.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

I believe there are three different parts to our ministry that have worked well. First, I believe our engagement with the arts community within Lancaster has been going very well. We have been able to connect with many different artists and are building a reputation within Lancaster. We have been doing a lot of social justice/awareness shows and been able to bless many artists and get behind their work. One of the neatest things related to this- is asking the artist that we feature each month to come to our worship gathering for a 5-10 minute Q&A and have them share about their work, and allow them to find a supportive faith community that is interested in their work and wants to encourage and bless them. I believe the second thing that has gone well for Veritas is related to the development of the community within Veritas. We have a tight-knit community and we have built it through many different ways- including our Veritas community What’s App, something called Conversation Project (where we do some intentional relationship building by pairing people from the community together, get them to meet up, and have them talk through questions and get to know each other), and just regular engagement with each other outside the “confines” of Sunday morning. Thirdly, I think our value of participation has been hugely beneficial to our community- in regards to building relationships with each other, but also in relation to discipleship. This value of participation while multifaceted, has led us to have interactive discussion as part of our sermon- where people dialogue around tables during and after the message, and to talk about how they will seek to apply and live out what we are talking about each worship gathering. The value of participation has also led to the creation of a teaching team, which includes myself, but also a few others- who help develop the teaching series, and also take turns in preaching and teaching throughout the year.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

One of the things we struggle with is the role of Children within the life of the community. Do we provide a nursery and children’s ministry and have the separated from the community for the entire worship time? Do we provide a nursery only? Do we provide a nursery and children’s ministry for part of the worship gathering? Do we act more as family- and assume infants and children will be in the service for the entire time? Or a hybrid of some of these? This is something that we struggle with- especially with not really having any children for children’s ministry (but having a growing number of young babies/infants/toddlers). We are in the process of also rethinking and reworking our leadership structure and how to develop a leadership pipeline, that grows and develops leaders, gives them the permission to begin and develop ministries, and develop leadership team and ministry team structures that fit our community (our vision, values, etc.).

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

The day after Easter in 2018 I hurriedly set up a ladder against my garage, and hurried up the ladder to clean out a gutter. The ladder slid out from the garage and I came down with it, landing on my driveway and fracturing my wrist. You might ask what does this have to do with the church and ministry? This failure- 1. to take my time. and 2. Having someone holding the ladder, taught me those 2 valuable lessons in church and ministry.

First, in ministry I need to take time and not hurry though things. Planning events, preaching, visiting people, etc… takes time and I need to not hurry through those things and move on, “to more important things”. In planning events, I need to be diligent about the details (something that I struggle with), writing out the to-do list, and steps to making the event a “success”.

Secondly, I can’t do it alone. If I try, I will experience a fall. I desperately need others- both within my church and outside my church. I need a team of leaders within my church- those having different gifts and passions than I do- in order to make the church function as it is supposed to- as a body. If I try to function alone- the body is broken (just like my wrist was). I also need others outside my community who can pray with me, walk with me, and support me (as I also support, pray, and walk with them).

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

I feel that God is speaking to me about what leadership-like-Jesus truly looks like: a dying to the self, washing the feet of others, servant leadership. This is not an easy process- and I have to continually ask God to help me lead like Jesus- which means not always going in the direction that I think we should go in, not making all the decisions, trusting the leadership of others, and seeking to build consensus.

What do you dream/hope/pray Veritas looks like in five years?

My hope and dream for Veritas is that in five years we will be looking at planting a church out of Veritas. I also hope and dream that our church would be a strong family who are pursuing Jesus together, and following Him into the world and being about His mission.

10 Practical Ways to Cultivate Trust With Your Leadership Team

Mon, 10 Jun 2019 16:34:00 GMT

The fundamental role of a leader is to build trust, bear pain and give hope.

Ultimately, all leadership flows from these three streams.

This week I was reminded once again of the crucial and irreplaceable stream of trust . It is the least common denominator in all leadership contexts, the fuel by which the leadership car moves. It is impossible to lead effectively over the long haul absent of trust. In Patrick Lencioni’s helpful book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, he lists the major destructive factors among team dynamics: fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention to results . But the keystone trait that undergirds all the others is the absence of trust . As one of my doctoral professors recently said, “The absence of trust is ultimately the absence of grace.” Conversely speaking then, building and deepening trust is the single greatest thing leaders must cultivate within and among their team in order to be healthy, fruitful and effective.

Albert Winseman, in his book Growing An Engaged Church , wrote that every person who walks into your church is asking two questions: Am I valued? and Do I have something to contribute? These questions get to the heart of the matter. Yet, I would offer that these are not just questions asked by churchgoers; they are also asked by any person who serves on any team in any capacity.

I don’t think anyone would argue with what I’ve offered thus far. Every well-meaning leader I’ve met believes trust is important. And every leader I’ve talked to wants people to feel valued and to allow space for collaboration, participation and contribution with their team. However, you may be thinking: Yes but how? Practically speaking, how am I to go about deepening trust with my team?

With Lencioni’s book in one hand and Winseman’s book in the other, it’s important for leaders to drill down further and consider how we can cultivate health in specific and practical ways, first by self-assessment. I offer the following ten elements – and questions – for self-evaluation.

In closing, I submit these additional questions worthy of reflection for leaders when it comes to deepening trust among our teams:

It takes courage to ask these questions of ourselves about our own leadership; and it requires even more courage to ask others these questions about our leadership. But because trust is so crucial to the process, we can’t afford not to ask them. Ironically, we may find that if we ask these questions of ourselves and others with a humble, inquisitive and courageous tone and posture on a consistent basis, trust among our team will deepen.

What I Learned After Almost Pretending to Faint Just to Get Out of Preaching

Mon, 27 May 2019 16:47:00 GMT

I remember pretty vividly the morning when, as a 27 year old associate pastor getting ready to preach for the first time in my new church, I briefly contemplated pretending to faint.

Sitting in the front row of the church, I was feeling completely unprepared to speak the Gospel to a group of people I hardly knew, and to a larger crowd than I had ever spoken to before. Sure, I had dealt with nervousness before, but this was definitely a notch up from what I normally felt. Sick to my stomach, head in hands, I thought to myself “If I just fall over to the floor and don’t get up, what will they do? They can’t MAKE me preach… can they?”

Fortunately for everyone involved, that moment passed. I preached that morning and it was fine. Since then, I’ve felt twangs of stage fright occasionally, but thankfully, never to that extent. In fact, over the years, the nervousness has subsided, but it’s mostly what I’ve learned about preaching that has made me increasingly comfortable in the pulpit.

Here’s what I’ve realized.

First, preaching is a marathon, not a sprint . I think we overestimate what can happen to modern audiences in one morning, and completely underestimate what can happen in a community through years of faithful preaching. Ask a regular church goer what the best sermon they ever heard was. Now ask them for their second favorite. Then their third. This is about where things get fuzzy for most people, not because preaching doesn’t matter, but because it does its best work in the aggregate. It’s not what people hear on any given Sunday that is likely to change them, but what they hear in a year of Sundays that is likely to provide a catalyst for change.

For the individual preacher on a particular Sunday, that means focusing on the long game. Today is important, just not as important as we are likely to believe. Few people will remember what we preach today, but that doesn’t mean it’s not working- slowly but surely watering the seeds of change that the Holy Spirit is working in the lives of our hearers. This takes a lot of pressure off the time I spend in the pulpit, and puts it were it perhaps better belongs: planning, preparing and preaching. I now focus less on what I am going to say to my community this Sunday, and more on what I sense God wants us to say to the community this season, this year.

Second, I’ve realized it’s not about me. And if it seems like it’s becoming about me, I should change that. The real reason we become nervous is because we’ve become focused on ourselves. Our performance, our image, our job… We want to know we’re liked and are doing a good enough job that someone will keep paying us to do it. Fair enough.

But that’s not what preaching is about and we know it . We just need to remind ourselves that it’s not about us. Unfortunately, a generation of celebrity preachers- funny, charismatic, and engaging- have made us think that maybe it is about us, at least, a little bit. We love to listen to them. We want people to feel about us the way we and countless others feel about them, and hang on our words the way so many hang on theirs.

When I first realized this about myself, I knew I had to get off that particular hamster wheel of approval. I’m a decent preacher, but I’ll never be (fill in your favorite big name preacher here).

And neither will you . The vast majority of us are not called to speak before ever larger crowds, get book deals off our sermon series and get called on to speak at large conferences. We just aren’t. And the quicker we realize that, and let go of the fantasy version of our career trajectory, the quicker we’ll be able to get about being the man or woman God has called us to be in our own individual, mundane contexts, speaking to people who, though they number not in the thousands, still matter immensely to God. When I realize that this sermon I’m about to preach is more about Jesus and the people He loves than it is about what people think of me, about honing my skills, increasing my platform or anything other than cooperating with the Holy Spirit in moving the ball incrementally forward in the lives of the people sitting before me, the pressure falls away. And, if you’ll excuse the mixed metaphor, I don’t need to hit a home run every Sunday. Singles and doubles with the occasional triple are just fine. I just need to keep things moving. No pressure to knock it out of the park.

But even in that, I can feel some pressure, so it’s good that I realized it’s less about what I do or fail to do, and more about what the Spirit chooses to do.

Preaching for the Nod

Thu, 16 May 2019 15:13:00 GMT

Every once in awhile, I find myself preaching for the nod. Do you know what I mean by “preaching for the nod?”

It’s what we do when we want to hard wire a bit of ego-stroke for ourselves into a Sunday morning.

How easy is it, and how often do we insert that small comment, that little aside, or even that main point that we know will appeal to the sensibilities of certain listeners? You know, the left-leaning (or right-leaning) political comment? The doctrinal aside that scratches the itch of that person so prone to give up the “Amen” or the vigorous head nod…

Preaching for the nod has less to do with what we see in the text and more to do with what we want people to see in us … and thus the danger.

The most God-centered, expository sermon or community-centered dialogical discussion could be completely me-centered if my intention in preaching it is to get certain people to give with the “Good words today, Pastor!” If my intention in preaching a message or making a point is to get certain people to see me as sufficiently hip and relevant (or standing against the tide of culture), or progressive (or appropriately conservative), or doctrinally adventurous (or steadfastly orthodox) then I have traded the proclamation of God’s Word to the people for the proclamation of myself to an audience, regardless of how I dress it up.

And all for that little nod…

It’s like a drug. The rush of agreement, of assent, of affirmation . Many of us would sell our souls for it and some of us do.

And the problem is not only how easy it feels, but often how right .

I remember when I pastored in the Netherlands in the late 90’s, one of the big issues in our church community was that the senior pastor didn’t give a “Gospel Invitation” every week as some of the old hands in the church wanted him to. I totally agreed with the pastor that good, text-based and God-centered proclamation was preaching the Gospel, even if there wasn’t an invitation shoe-horned into and behind every message. The thing is, it was easy for me to include that little Gospel invite on those weeks every couple of months when I was preaching. It was a total win-win. I told myself I was preaching the Gospel (a good thing, right?), some of the people got to hear what they wanted and I got affirmation from a notoriously hard-to-please group within our church. Hey, “whether from good motives or bad”, right?

Well… problem was, sermon prep began to be less and less about hearing from God and more about crafting statements of appeasement. It’s not like I didn’t mean those invitations, but… slippery slope indeed.

I pastored a church that did its Sunday gathering in a pub. We saw a different kind of folk than your average 1st Baptist or 2nd Methodist. Burned by “Church”, usually more politically and socially liberal, they often come, just like everyone else evaluating all the words said and sung, looking for reasons why they might or might not “fit” with our community.

And it was so easy to slip from speaking in a way which is accessible to those we are trying to love into community into speaking in a way which is attractive to them. You know, making sure they understand- that yes it’s church, but we’re not like those churches…

We had a broad spectrum of political and religious views in our community- Republicans and Democrats and socialists and libertarians, people who come from evangelical and mainline backgrounds or no church background at all. It’s something I loved about Evergreen. But I found myself, on occasion, throwing in the odd anti-GWBush or Trump comment. Or taking a poke at Joel Osteen. And if I am honest (and I’m trying to be) it was usually more about been seen as progressive, a Christian but not like those Christians… and more and more, I’m seeing just how misguided a thing that is. How cheap and easy it is to “speak prophetically” when you know it’s what certain people love and want to hear.

And if there’s anything I don’t want to be as a pastor, it’s cheap and/or easy.

One Bi-Vocational Pastor’s Story… and how it could help YOU.

Fri, 10 May 2019 18:46:00 GMT

Note: We LOVE to highlight some of the wonderful things that come out of our Network from both pastors and the people in Ecclesia communities. Do you have something you’d like to share with the rest of the Network? Let us know !

Like many of you, I’m a bi-vocational pastor. I have a love/hate relationship with being bi-vocational but we continue to sense that God has called us at New Denver Church to live out our bi-vocational callings. To that point, I’ve been serving at New Denver Church since 2010 in a variety of roles and am the operations and community pastor. I had a great part-time gig at the Denver Art Museum until they laid off staff, me included, due to a three-year renovation. That left me questioning the whole concept of bi-vocationalism in a booming housing market like Denver. How could God call us to live in an expensive city ( Kairos Hollywood eye roll here) and be bi-vocational?

I could sit around all day pondering bi-vocationalism but that wasn’t gonna put groceries on the table, so I started a small woodworking business out of my garage workshop that sold several products in the first week. And then, no joke, didn’t sell another single thing for months. So I shut it down. Went back to the drawing board.

In late 2018 I started sensing a need in our local network of churches for an honest, affordable, and hardworking company that would provide business and administrative services for churches and nonprofits. I kept seeing leaders trying to do it all – things they don’t enjoy – and let’s be honest most people don’t enjoy administration!

I started Hopewell and have developed a small team where our mission is to empower church and nonprofit leaders to thrive by providing exceptional business and administrative services. That’s it. It’s nothing fancy. It’s nothing new.

Hopewell is here to serve leaders who are getting eaten up by the administrative side of ministry.

We feel called to do the behind-the-scenes administrative and operations work that you dread. We wake up excited about it. We love systems, spreadsheets, HTML, and emails. We love empowering leaders to thrive.

I still haven’t resolved the bi-vocational tension (personally or organizationally) but the “gig economy” forced me to get creative. And I’m grateful because I think I’ve found a really healthy combination of doing something I love while helping others. (go Google Ikigai sometime)

Pentecost Offering 2019

Tue, 07 May 2019 15:48:00 GMT

Do you want to make an impact outside your local community? Perhaps in addition to the one you’re already making? Or, had you hoped to plant a new congregation out of your current church but that opportunity hasn’t emerged, and yet you still want to support the formation of new faith communities? If so, here is a great opportunity!

We introduced the Pentecost Offering at the 2016 National Gathering. This new initiative emerged out of a desire among certain Ecclesia Churches to work more collaboratively across the network in the supporting of new communities of faith. Given our desire within Ecclesia to accentuate the PRIMACY of the local church, we determined that each participating Ecclesia Church had two options with the funds generated through their local Pentecost Offering efforts. First, they could decide to retain the funds from the Pentecost Offering within their own reserves for either a future church plant out of their congregation or for a project they decided to support specifically. Or, they could decide to send the funds to Ecclesia as a whole, which would then bundle, batch, and distribute the collective funds generated to a specific project or two. (Of course, some churches decided to do a mixture of the two).

As a whole, nearly $50,000 was generated through the Pentecost Offering that first year! We were genuinely surprised by the receptivity to this new initiative. Much of that was retained locally, but the portion that was sent to Ecclesia was ultimately given to a new congregation in New Jersey. New Hights Christian Church in Hightstown, NJ is a new congregation emerging out of Next Gen Church in Princeton, NJ. New Hights is pastored by Oscar Guerrero, a bi-vocational church planter, and is primarily focused on the Latino Community. You can see a snapshot of God’s action among them in J.R. Briggs’ update in this edition of the news as well as the Ecclesia Annual Report. With our collective support, New Hights has been able to purchase a van for their congregation to help the myriad of ministry they are engaged in on a weekly basis. This is an incredible story that our Ecclesia Churches are happy to be part of, that they likely never would have, apart from being involved in Ecclesia.

We are collecting the names of churches within Ecclesia desiring to participate in the 2017 Pentecost Offering. If you are interested, please reach out to pentecost@ecclesianet.org or chris.backert@ecclesianet.org!

Kurtley Knight

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 15:06:00 GMT

Hosts Bob Hyatt and Dustin Bagby are joined by the Rev. Dr Kurtley Knight!

Kurtley planted Epiphany Church in Dallas, TX!

We talk about him leaving the Seventh Day Adventist movement,

Church Planting

Shutting down a church plant

Issues around race and diversity in leadership

And…

Our secret Pastor crushes!

Genesis

Mon, 22 Apr 2019 14:56:00 GMT

I first attended the Genesis Church Planters Training in our 4th year of planting. At that point, I honestly felt like we were doing well and that I pretty much knew what I was doing.
I’m really glad I went- why? Because I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
Since then, I’ve been a part of the training something like 11 times, and now help to organize the whole thing- and I STILL learn many new and valuable things for ministry each time. More, I grow every time I’m there.
As I and other Equippers from the Ecclesia Network have journeyed with dozens of church planters over the years, we’ve identified 3 things that are make-or-break in Church Planters : developing the internal character of resilience , seeking out coaching and engaging somewhere along the way with training . Those who have these three things tend to make it for the long haul. Those who don’t often struggle.
That’s why we do Genesis each year. Ecclesia exists to partner with, equip and multiply missional church communities, and a huge part of that starts each year with the relationships that are built and the skills, knowledge and encouragement that is found at Genesis.
Here’s what one past participant said:

Genesis presents a good balance of theology, theory, and practicality- a theological and practical trajectory for missional church planting. It’s unique in comparison to other church planters training opportunities available.
·       First, there will not be hundreds of people here. More than likely, there will be somewhere between 15-25. This means plenty of room for dialog, conversation, and questions amidst all of the planned training.
·       Second, everyone stays, eats, and prays together for the week. Most people leave with better friendships, some of which will be life-long, because they started the church planting journey in this way – together .
·       Third, there will be a host of different equippers with unique planting stories. This gathering (as in all we try to do) isn’t dominated by just a few individuals or models of church planting. You’ll hear from a variety of planters, both seasoned and new, and learn from their experiences and approaches.
Whether you are in the discernment phase, the dreaming phase, the planning phase, or the first three years of Church Planting, Genesis will be a huge benefit to you and well worth the investment of time and money to get there. I hope you’ll consider being with us this year in beautiful McCall, Idaho! For more information and registration, click here .

Meditations on the Ecclesia National Gathering ’19

Tue, 16 Apr 2019 18:46:00 GMT

We recently asked some folks to reflect and finish the sentence “I left the Ecclesia National Gathering this year feeling ___________.”

Here’s what they said!

Jim Pace

Thu, 11 Apr 2019 16:21:00 GMT

Special Guest Jim Pace

Bob Hyatt & Dustin Bagby co-host.

We talk about
Ministry
Experiences with Dallas Willard
Bourbon
The culture of the Ecclesia Network
and…
The infamous “The Contest” episode of Seinfeld

Can Your Church Be the Church That Doesn’t Hurt People?

Mon, 08 Apr 2019 21:56:00 GMT

Like many, I came to church planting through the route of dissatisfaction and hurt . The angry young man. I grew tired of asking the same questions, banging my head against the same walls- tired of feeling hurt by the system and tired of seeing people I loved leave because they had been hurt.

So, when we planted a church in Portland, OR in 2004- I and the others I planted alongside of secretly, inwardly, held the idea- even if we outwardly disavowed it- that we were going to be the church that got things right.

It’s not so much we thought we were better or somehow the pinnacle of ecclesiastical evolution- it was simply that we thought we could learn from the mistakes of the churches we had come from and just do it differently.

It seemed so easy.

We were going to be organic, non-programmatic, we would listen, learn, love… and though we took careful pains to warn people as they came into our community that community hurts, we believed: we would be the church that would never hurt people.

[bctt tweet=”Though we took careful pains to warn people as they came into our community that community hurts, we believed: we would be the church that would never hurt people.” username=”ecclesianet”]

Of course, we were completely wrong.

I first started getting an inkling of this when I noticed that though we saw many people coming into church and coming to Christ or coming BACK to Church or back to Christ through our community, we saw just as many for whom we were the last stop on the way out. They had grown up in the evangelical church, many were even pastor’s kids, and they would come to our community as this last ditch effort. We met in a pub, were not happy clappy, were not trying to be slick or production-oriented- for a lot of them, we were something still Christian that they thought maybe they could stomach. We even had some explicitly tell us “This is my last try- if this doesn’t work, I’m out.” I mean, no pressure , right?

And time and time again, though we saw many stick and find what they were looking for, we saw just as many turn around and walk out the door again, some with real anger towards us, or towards me . And in trying to pin down why this would happen, we’ve never come to any real conclusions, other than that some people are just going to be hurt, no matter what you do- their issues with God and with church are going to bubble up. Which church in inconsequential- it could be any. And quite often, it’s going to be yours.

But it hasn’t always been simply that some people were setting themselves up to be hurt- sometimes it was us- our choices, our actions. In dealing with people, with couples or individuals or even staff members, we made choices with the best of intentions that ended up alienating people, confirming their worst fears about church… hurting them.

It wasn’t what we intended, we meant well, but we stepped wrong and someone else ended up getting blown out the doors.

There have even been times when we knew- we knew- going into a situation- there’s potential here for great hurt, and we as elders would circle up and discuss- how can we do this with the minimum amount of pain? How can we do this right ? Only to have it blow up in our faces, to have our decisions and choices hurt people we loved very much.

My darkest moment in church planting was coming to the realization that no matter what I did, I was going to contribute to the hurt, the brokenness and pain that people had around church. I just was. We just were.

[bctt tweet=”My darkest moment in church planting was coming to the realization that no matter what I did, I was going to contribute to the hurt, the brokenness and pain that people had around church.” username=”ecclesianet”]

We always wanted to be a part of people’s faith stories. It’s just that we wanted to be a part of the good bits- the place where people came to Jesus- not the place where they rejected Him. The place where people found community and had their faith in followers of Jesus restored- not the place that got to drive the final nail in the coffin.

And after instance after instance of seeing people leave- angry, hurt- of trying SO HARD to bring the least amount of pain to people through some really hard situations and instead finding ourselves somehow, inexplicably bringing the maximum amount, I came to the hard but good realization, that we don’t get to pick which part of people’s stories we get to play . Yes- we get to pick whether or not we will act in love, with kindness, like Jesus to the best of our ability- I get that. But I’m telling you- there are times when I have felt and when you will feel as though we were in a tragic opera- that God was using us in someone else’s life and what He happened to need at the moment was not a soft place for them to land but a hammer and a chisel. God was going to use us to get some people where HE needed them- to a place of discomfort or even crisis. There have been times when I cried out to God- really? Really ? We’re trying so hard with this person and still- it seems like all we can do is screw it up further- that everything we do just seems to make it worse. REALLY ?

And if that’s all there was to this thing, I think I probably would have packed it in a long time ago…

The good news is, though there were a lot of dark moments, a lot of times when I wondered if we were going to “make it”, if what we were doing was even worth the effort it took to “make it,” there were a lot of bright moments as well- mostly centered around the times when we stopped trying to build the Church, and just rested in the joy of being the church.

As I think back to those moments of gathering down at the river or creek to baptize people, of dancing for hours after marrying two people who met and fell in love in our community, of sitting with people and untangling some of the knots that they had encountered in life or faith, even of walking with some couples through some really deep water and seeing marriages actually make it, I’m glad that God allowed me to even take part in this thing. Because though we often unintentionally hurt people, though we mess up, though God uses us in hard ways at times, He also is kind enough to let us share in the up times as well. The putting back together of what is broken and the healing of what was hurt.

And I’ve been able to see that best and brightest in seeing how the Gospel actually works in community. How rather than sitting as a lifeless proposition on a page, the Gospel is actually the tool the Holy Spirit uses most as He brings us not just to a saving place of faith in Jesus, but to maturity and Christ-likeness.

I have loved sitting with people who are describing to me their struggles with workaholism, or anger, or money, and realizing- Oh- the real issue here isn’t money, or work or whatever- the real issue is what you are asking it to do for you. To somehow save you, give you hope, give you worth. Let me tell you about Jesus .

I’ve loved sitting with couples in crisis- well, I haven’t loved that part, but I’ve loved being able to tell them- I know, I know the hurt seems overwhelming and forgiveness seems like an impossibility right now, but I want you to think hard, to remember, to meditate on what Jesus has done for you- how and how much He’s forgiven you, and see if that doesn’t open up new possibilities for you here.

And most of all, I have loved realizing that even for me, at my darkest moments as a pastor and in church planting, the Gospel has something to say. Those moments laying awake in bed at 2:30am on Sunday night after preaching- when attendance was low, and giving non-existent and I’m feeling like: “After that sermon it will be a miracle if anyone comes back next week.” And realizing- that in getting so tied up in the metrics, in resting so much of the weight of my soul and my identity on results, on what happened, on how I was perceived and received, I was asking those things to do for me what only Jesus could- to tell me I was worth something, make me whole, save me .

The Good News is that my church and their attendance, their applause, their approval are not my savior. Jesus is .

[bctt tweet=”The Good News is that my church and their attendance, their applause, their approval are not my savior. Jesus is.” username=”ecclesianet”]

And so my brightest moment of all in church planting was realizing that the Gospel- this good news about Jesus and His kingdom isn’t just a truth we learn at the beginning of our spiritual journey… the Good News is the transformative engine of change in the world, not just for Non-Christians, but for Christians and even for pastors. Our communities and we ourselves will never outgrow needing to hear it, and so we’ll never get past needing to preach it to them, to others… to ourselves.

In church planting, and in pastoring in this broken world hurt is inevitable- both to yourself and to those you are serving and reaching. Thank God we have in the Gospel the answer to the brokenness and hurt we inevitably experience and even in our best intentions bring to other people. Thank God for Jesus.

Ecclesia Annual Report- 2018 in Review

Fri, 05 Apr 2019 14:44:00 GMT

We had a fantastic year as a network! Read all about it here:

2018 Ecclesia Annual Report

Download

A Communion Reflection for Lent

Wed, 06 Mar 2019 16:03:00 GMT

These next few weeks as we worship God during Lent, we want to focus on three key aspects of our worship as a community: worship through praise in song and prayer, worship through communion, and worship through giving. At Evergreen , we desire each person to grow in worship of our great God.

One of the central pieces of historic Christian worship has been communion or what is commonly called the Lord’s Supper. You can read endless works on how that has been understood and developed through history. But there are some key elements to what communion is that helps us to understand the importance and the rationale behind why we celebrate it every Sunday at Evergreen. I wanted to simply remind you of a few:

As we gather at the table….

We are reaffirming what we initially declared in baptism-namely, our new identity in Christ. Through this act, we are publicly confessing our loyalty to Christ. Each week we have a chance to reaffirm our personal faith and publicly identify ourselves with the Body of Christ as we celebrate the miraculous gift of salvation.

In one of the most well-known passages about communion in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul is seeking to address some problems that have arisen in the church around the practice and writes:

For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again. 1 Cor. 11:23-26

By this representation of Christ’s broken body and shed blood we as a community are proclaiming to one another (and I think Paul would go on to say the ‘principalities and powers’) the good news of Jesus’ victory over sin, death, and evil in his death and resurrection.

Over the centuries there have been many questions raised as to exactly how Christ is present in the Lord’s Supper. It’s one of the major disagreements that separate Catholics and Protestants and even denominations within Protestantism. Many protestants believe that the Holy Spirit mediates the presence of Jesus “which transforms our observance of the Lord’s Supper from a solemn memorial into a joyous celebration of the risen and returning Lord who is present among us” (Grenz). While there will always be mystery surrounding what happens at communion, we believe that the Lord’s Supper is a time where we commune with Jesus.

Communion is not only a symbol of our present community with Christ, but also with one another within Christ’s fellowship. Our eating together from a single loaf symbolizes our common participation in communion with Christ. The Spirit reminds us that we belong to each other and are to be concerned for the welfare of one another. The death and resurrection of Jesus is central to everything we do. Despite our vast differences with our own backgrounds, experiences, and ideologies, it is this that unifies us and that we rally around weekly. (Grenz)

A Note to Parents:
If you’re a fellow-parent, our job is to help our children understand the importance and value of communion and help them to take it in a way that is respectful and reverent (as much as possible!). One of the things I always try to do is to ask my boys, “Do you remember why we do this?” They have started to have a correct, but relatively rote response to that question so I’ve started to ask a different followup each time to make sure they’re still thinking about what they’re doing. Questions like, “And why did Jesus die for us?” or “What does it mean that God loves us?” However you chose to do it, the important thing is that we’re intentional in how we’re teaching our kids about communion.

As we come together to worship this Sunday and we get to the time of communion, I hope you’ll pause for a minute as well and consider one of these powerful aspects of the Lord’s Supper as we gather together to celebrate what Jesus has done for us!

(Much of this article is inspired by Stan Grenz’ tremendous book “Theology for the Community of God .”)

Authority or Influence?

Tue, 12 Feb 2019 18:31:00 GMT

As a pastor, I have authority in my community. But authority is not really what I want. What I really want is influence .

Authority is the ability to get people to do what I think they should do. Influence, however, is the ability to move people to want to do what they need to do.

Here’s what I know from Scripture: Pastors/elders/overseers have authority in the local community. Hebrews 13:17 encourages us all to “Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God.” First Thessalonians 5:12-13 says, “Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work.” Of course, this isn’t carte blanche for church leaders to have control over every aspect of peoples’ lives, though I bet you have met some leaders who’d like to think so.

Jesus pointed us toward the correct use of authority, both in His strong-yet-compassionate example and in His admonition that we lead through serving and avoid using authority in an “authoritarian” way (Mark 10:42-43).

Paul demonstrated both his authority and his influence when on numerous occasions he reminded the Corinthians of his authority (1 Cor 9:3, 2 Cor 10:8) but was still careful to point out that he was trying to use a different lever when moving their hearts to give: “I am not commanding you to do this…” He urged them to think about the grace and generosity of Jesus to them and let that move them (2 Cor. 8:8-9). Though there were times when he clearly felt the need to lean on authority and give clear instructions about what needed to happen (1 Cor. 5, 2 Cor. 2:9), generally speaking, for Paul, authority wasn’t about getting people to do what he wanted them to do–it was about moving them to want to do what they needed to be doing. “For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down” (2 Cor. 13:10). It was about using his position in people’s lives to apply the Gospel and speak the Good News of Jesus into individual and corporate situations and let that Good News move them towards maturity.

I’ve come to realize something about the difference between my pastoral authority and my pastoral influence. When I get to a place where I have to lean on authority, because my influence just won’t get the job done, I’ve probably already lost. I may be able to get what I’m after by saying “Because I’m the pastor!” or using phrases like “executive decision” and so win that particular battle. But I’m almost certainly losing the war for maturity, for the strengthening of others in my community, and in my own soul.

I agree with those who say that our authority is rooted in relationship. I think it’s also rooted in our influence and our ability to demonstrate the life we are calling others toward, to live transparent lives seeking Jesus and invite others to join us. Our influence grows as people see the consistency with which we live these lives, the good that comes out of it for ourselves and others and the depth of our love for Jesus and for them.

Our influence comes from being able to stand before our communities and echo with a clear conscience the words of Paul: “Follow me as I follow Christ.” First Peter 5:3 encourages elders, “Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.”

Authority is quickly gained. All you need is a title. Influence takes time . It takes constancy and attention to the small things. It is slowly gained, but quickly lost–by a stray comment, an unthinking response, an inability to own our mistakes and repent of them. People don’t want perfection (well, some do), but what they do want is someone they can respect, someone who lives the life they are calling others to, even the hard parts of repentance and sacrifice and humility.

Critiquing and minimizing pastoral authority is very much in vogue right now. But the reason this is currently part of the zeitgeist in the Church in the West is not because pastoral authority isn’t biblical , but rather because it’s been wielded in such unbiblical ways.

Lord, let us recover a spirit of mutual submission in the Church, let leaders lead with a Christ-like spirit of servanthood, and let us all follow those elders in our community in such a way that we fulfill the biblical commandment and “Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow.”

Unless a Congregation Dies

Wed, 23 Jan 2019 18:27:00 GMT

Kingdom Mission doesn’t happen by accident. Here’s what we can do today to participate in God’s Kingdom Mission.

I am a bi-vocational church planter. In my day job I own a marketing agency that helps business leaders grow their organizations.

When I sit down with my clients I start by asking them where they want their business to be in two years and then where they want it to be in five years.

When they tell me where they want to be in two years, it is about survival and growth – 50% revenue increases, a dollar net income figure, adding locations and services, etc. When they tell me about their five year goals, however, they start talking about their passions – the things that come from their heart and drives their desire to grow and work.

I ask these same questions when I sit down with church planters.

When church planters tell me that they want to have a growing congregation that is self-sustaining in two years, it is about survival . They want to make enough money as an organization to pay their bills and allow the pastor to work for the church full time.

When I ask what they want in five years, either they say things like ‘ bigger’ , ‘ more impact’ , ‘ more staff’ , ‘ more missions focus’ , and the like, or they simply have no idea what they want.

Without clarity about the telos – the eventual end goal – the intermediate goals and the daily work are not clear.

Six months before we launched Redemption Hill, I was sitting at the Exponential Conference in Orange County and God was starting to shift my vision. I knew I was called to plant a church, and I thought it was about building a great organization. A healthy place for kingdom impact in a neighborhood. To grow and raise resources to spend on impact in the city…things like that.

That wasn’t a bad vision, but if it doesn’t grow, it would become toxic. If our ministry is about growing our influence, our impact, or our organization, it is ultimately about us. The gravitational pull is towards our internal community. Even outreach and mission become an expression of our virtue – a percentage of our wealth rather than a sacrificial investment.

Jesus’ words in John 12:24-26 could be said to us like this:

As my vision started to shift, I asked a different question: How can I reach a whole city? How can I reach a whole region? How can I reach a whole country?

I don’t think it is my responsibility to make all those things happen on my own, but as a strategic question, it changed the vision for our church plant. We started to think about long term impact beyond the doors of our congregation. These words started to stick in my head that I heard at Exponential: “My fruit will grow on other people’s trees.” I realized I was supposed to make leaders who could multiply the kingdom mission beyond the doors of my leadership. Beyond the impact of our congregation.

Unless a congregation dies to itself, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit.

What if Jesus was talking to not just us as individuals, but as a movement? What if living to preserve the institutions that we built will keep us from making an eternal impact? Jesus understood how to build a movement, and it wasn’t through great organizational leadership. It wasn’t through institutional longevity. It wasn’t through crowds, wealth, resource hoarding, and buildings. Jesus spent 70% of His time doing one thing: training and discipling twelve young people to own the vision and mission of the kingdom.

And it worked.

Maybe we shouldn’t just take the teachings of Jesus, but our ministry should look like the methods of Jesus. (see The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman)

So as we started to ask how can we reach a whole city, God impressed on me that most of my time should be developing disciples who can lead as apostles, just like Jesus did.

So here’s how I’m trying to pursue that calling:

How am I doing at it? Not great every week; but this metric helps me know when I am winning or not winning – when the kingdom is advancing or retreating.

If my fruit grows on other trees, and the Jesus movement is dependent on pouring into other people, I better be tending those other gardens as much as I tend my own.

5 Questions to Ask After You Write Your Sermon (But Before You Preach It)

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 23:56:00 GMT

Where in this message do I clearly point to Jesus?

Preaching.

Where in this message do I speak to non-Christians?

Where in this message do I speak to Christians?

Where in this message do I speak to the heart?

Where in this message do I give people something to do right now- rather than later?

New Ministry Spotlight: The Mill Chapel Open Sanctuary

Thu, 10 Jan 2019 23:35:00 GMT

In 2017, Redemption Church in Bristol, PA got a grant to research the topic of young adults and religion and after a number of interviews, a theme emerged: Young adults were open to God, but scared of the church. It got us thinking: “What would it look like to create a space where people could meet God, but there were no requirements for membership, beliefs, or behaviors?” In September, we opened The Mill Chapel , an open sanctuary space for the town of Bristol. The Mill is a storefront just off main street that is decorated in both simple and sacred aesthetics. Our initial offerings are basic: open prayer from 6 to 8 am and an evening contemplative prayer class. And while we have big dreams for classes, events, and workshops, our biggest dream is simply to have the space open as much as possible for anyone to come in.

Why open a prayer chapel in Bristol? Sometimes practice comes before belief. I’ve always been intrigued by the culture of AA, which asks people to pray even if they don’t believe. A weird thing happens when people do this. Quite often, people come to know God. When Jesus invites his disciples, he doesn’t first explain to them the Kingdom of God. Instead, he simply says, “Come follow me.” And it is only after they taste and touch the Kingdom of God that the disciples come to believe. Our hope is that someone could come in for prayer or silence or meditation and even if they don’t yet believe, they could meet the Living God.

Why open a prayer chapel in Bristol? Redemption has been working as missionaries in Bristol for 9 years now, forming relationships all over town. We’ve often found that Sundays are not a good point of invitation for those who are spiritual-but-not-religious. We wanted to create a middle space, something that is overtly spiritual, gets beyond the pleasantries and small talk, and yet, a place without the baggage that come with attending church.

Why open a prayer chapel in Bristol? Because Bristol, like anywhere else, needs prayer. One of the privileges of my life has been to visit churches and monasteries all over the world that are committed to prayer. There is a lightness and a joy that permeates the air. On mornings when I drive our kids to school, I drive past The Mill, look inside, and see that the candles are lit. Someone is praying for Bristol. And no matter how heavy the day feels, something of that lightness and joy comes to visit me. Bristol is being prayed for. It makes my heart happy.

The Mill is a missional experiment and we hope that many come to know and enjoy God through that place. But honestly, if all that ever happened at The Mill was that a bunch of Redemptionites got praying for Bristol, I bet God would do pretty good things with that. And since that is already happening, I would say the experiment is a success.

News from around the Ecclesia Network

Fri, 21 Dec 2018 01:32:00 GMT

Redemption Church, Bristol PA

Weekly Worship, Meeting God

In September, Redemption switched back to a weekly worship service after six years of meeting in house churches. We loved house churches, but after a careful discernment process, we decided God was calling us into something new. We hope the switch is a way to care better for our kids, open the door for the community of Bristol, and take advantage of the talented teachers, liturgists, and musicians we now have at Redemption. But more than that, we hope the switch is an opportunity to meet God. While house church specializes in intimacy with one another, in discernment, we discovered a deep longing for intimacy with God – a desire to be drawn into something bigger than ourselves. We are still committed to discipleship, to local mission, and to intimate community. But all those things are meaningless without a relationship to the Living God. So we have prayed that God would meet us in worship. And four months in, God has been answering that prayer abundantly! Amen.

Austin Mustard Seed, Austin TX

This month we commissioned four leaders in our church. On December 2, April Karli and Daniel Read were commissioned as pastors, and on December 9, Ashley Blackwell and Shane Blackshear were commissioned as lay pastors.

Update From The Crowded House

“Central Florida doesn’t need another worship gathering.”

I remember uttering those words to countless people two years ago when Crystal and I decided to launch The Crowded House Network. We believed those words then and we believe those words now.

Central Florida does not need another worship gathering but The Crowded House Network does. Over the past few years we have grown from a small gathering of young adults on Tuesday nights, to an inter-generational church consisting of three house churches throughout Central Florida. Our dream is that The Crowded House be a spiritual family on mission together. This was easy to accomplish with eight people on a Tuesday night. Living into this way of being the church when we are three house churches spread out across Central Florida is anything but easy.

In order for us to live into the dream of being a spiritual family on mission together, our leadership team has made the decision to lead us into a new kind of gathering to complete all the good that is happening in our house churches.

On the first and third Sundays of every month, we will gather as an entire network to sing songs of praise, offer prayers for one another, proclaim the good news, and partake of the Eucharist. While this will have similar elements to other church worship gatherings, our focus on communal spiritual growth, corporate prayers and participation, and sacramental theology will make this gathering unmistakably The Crowded House.

This is an exciting time for us as a church. We are stepping into something new and unexplored for us. Just as we had the audacious dream to start a network of house churches in a land of traditional churches, we are exploring what is next as we continue to develop as a family on mission together.

The Renew Community, Lansdale PA

Blue Christmas is a special service to acknowledge that for many people, Christmas is a time of loneliness, sorrow, alienation, sadness. This service offers a way for people to claim those feelings and still feel surrounded by the compassionate love of God. Afterwards, we will share a meal together. If you would like to provide part of this meal, please sign up for an item to bring.

If you want to know more about this, or even how your church can serve the grieving during the holidays, check out this webinar from Missio Alliance with Ecclesia’s own Kate Blackshear (from Austin Mustard Seed)- Download/Watch FREE until Dec 31st .

Reminder…

We encourage all our churches, during difficult or stressful times in their community to remember that they have the resources of a network to draw on. Your Ecclesia staff members (Chris Backert, J.R. Briggs and Bob Hyatt) are ready and available to help you navigate whatever you are facing!

New Church Spotlight: Derik Heumann and Evergreen

Fri, 21 Dec 2018 01:18:00 GMT

Some recent updates from Derik:

How you can be praying for Evergreen:

Does your church have money budgeted/set aside to help other church plants? Consider supporting Evergreen as they lean in with the Ecclesia Network!

You can check out/follow Evergreen here:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Ecclesia National Gathering ’19 (@ Missio) is Coming!

Fri, 21 Dec 2018 00:52:00 GMT

Another great family reunion time with Ecclesia people!

We ARE sticking with gathering together at Missio Alliance THIS YEAR. We will make a more permanent decision in the future. We are really excited about this opportunity to be together and believe it will be an important and formative time. I also know that Missio Alliance will have a really solid event coming together that will be helpful to any church that decides to come.

Here is the basic summary …

* Wednesday Evening, March 27th – Optional Early Arrival/Organized Hang Out/Catch Up

* Thursday, March 28th – 8.30 am – 1.00 pm – Main Pre-Gathering

We know this topic is significant, emotional, and quite sensitive for many churches. We realize it is important, not only the position we hold, but also in how communicate. As opposed to years past when we have allowed “non-Ecclesia” churches into this gathering, we will keep this exclusively for churches already in Ecclesia (or those in the application process that we are certain align with our values in this arena). Since the importance of this topic is most significant and there is much emotion when it comes to discussing it, we want this space to be safeguarded for sharing and processing.

While the event itself will be on our website, there will be no direct link to register because of our desire to keep this “closed”.

To register, please visit our Ecclesia Network Members Facebook Group .
(If you don’t have Facebook, you can send an email to Bob Hyatt and we’ll send you the registration link)

Also- if you want to register for the main Missio Awakenings Gathering, you can do so here – Use the code “ECCLESIA@MISSIO” and get 10% off the registration price as an Ecclesia Member!

Review: Advent; the Once & Future Coming of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge

Tue, 13 Nov 2018 19:58:00 GMT

Fleming Rutledge. Advent; the Once & Future Coming of Jesus Christ. Eerdmans, 2018. 406 pp.

So writes Fleming Rutledge, the Episcopal priest, author, and theologian who penned Christianity Today’s 2017 Book of the Year, The Crucifixion; Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ . In her latest work, Advent; The Once & Future Coming of Jesus Christ , she compiles a brilliant and engaging collection of Advent sermons ranging from 1975-present.

Rutledge begins with an introduction to Advent that every pastor will want to read as they begin to prepare to lead their own church through the beginning of the Christian year. The first part of the book contains a handful of Advent-related writings before moving on to “Pre-Advent” sermons on themes like the final judgment, the justice of God, and sermons for the Feast of Saint Michael and Christ the King. Ultimately it isn’t until page 251 that her formal Advent sermons begin.

Her primary contention is that the church has too often used Advent to prepare for Christmas and all the ornamental sentimentalism (what she refers to as “Christmas creep”) that comes with it rather than to seriously prepare for the second coming of Jesus and His final judgment.

She writes,

I confess that as a pastor I have too often led our church through the season of Advent doing the very thing she cautions against; attempting to suspend belief that the incarnation has happened so that we can prepare for Christmas anew. It may be a surprise to readers that the original Advent themes were not hope, peace, joy, and love.

Recently, in Florida, a disturbing and stomach-turning plot was uncovered at Bartow Middle School where two 11 and 12 year old students planned to hide in the bathroom, overpower smaller students, cut them up and eat them before turning a knife on themselves all in the service of Satan.

This, Fleming Rutledge would contend, is an Advent story. Or, in her own words, “Advent begins in the dark.”

That’s not quite as palatable to the contemporary church-going consumer. Which is why churches have forsaken these demanding themes that involve judgment and death in lieu of multiple “Christmas Eve” services that often begin two weeks before Christmas!

But as Rutledge insists, Advent isn’t a time to prepare for Christmas, rather its purpose is to “take an unflinching inventory of darkness” (pg. 173). Rutledge accomplishes this by telling stories that highlight the darkness displayed in human depravity via the most recent headlines, which she is effortlessly able to source year after year. Against this “backdrop of darkness” the light of Christ and the good news of judgment gleam even brighter as she proclaims the hope of God’s judgment on evil and the good news of the finality of Christ’s reign in the second coming.

I appreciate her repeated emphasis on the fact that there are not only two powers working in the world (humans and God), but three powers. Rutledge acknowledges her own tradition has largely made obsolete the embarrassing pre-enlightenment belief in a literal second coming and the “antiquated” notion of divine judgment. Rutledge is clearly not capitulating to mainline denomination norms as she proclaims the reality of an enemy force that is active not just in our world but in each of us.

My only criticism of this collection is that it can be quite repetitive. She acknowledges that this is a possibility in the beginning of the book, but it does not relieve the redundancy of some of the sermons. In one way, this repetition can serve to reinforce the major themes of Advent as she sees them, but it can also become slightly monotonous as it can feel like you are reading the same sermon over again with slightly different illustrations. I suppose the luxury of preaching at a variety of churches is that you can repeat material, but in a collection of sermons published to be read it can be wearing. However, as the book ends readers are rewarded for persevering as the final three sermons may be the highlight of the entire book.

A major concern for Rutledge is not just that we understand the proper themes of Advent, but that we as the church would begin to live as Advent people.

If you can’t imagine the world you are heading toward, you can’t work toward contributing toward that world. Advent helps us to anticipate the kind of world that will be realized when Christ comes again to judge evil and renew all things.

She writes

And so, locating ourselves as living between the Old age and the New age to come makes all the difference in the way the church conducts itself in the present.

But ultimately Advent tells us that

Recently, if you follow Fleming Rutledge on Twitter ( @flemingrut ), you would have read her response to a conversation on the labels “progressive” and “conservative.” She tweets,

This is a good summary of Rutledge’s emphasis of God as the primary actor through all of human history and her realistic assessment of the weakness of humanity when unaided by the grace of God.

What this all means for the church on mission is that as we live in between the ages or “on the frontier of the turn of the ages” (pg. 13), we are marked by fearless living, radical forgiveness and the weapon of nonviolence. We recognize and regularly remember that there is a hostile enemy force that is engaged in seeking to thwart God’s mission as we resist evil and give witness to the coming reign of God in our service, prayer, and counter-cultural lives together. But ultimately our hope lies not in our own personal or communal efforts, initiatives, and agendas but rather the God of Advent who drew near to us in Jesus and who will come again to take away the darkness forever and be our eternal light.

New Churches Welcomed to the Ecclesia Network!

Thu, 10 May 2018 20:12:00 GMT

We were pleased at this year’s National Gathering to welcome a number of new churches into our network! Get to know them!

Mission Wilmington, Wilmington, NC

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Contact

Brick City Church, Ocala, FL

Brick City Church is a non-denominational church whose mission is to become fully devoted followers of Christ, growing in both knowledge and relationship with Jesus, the Bible, and one another. We believe following Jesus means joining in God’s work of restoring our broken world and caring for the most vulnerable in our community, specifically vulnerable children in Marion County and beyond.

Website | Facebook | Contact

The Crowded House Network, Longwood, FL

The Crowded House Network is a network of house churches that serve as missional outposts in central Florida. By gathering together, sharing a meal, proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus, and engaging our communities in acts of justice and mercy we believe we are forming dynamic communities that reflect the nature of God in and to the world.

Website | Facebook | Contact

Defiance Church, Glenwood Springs, CO

Defiance is a church born out of the radical reformation – a people who defied the dominant cultural forms of faith in their time. These Anabaptist communities held a theological and spiritual stance that refused to let violence be the last word in a world fractured by sin, violence, and fear. We are called to live differently – to live in a way that often stands at odds with what the world tells us is important. We live in God’s wholeness with each other and extend this movement of peace out into the world.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Contact

Ecclesia National Gathering ’18 Round Up!

Mon, 07 May 2018 20:55:00 GMT

Another great family reunion time with Ecclesia people!

At the 2018 National Gathering we recognized the commissioning/ordination ofthe following 7 leaders:

Wendy Chinn, New Life in Blacksburg, VA

Aaron Hatton , University Christian Church in Cincinnati, OH

Christian Hearl , New Life Christian Fellowship in Blacksburg, VA

David McCann , New Life Christian Fellowship in Blacksburg, VA

Scott Meiser, Redemption Church in Bristol, PA

Becca Osborn , Life on the Vine in Arlington Heights, IL

Emily Shulz, New Denver Church in Denver, CO

In 2016, Ecclesia also began a new honor called the Servants Award . This award is given to a member of the network that goes above and beyond the norm to pour themselves into the ministry of Ecclesia and the relationships between leaders. Past recipients of the Servants Award have been Mike Hollenbach of the TheBridge in Easton, PA and Jeanette Staats of NLCF in Blacksburg, VA. This year, our staff team bestowed the honor of the Servants Award to our excellent board chair person, Cyd Holsclaw.

Cyd stepped in faithfully to serve as the first non-staff board

chair for Ecclesia in 2017. She has dedicated hours of service to Ecclesia as a whole, as well as many trips and visits to network churches across the country. We have been blessed by her leadership and look forward to many more years!

More ENG ’18 photos here

Ecclesia National Gathering ’18 Workshops

Mon, 19 Mar 2018 19:39:00 GMT

Here’s a preview of the workshops we’ll be offering at the National Gathering!

The place of religion in society has changed profoundly in the last few centuries, particularly in the West. What do these changes mean, and what, precisely, happens when a society becomes one in which faith is only one human possibility among others? Borrowing from experts such as Charles Taylor, James K.A. Smith, Don Beck, and Stanley Grenz, Josh Crain walks us through the cultural shifts that define 21st century Western society and how the church might continue to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus in this evolving context.

Historically, apologetics in America has been framed by white evangelicals. While important work has been done in this area, challenges exist because the dominant culture is often disconnected from the needs and the nuances of other cultures that they are seeking to engage. Therefore, a contextualized approach to apologetics is helpful in this endeavor. In this session we will seek to help the participants defend their faith in every cultural context.

When it comes to explaining salvation, many of us know the bridge illustration. But what if, instead of us crossing the bridge over to God’s side, it was God who came over to our side and built a house for us to live together with him? How might this house depict the reunion of heaven and earth (God’s side and ours), and even the reunion of God’s presence and our purpose in the world? Can we use the image of a house to quickly communicate the whole narrative of scripture and make it possible to proclaim good news answers to life’s really big questions? In this session, help us ‘beta test’ a new illustration for the gospel that we hope can be shared with people of all ages and faith backgrounds.

There are loads of curricula, books, and websites geared to share the gospel with children and youth. It can be overwhelming and exhausting to try to sort through all the possibilities. But how is everything we decide to read / say / do with kids shaped by who we are with kids? This session will be part theological foundations and part collaborative conversation / brainstorming. Bring your celebratory stories and your challenging struggles. All are welcome, whether you work with kids or not.

As church leaders our job is to proclaim the gospel to others, but we often forget that the gospel applies to us as well. In the midst of the busyness and demands of ministry, it is too easy to lose track of the significance of the gospel in our own lives. In this workshop, Mandy Smith and J.R. Briggs want to help create a safe space to share the challenges of ministry, apply the truth of the gospel to those challenges, and to pray with and for one another.

Classical apologetics focuses on giving intellectual arguments for the hope that we have, while incarnational apologetics focuses on giving a defense for our faith through the way we live our lives. These two must work together in tandem for an effective defense of the Christian faith. The goal in this session is to highlight the importance and means of incarnational apologetic to the Christian walk.

One of the uniquenesses of the gospel of Jesus Christ is how it is has inhabited and transformed hundreds, if not thousands, of cultures and people groups around the globe throughout history. For many years, those cultures were relatively isolated from one another. Today though, a wide range of ethnicities and cultures are in many of the communities that we are seeking to engage with the gospel. As local churches, how can we proclaim this same good news, contextually and appropriately, across many cultures in our singular local churches. Further, how does the gospel help us live together amidst our differences in heritage and perspective. Join Danny and Mia as they share the story of how diverse communities of biblical faith have developed in their congregations and how their learnings can apply to yours.

What You Win Them With is What You Win Them To

Thu, 08 Mar 2018 20:34:00 GMT

Every easter, every Christmas—no, scratch that—every Sunday, we as leaders are faced with a dilemma: Do we go big, advertise, put on an amazing show and attract people who otherwise […]

2017 Ecclesia Network Annual Report

Fri, 23 Feb 2018 18:36:00 GMT

Below you will find a link to Ecclesia’s Annual Report . It is our prayer that you will find this encouraging as it gives a glimpse into how God has moved within and throughout the network this past year.

We encourage you to share this with your congregations as well as anyone you might be in contact with looking to connect with a network.

We look forward to seeing you in April!

2017_Ecclesia_Annual_Report

The Surprising Findings About Bible Engagement and What Pastors Can Do About It

Fri, 26 Jan 2018 17:57:00 GMT

Recently I had a phone meeting with Paul Caminiti who serves on staff with the Institute for Bible Reading (instituteforbiblereading.org). Formerly, he served as the Bible Publisher for Zondervan and the Vice President of Bible Engagement at Biblica (formerly known as the International Bible Society). Paul shared with me the research that he and his team had discussed: the average America (religious or irreligious) household owns four Bibles – and yet, over 700 people give up Bible reading for good every single day.

The research also found three main reasons people give up Bible reading: (1) People read the Bible in fragments . (2) People read the Bible out of context (3) People read the Bible in isolation.

What are pastors to do with the disconnect between Americans’ Bible ownership and the lack of Bible engagement? Well, Paul and his team are encouraging people to read the Bible in three ways (as a foil to the findings in the research): (1) Encourage people to read the complete story of God (2) Challenge people to understand the Bible in context (3) Work to have people read the Bible in community.

In our conversation, Paul shares three “mantras” with others in an effort encourage further Scripture engagement:

On the surface, the research and mantras may sound simplistic, yet I find it to be incredibly helpful as I think about people in our church. But I’m left with questions: Where have I (maybe without knowing it) encouraged people to read their Bibles, but not challenged them to engage with it? Am I preaching only out of my “favorite texts” or heavy on the New Testament passages? Where might I be able to provide more context, background and understanding of what was going on in the time of the Biblical story that might help shed light on understanding and impact on my own life?

More questions come to me: Where could we encourage people to read, discuss and live out Scripture together with others, rather than simply prescribing a “personal daily quiet time” approach to Scriptural engagement? Where and how might I encourage people to be fluent with the Bible (like being fluent in Spanish) rather than simply know facts (like just knowing Spanish vocabulary words)? Where can I encourage people to “read real” by asking the tough, hard, complex and uncomfortable questions about the text rather than just moving on and ignoring the questions themselves? Can I challenge people to search for what implications this story/passage has on our personal and communal lives rather than just giving them a few application points at the end of the teaching?

On a ridiculously practical side of things, we’ve taught people in our church (whether they’re seminary graduates or they’ve never owned a Bible) to ask five questions every time they read a Bible passage.

Certainly, there are other questions that could be asked when engaging with Scripture. But try these on for size in your congregation and see if people are engaging the Scriptures more deeply, broadly, frequently and authentically.

A Message from Our National Director- January 2018

Thu, 04 Jan 2018 22:49:00 GMT

Spiritual Parenting

Fri, 29 Dec 2017 17:19:00 GMT

by Aaron Graham, Lead Pastor at The District Church (Washington, D.C.)

Originally Posted on November 16, 2017.

This last Sunday we had the privilege of hearing from Pastor Don Coleman from East End Fellowship and Pastor Stuart Royall from 180 Degrees Church. We had a conversation about discipleship and what it means
to be a spiritual mother or father to a younger son or daughter in the faith.

Our Scripture was 2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

We were highlighting our value of being a multiplying church that develops leaders and churches in DC and beyond and how this all starts through the process of multiplying disciples.

During my freshman year at the University of Richmond almost twenty years ago I met both Stuart and Don. Don was discipling Stuart as they ministered in a under-resourced community in the East End of Richmond and then Stuart started meeting with me to disciple me weekly.

The Apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 4:15 that you may have many teachers, but you do not have many fathers. Having a spiritual mother or father in your life is a rare gift and something to be cherished.

Spiritual mothering and fathering is a great goal to reach toward in discipleship, yet the reality is that most discipleship relationships occur on the counseling and mentoring level. But we must start somewhere and the reality is that spiritual fathering relationships always start off on the teacher or mentor level. But the key is that they progress toward a deeper level of trust and maturity.

Here is a helpful framework that I’ve used when it comes to thinking about discipleship in a 1:1 context. There is:

One of the ways you know if you have a spiritual mother or father in your life is when that person delights in your success as a son or daughter more than their own. Spiritual fathers are willing to lay down their life for their sons.

We have many teachers in life that help us learn. We have many counselors who give us advice. We have many mentors who helps us grow to reach our goals in life. But there are few spiritual mothers and fathers.

My prayer for our churches is that God would raise up men and women of God right here to help mother and father the next generation of disciples.

The huge prayer response from Sunday gave me the sense that there is a real hunger for this.

To God by the glory!

The 6 C’s to Hire Staff or Recruit Key Volunteers

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 22:31:00 GMT

If you were looking to hire a staff role or recruit a key volunteer at the church how would you know if they were the right fit? Is it discernment in prayer? Is it by their experience in ministry? Their skill set and personality? The confidence of a search committee or elder team? A spiritual gifts inventory and enneagram assessment? A feeling in your gut? A combination of the above? If you are looking to hire someone as well, it’s essential to always keep in mind aspects such as workplace diversity importance . Additionally, promptly addressing incidents of workplace discrimination can help boost employee satisfaction.

As I look back on my ministry experience, I realize that sometimes I hired or recruited the right person. They were a wonderful fit and they (and everyone around them) thrived. But I also remember that there are many other times where I made the wrong decision and completely blew it. The leader I thought would be a good fit turned out to be a disaster – and I should have seen it coming.

So, how do we go about in the discernment process? I’ve found a simple and easy to remember guide of 6 characteristics (all starting with C) – along with a guiding question for each – helps the process. Several of the C’s come from other spaces (some even the business world) but I do believe they can be helpful in the church as well.

[1] Character: This character always needs to be first on the list. The leader must be full of integrity and honesty and possess purity in all areas of life. We talk about the need to surround ourselves with F.A.T. leaders – those who are faithful, available and teachable. Great leaders may possess the other 5 C’s below, but if they are not full of integrity and character, don’t consider having them join the team!

Question: Could I completely trust my children with this person?

(2) Competency: Certainly, God can use anyone with any skill set. This is not suggesting a corporate headhunter mentality in the church. People’s value as a child of God is not measured in their productivity or effectiveness. This is simply to make sure that they are the right fit – that their capability and proficiency matches the responsibilities of the job. I’ve seen too many wonderful people hired or put into key roles where they are just not capable of fulfilling the tasks that have been asked of them.

Question: Is this person capable of doing what we are asking them to do in this particular role (i.e. is this the right fit, based on their proficiency and skill set)?

(3) Chemistry: So much of ministry is relationships. Chemistry with those you serve alongside of is important. It doesn’t mean we have to be best friends with everyone we work with. But it is important for us to consider chemistry, both on a personal and an organizational perspective. On a personal side, is there relational and emotional intelligence and spiritual maturity exhibited in their life? Are they kind and caring, do they work hard and yet have a good sense of humor? Do I enjoy working and serving alongside this person and can we be both honest and honoring to one another in these roles? On an organizational side, is this person passionate about the mission of what we are doing here in our church – or are they simply looking to serve with friends or looking for any opportunity to lead?

Question: Is this person someone that could sharpen me and I could sharpen him or her, while also bringing out the best in him or her? And, is there a passion for and a clear alignment with the mission of our church?

(4) Consistency: Trust is built through consistency. A leader must be responsible with big things (finances, people’s stories, relationships, etc) as well as small things (follow-through, showing up on time and when they say they will do something). Therefore, a leader must be full of trustworthiness and dependability.

Question: Have they exhibited consistency in all areas of their life and show themselves to be responsible? Can I trust them to do what they say they are going to do?

(5) Capacity: This C is related to Competency, but slightly different. This is not entirely about skill level; this also involves how much confidence people will be and how much trust they will put in the leader they are choosing to follow. Is there capacity growing or is there an evident ceiling? Those with high capacity have a tenacity to get their hands dirty and “figure it out.” They don’t give up easily. They trust, they persevere, they don’t give up and they push through when things are difficult – and others seem to notice.

Question: how confident will people be in following this person’s leadership, especially into new and uncertain areas?

(6) Calling: This is another significant C. In the secular world, you may be able to possess the first 5 C’s and be good at your job. But in the kingdom, we believe that the Spirit calls us into specific callings of vocation, especially in ministry. Calling is much more sacred and significant than a job or a fun ministry leadership role. Leaders with calling know that God have a confidence that God has brought things together in such a way that they can’t not respond to what He is asking of us.

Question: is this a simply a “good idea” or a true sense of being called to this position?

Certainly, discernment is important. These are not intended to be a formula or an equation; they are intended to be a form use with intention. Understand your context, your people and God’s specific call on your life as you use this tool. But next time you are recruiting or hiring for a key ministry position, utilize the tool of the 6 C’s and see if it is a helpful part of the discernment process.

Genesis Church Planters Training 2017 Recap

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 21:52:00 GMT

This year our equippers were able to spend a week with 16 current or future church planters. It was a beautiful week at Holy Trinity Retreat Center in Pikesville, MD, just outside of Baltimore.

We engaged in rhythms of prayer together, talked about church planting, leadership development, developing a culture of discipleship and a lot more.

This was the first year of doing this training that we had more female than male planters attending! We count that as an exciting development.

Here’s what some of the participants had to say about the week:

“It was incredibly helpful and encouraging week. There was a great balance between strategic discussion and tending to our hearts. The opportunity to connect with church planters from around the country was exciting and edifying.”

Philly Equipper Trip

Thu, 12 Oct 2017 22:17:00 GMT

This last weekend (Oct 7-8) Ecclesia Equipper Bob Hyatt had the privilege of traveling to the Philly area and working with leaders from the Renew Community, Next Gen in Princeton NJ, Redemption Church in Bristol, and the Gate Community Church in Bethlehem PA.

Bob walked these leaders through various models and facets of spiritual formation ending with a fruitful time of personal and corporate discernment of growth/formation opportunities through current challenges.

Bob was also able to spend time with the Renew Community, preaching and bringing greetings from the churches of Ecclesia and from the Evergreen Community in Portland Or. It was a valuable time of connection between sister churches!

If you are interested in having an Ecclesia Equipper check out this- we’d be honored to come and be with your community as well!

An Honest Look at Being White

Thu, 28 Sep 2017 20:15:00 GMT

Cyd Holsclaw, Ecclesia Board Member and Life on the Vine Member (Chicago, Illinois), shares her reflection

Let me start by saying how unqualified I feel to write anything at all about cultural identity and race… and yet, I’m also about as white as white comes. I was born and raised in western Michigan, attended schools where all of my classmates were white, went to college in Minnesota where whites of northern European heritage were the dominant culture on campus, got a masters in environmental education where I was surrounded by crunchy white folks, moved to Santa Cruz California where those crunchy folks were just the ‘normal’ folks, married a white guy, and now I live in the suburbs of Chicago in a solidly middle / upper class community where most of the minorities are doing their best to assimilate to the dominant white culture. Although I have never consciously bought into any racist ideologies, I confess I spent most of my life believing that colorblindness was the right approach, the Christ-like approach.

A few years ago, through listening to some powerful voices, I learned that colorblindness is, in reality, a blind spot. Since then, I’ve been trying to be honest about my lack of awareness of cultural identities – both my own and those of my brothers and sisters of color. I’ve been trying to educate myself about the histories I was never taught, listening to sermons / podcasts from people of color, watching documentaries, and reading fiction by non-white authors. But the feeling that I’m not doing enough has often frustrated me. I’ve been overwhelmed by the nagging question of “what am I supposed to do?” Maybe some of you can resonate with that question, with that tension.

So when I saw Daniel Hill’s book, White Awake , and the subtitle read, “An honest look at what it means to be white,” I knew I had to read this book. What I found was a graciously urgent call from a white brother to all his white sisters and brothers to “let go of preconceived notions of expertise or understanding that you feel you might be bringing to this… pray like the blind man: ‘Lord, help me to see.’” Throughout the book, Hill is honest and authentic about his own misshapen theology, his misguided motivations, his failed attempts, and his weariness. By his admissions of weakness, he invites all white people to journey with him through the stages of waking up to cultural identity. He urges us to ask the question “can I see?” before we ask what to do. We can only actively participate in the kingdom calling to considering all of humanity as image bearers when we learn to see and dismantle the ways our culture perpetuates broken ways of naming humanity.

If you are a white person, know any white people, pastor any white people, or live with any white people, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Language shapes our understanding of our experience, and Hill gives concrete language for white people to understand what’s happening when they are first coming to terms with privilege. He begins with the first ‘encounter’ with race and white supremacy, concisely unpacking American history in such a way that anyone who has not yet encountered white privilege will be faced with some new realities. He lends grace for the ‘denial’ that usually follows this encounter and urges us to face the trauma we feel in discovering our complicity. Helpful metaphors / parables help us explore the resulting ‘disorientation’ and lead us into unpacking our ‘shame’ reactions that push us into ‘self-righteousness’. Along the way, he lays out spiritual practices to move us out of each stage and into the next: confronting narratives, facing trauma, deepening theology, lamenting, repenting. He provides some markers of what it might look like to be more culturally ‘awake’ and offers suggestions for possible ways to move from contemplation to ‘active participation’ in change.

As a board, we have had conversations about building cultural awareness within our network. We want to be honest about the ways in which the evil behind systems of racism have influenced our structures, our communication, and our inclusion (or lack thereof) of our sisters and brothers of color. I’m asking my white family, will you join us in taking an honest look at what it means to be white? This book is a great first step, and I would love to talk more with anyone who reads it at our national gathering in the spring.

And to my brothers and sisters of color, thank you so much for your perseverance. We don’t even know all the ways we have unintentionally made you feel unwelcome. You have been patient with us, showed us grace in our blindness, spoken into our lives, shared your stories with us, and longed with us for a community where all will be seen, heard, understood, and celebrated. Thank you. Let’s continue, together, to imagine a network that more fully anticipates the Revelation vision of a great multitude of culturally diverse people worshiping Christ together.

From the National Director: Timelines

Mon, 21 Aug 2017 15:47:00 GMT

This summer Rachel and I have been gearing up for something we both thought we would never do – homeschooling! For a variety of reasons we have discerned this is the best path for our family in the near-term. As we have tried to dig ourselves into the world of curriculum for elementary school age children, we have found out just how much education has changed since we were little! One of our favorite resources that we stumbled upon as we’ve tried to put together a stellar plan is the “timeline” song used by some who take the classical approach to education. If you have never heard it before, you should look it up on Youtube. It is sung to a relatively catchy tune for elementary age children and will refresh your memory on everything you were once taught in history classes that you have long forgotten. The song lasts almost 13 minutes and ends with a reminder to the children that they are now part of the time-line of history and indeed can make some history of their own!

Ecclesia is coming up on 10 years since we “officially” started this Fall. Our time-line began with a collection of 4 churches scattered across the country who envisioned a family on mission with one another. The task of cultivating faithful expressions of the gospel in community seems more daunting now than when we first began a short decade ago. The cultural landscape in the US has changed a great deal during that time, presenting great challenges to the people of Jesus who wish to provide a faithful and compelling witness. Yet, with those great challenges are also great opportunities.

As I’ve thought about Ecclesia’s timeline and the timeline of many of the churches within our network, I know that many of you have experienced a season of challenge in the last year. Some of you hoped that the challenges of 2016 would not carry into a new year. For some that has turned about to the case, for others you find yourself still amidst of hardship. In many ways, what the churches of Ecclesia experience in their life is what “we” as a network experience. If it’s a tough year financially for you, it becomes a tough year financially for us. If you are navigating thorny issues and conflict, we are navigating thorny issues and conflict, because we are committed to walk together. Simultaneously, when new people enter the kingdom of God, or a family or neighborhood begins to be transformed, we all celebrate that with one another.

As I look over our collective timelines and with the jingle of the “timeline” song in my head, it’s a relief to remember that history is full of ups and downs, of seasons of fruitfulness and seasons of pruning. The fruitfulness comes in cycles, as does the pruning. Some years back Mike Breen spoke at our Ecclesia National Gathering and he reminded us that in seasons of pruning, our primary task is to abide (John 15). We draw close to Jesus during those moments, we place ourselves mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically at rest and under his care. We connect ourselves more to the source of life and in so doing, we will be renewed when the season of fruitfulness comes again. Just as we are intended to abide and Christ during those moments, I hope that we can also abide/remain/be connected to one another. For those who are in a different season, we celebrate with you and share in the joyful progress of the ministry Christ has given to your hands and heart. It’s a tangible reminder that these seasons come and go. In truth, it’s rare that fruitfulness and pruning are that distinct from one another. The reality is that often they are both happening simultaneously, but our experience is identified by one more than the other.

Recently I was visiting a network church and talking with one of our pastors who was sharing with me how they occasionally lament that they don’t have a building as it often feels like a barrier to growth in their community. He then went on to tell me how his wife recently corrected him about his lamentations as they have 80-100 people within their congregation who really “get it” and are genuinely pursuing Jesus and His mission. As he sat with those words he told me that he came to see what a beautiful thing he has caring for in those 80-100 people. I couldn’t agree more.

Whether you have 500-1000 in your congregation (as some churches in Ecclesia do) or 30-40 (as others do), helping the people of Jesus loves to grow up into the measure of the statue of the fullness of Christ is an awesome and history making task within itself, particularly as you help them come to understand their role in the great time-line of God’s kingdom action here on earth. Each week you preach or pray or create or counsel is a critical task. And, in spite of the odds, we can take great joy in knowing that those who have gone before and those who will come after have felt this same way. So, let’s take joy in hardship and celebration and let’s do it together!

What do you DO?

Mon, 31 Jul 2017 21:20:00 GMT

“ God can work by what means he will; by a scandalous, domineering, self-seeking preacher; but it is not his ordinary way. Foxes and wolves are not nature’s instruments to generate sheep. I never knew much good done to souls by any pastors, but such as preached and lived in the power of love, working by clear convincing light, and both managed by a holy, lively seriousness. You must bring fire, if you would kindle fire… Speak as loud as you will, and make as great a stir as you will, it will be all in vain to win men’s love to God and goodness, till their hearts be touched with his love and amiableness, which usually must be done by the instrumentality of the preacher’s love… If love be the sum and fulfilling of the law, love must be the sum and fulfilling of our ministry. ”- Richard Baxter, The Practical Works of Richard Baxter

What is it you actually do as a pastor or ministry leader? Is it your job to teach others and preach sermons? To administrate various programs or ministries? To lead the elders or deacons? If you view yourself as a teacher first and foremost you will certainly teach those in your church. If you view yourself as a CEO, you will certainly manage the affairs of the church. But will you necessarily love those in the church?

Baxter says love must be the “sum and fulfilling” of our ministry. That means we see our job first and foremost as someone who loves those given to his spiritual care. And because we love them we will teach them, administrate the affairs of the church well and do responsibly all the other duties wrapped up in pastoring. And when we fail to do them, we ought to see that not as a failure to meet the requirements of our job descriptions, but rather as a failure to truly love the church body to which we belong and are responsible. Our job, our duty, is to love people and want the best for them. Only then will we give ourselves to the role of pastor or elder the way we ought.

Questions:

Do you love the people in your church community?

How would they know?

How do you think your preaching and leading would be different if it were motivated mainly by love?

Meditation: Today, meditate on the love God has shown you in your life. Be thinking about what it would look like, out of gratitude, to pass that love on to others.

Prayer: Lord, I confess that all too often love is not my motivation for ministry. But when I think of the way You have loved me, I am moved to grow in my love for others. Today, and in the days to come, may my ministry begin and end with love.

Taken from A Month with Richard Baxter: Walking with a Puritan Pastor of Pastors Through the Spiritual Formation of Ministry by Bob Hyatt

Busyness… or Gluttony?

Fri, 21 Jul 2017 19:28:00 GMT

A paradox has emerged in this new millennium: people have enhanced quality of life, but at the same time they are adding to their stress levels by taking on more than they have resources to handle. It’s as though their eyes were bigger than their stomachs.

– David Allen, Getting Things Done

It’s more than likely that you’ve heard a message, read a book, or done some thinking about “busyness” in the last year or two. Slightly less likely, but still entirely possible, is that you’ve heard a message, read a book, or done some thinking on “gluttony” during the same time.

It’s highly unlikely that the two were connected. But maybe they should have been .

Why do we say yes to so much? Is it because we are guilt-ridden, co-dependent angst monkeys who lack the willpower to say no? No. We say no to a million things a day. Usually to things that are good for us, but still…when we want to, we know how to say no just fine, thank you.

Is it because we have a drive towards self justification that works itself out in our work and an ever-increasing load of commitments through which we seek to earn the favor of others and God? In part, yes…

But maybe it also has something to do with our appetites. You know, our appetites for recognition and “importance.” To be liked, appreciated, admired. Even our appetite to “get things done.” And honestly, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But like all things in this broken world, left unchecked by the Spirit and un-submitted to God, our appetite to be liked and our desire to achieve will run out of control.

I’ve been thinking about busyness as though it is a problem to be managed – increase my productivity and I could, of course, accept and keep more commitments, more on my plate… more to feed my ego.

Maybe the problem with busyness isn’t it . Maybe it’s me . Me and my ego and pride.

Conceived of this way, busyness isn’t an issue of time management and productivity, it’s an issue of desire. When is enough, enough? When am I doing enough good things through which that God-given desire to feel productive and useful in this world can be fulfilled? When do I cross the line between finding satisfaction in the good day’s work I put in and trying to find my identity through an ever-increasing load of ego-enhancing commitments?

I spend a lot of time thinking about how people can be more productive in ministry. And don’t get me wrong, I want to continue to work on productivity/time management and all the rest. But until I work through the inner issues of why I try to do so much, all the productivity hacks in the word really just add up to enabling.

In other words, most days I don’t need any more help being productive or managing the stress of work. I think I need help in managing my appetite for applause and the stress of opportunity.

I fear my busyness is simply a sign of my gluttony.

How the Learning Pyramid Impacts My Preaching and Teaching

Wed, 21 Jun 2017 19:21:00 GMT

You’ve probably seen the Learning Pyramid before. Since learning about the pyramid a few years ago, it has been a tremendous tool in my preparation and presentation when preaching a sermon, teaching a class or equipping ministry leaders in a training event. Sadly, for the first several years I focused too much on how I was teaching and not enough on how people learn. Even more, I noticed how often I focused almost entirely on just talking at people. No wonder people couldn’t remember or put into practice what I was teaching!

As we strive to enhance the learning experience and promote effective skill acquisition, embracing innovative tools such as a mobile learning management system app can further optimize the learning process. By utilizing technology, we can create dynamic and interactive learning environments that cater to different learning styles and engage learners at various levels of the Learning Pyramid. A mobile learning management system app enables learners to access content on the go, participate in interactive exercises, collaborate with peers, and receive personalized feedback and assessments. This integration of technology and pedagogy opens up new possibilities for immersive and experiential learning, allowing learners to actively apply their knowledge and skills. By embracing the potential of a mobile learning management system app, educators and trainers can effectively address the challenge of retaining and applying learned information, ensuring a more impactful and transformative learning experience for all.

Of course, as the National Training Laboratories has found in their research, the more we push down into the pyramid, the more people retain what they’ve learned. In my teaching preparation I often pull out the pyramid and think, “How far down the pyramid can I push this teaching?” I don’t get down to the bottom every single time, but I absolutely make sure I don’t remain only in the 5%/Lecture category. (Sometimes, in my more courageous and creative moments, I’ve wondered if we turned the pyramid completely upside down how people’s learning process and retention would be impacted).

As you think about your preaching and teaching, consider the following questions in each level of the pyramid:

Lecture: what are one or two ways I could increase the effectiveness and engagement of what I am communicating to people?

Reading: how am I encouraging people to read in the midst of the teaching (the biblical text, a quote on the screen, a handout, etc)? What are ways I could include reading materials, either during my teaching or as a take home resource?

Audio Visual: are there natural and creative ways I can use videos or songs to illustrate this point?

Demonstration: instead of simply teaching on this abstract concept, can I demonstrate it right on the spot? Can I call a volunteer up and simulate a role-playing exercise? Or can I give a specific and concrete example of someone who has recently lived out this concept in our community?

Discussion group: rather than listening to me communicate, can we carve our time and space for people to interact with each other? If so, what will they discuss? What questions or texts can I give them as prompts to their discussion? And what will they do with that information?

Practice by doing: Are there ways in which people can live out and practice what they just learned from me in the next 5 minutes? In the next 30 minutes? By the end of the day? What challenge(s) can I give them to attempt this?

Teaching others: Is there opportunity for someone courageous enough to come up and teach (or summarize) what they’ve learned in the process? If they’ve not done it effectively, how can we celebrate their willingness, while also offering suggestion or correction? If people have done it effectively, how can we affirm and celebrate both their willingness and ability to do something difficult in the moment?

One Simple Way to Avoid Burnout And Make It For The Long Haul

Thu, 01 Jun 2017 21:44:00 GMT

One of the primary differences between those who make it for the long haul in leading and ministering to others and those who don’t is the level of self-differentiation they are able to achieve. Self-differentiation is the ability to separate one’s intellectual or emotional functioning from that of family or other groups. In other words, it is the ability to know who you are without reference to who others believe you to be. This happens when your identity is rooted in something other than the transitory—your job or title, the esteem with which others hold you or the way you feel about your current performance. For the Christian leader, self-differentiation depends on our view of ourselves as the beloved of God, children of a God who cares for us because of who we are and accepts us because of what Christ has done.

Leading in a church setting is especially challenging for our self-differentiation. We’re often expected to respond not just to the needs but also to the wants and preferences of a very diverse community at all stages of spiritual development. We’re looked up to by some and looked down on by others; we’re seen as the solution by some and the problem by others. In all of this, we’re dealing with our own spiritual development and with our identity as leaders and members of the very communities we’re also trying to lead. Trying to be “all things to all people” is a sound missiological principle, but doing so without first having a grounded core identity—dependent not on what people think of us but on what God thinks of us—will quickly have us running in twelve different directions at once and losing our mission orientation. “Doing God’s will means at times resisting the loving appeal of nervous friends who offer us another, safer agenda”—or resisting the nervous preferences of our community or fellow leaders.

One of the things that has been most valuable to me in my quest to be the leader God means me to be is: Knowing the difference between to and for.

Leaders face a constant temptation to feel responsible for their community, their spiritual well-being, their marriages and their continued presence and involvement with their community. The problem is that as a community grows, as more and more marriages struggle (and perhaps fail) and as some decide to walk away from your church (and even the faith), that weight on your shoulders increases exponentially. Feeling responsible for others when we have no control over their behavior quickly leads to leaders who either try to control the behavior through whatever means necessary or who burn out under the load.

The good news is that you are not responsible for anyone in your community. As a pastor, you have responsibilities to them. You have the responsibility to love them, to teach them, to carefully and lovingly correct and exhort and encourage them, but you are not responsible for what they choose to do with that. Your responsibility includes doing all you can to point them to Jesus, but it puts the results firmly in their choices and the work of the Holy Spirit.

The same holds true with the overall community. We tend to take responsibility both when things are going well and when they aren’t, when we’re growing and when things feel stagnant and dead. In both, we overestimate both our influence and our responsibility. As leaders, we don’t make the church grow—God does. Our responsibility is to discharge our duties faithfully as elders and then leave the results up to God. We are responsible to our communities to be the best leaders we can be, to offer the best we can in terms of spurring others on toward love and good deeds and sounding a clear call to be the church Jesus had in mind. Ultimately, God is responsible for his church and its members, not us. The outcomes of our efforts rest in his hands, not on our shoulders.

(This is an adapted excerpt from Eldership and the Mission of God: Equipping Teams for Faithful Church Leadership – Check it out here )

The 4 Questions to Ask People Who Are Leaving Your Church

Thu, 23 Mar 2017 22:24:00 GMT

It’s never fun when people inform you that they’ve chosen to leave your church. It’s a hard reality to ponder that more people have left our church over the past 8 years than have stayed. Certainly, there are positive reasons people choose not to be a part of the church any more (a job transfer or a move out of state) and there are painful reasons (e.g. conflict in the church, not meshing with the philosophy of ministry, another church is more appealing to them or – pastors’ favorite one, “we’re just not being fed” — whatever that means).

Depending upon our personality types we may simply want to avoid a face-to-face conversation and “wish them well” from afar. Others feel the need to take a confrontational and maybe defensive posture that comes from being hurt, abandoned or betrayed.

Over the past few years our elders have tried to have a posture of a learner in these formats. Though we’ve done this imperfectly, we’ve purposefully tried to possess a “help us understand” posture of humble listening. Most often, we try to meet with them one-on-one (and, when not possible, over the phone or via email) in an “exit interview” type fashion in order to ask a few questions. To be clear, these meetings are never fun, always emotionally draining and give us clammy hands walking into them. We may not like they are leaving, but we believe we can learn things from them – and hopefully be able to thank them and to bless them as they go.

Here are four questions we ask in these “exit interview” type settings-

Sometimes they’ve already spoken their mind; other times, people need to wait for an opening to open up. Sometimes people have given us in the initial answer, “We just feel God leading us elsewhere.” But when we get together and give them space to respond, we often hear the real reason for their departure. It may be hard to hear, but we want honesty and truth in a church family – even when family members choose to leave.

Sometimes people know they need to transition but they feel guilty for doing so. They may be in charge of the set up and tear down team or play on the worship team. Being asked to be released from those roles can be helpful and a form of blessing. Sometimes they have admitted they are deeply hurt by a pastor or leader at the church (oftentimes without the pastor or leader knowing it) and need to share that hurt and allow space for the leader to confess and reconcile. Other times, they seek the church to bless them in their new Jesus community.

We may not be happy they are leaving (and may or may not find their reasoning to be legitimate) but they are still brothers and sisters in Christ. As we say within Ecclesia, “it’s kingdom, not competition” this is the opportunity to live that out. Even though their departure may be a “loss” for our church, it may be a “win” for another church. Difficult (and, at times, excruciating) it can be a great expression of kingdom partnership with other churches by “sending” people to other congregations.

Frustration is the difference between expectation and reality. We find that if we don’t express expectations of communication as they transition is can cause awkwardness, frustration and even hurt after they’ve left. Take time to define what that looks like. It doesn’t have to take long, but opening up a space for this discussion is important moving forward, especially since relationships and people’s lives have been enmeshed.

There may be other questions you’d want to ask when meeting, but these four questions encompass much of what we feel is important in saying our goodbyes, as awkward and disappointing as they may be. And as we end, we pray for them, knowing that, as Paul wrote, God began a good work in them and will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Ecclesia’s 2016 Annual Report

Thu, 09 Mar 2017 22:22:00 GMT

Here’s the Annual Report for 2016!

2016 Ecclesia Annual Report

Ecclesia's 2016 Annual Report

Thu, 09 Mar 2017 22:22:00 GMT

Here’s the Annual Report for 2016!

2016 Ecclesia Annual Report

New Churches

Fri, 24 Feb 2017 19:29:00 GMT

In a continued sign of momentum in Ecclesia, we are excited to welcome two new congregations to our family – The Neighborhood Church in Garland, TX and Koinonia House in Pottstown, PA. Both of these churches have been journeying with Ecclesia the last year and it’s a joy to make them and official part of the community.

The Neighborhood Church is located in the suburbs of Dallas and is seeking to follow Jesus for the sake of God’s kingdom in Garland, Texas. Garland is a large suburb that happens to be one of the most ethnically diverse cities of its size in the U.S. Their hope is that The Neighborhood Church would look more and more like our Garland as they live into their name by walking alongside their neighbors in meaningful relationships.

Here is how Adam describes The Neighborhood Church …
“Our people are authentic, hospitable, and sacrificial. Some grew up in church, some were hurt by a church and have found healing, and others are completely new to church (even in the middle of the Bible belt). We try to live authentically with God and each other as a family. The church was planted by Mark Moore as Providence Community Church in a nearby city over a decade ago. We’ve changed our name and re-planted in Garland but the core practices of believing the gospel of the kingdom, belonging to one another, and blessing our city and world has been a constant through the years.

God has been so gracious to unite us together with a clear sense of who we’ve become and what we’re called to do. We want to be a faithful presence to those in need, to the marginalized, and to the de-churched. Since the Fall of 2015 we’ve partnered with a community center in one of the most economically disadvantaged areas of the city two miles from where we gather for worship. We’ve served in a variety of ways from after school programs, holiday parties, and VBS-style summer student weeks, but now we’re taking another step in our effort to be good neighbors for God’s kingdom by launching a Neighborhood Clothes Closet to meet needs and open more doors to relationships.

We are thrilled to be part of Ecclesia. After Pastor Bud Riddel and I (Adam) visited last year’s national gathering we were convinced we had found a nurturing and life-giving community that shared our heartbeat. Pastor Kathy Keasler (formerly of A New Community), Pastor Bud, and I can’t wait to develop new relationships within the network and to continue to grow our existing relationships. By God’s grace, we look forward to being God’s people together.”

Bob Hyatt, Director of Equipping and Spiritual Formation said, “I’ve always been impressed with the way the Neighborhood Church, planted in the heart of Church Country, has managed to be different. By living as a truly missional community they live out a real Kingdom alternative to the culture around them in a way that both challenges and inspires.”

In addition to TNC, Ecclesia is also enthusiastic to welcome Koinonia House to our movement. Koinonia was planted by Jessica Clemmer and her husband Todd over a decade ago with a desire to “do church differently.” They envisioned a community that was relationally centered, and shared life together built around faith. In discussing their origins Jessica relayed,

“We thought we wanted to create an atmosphere where people who typically wouldn’t feel comfortable showing up at a traditional church would feel welcome. We wanted to be intentional about making space for the arts in church life, and wanted to be a place of blessing to our local communities. What we were really desiring was a fuller realization and living out of the Gospel, though at that point we didn’t have a paradigm for understanding or living that well.”

Throughout the years, Koinonia has begun to develop and lean into a fuller understanding of the Gospel; in that it wasn’t JUST for saving from hell to heaven, but that it was a process of partnering with God in the reconciliation and restoration of all things. As this settled deeper into their core, they began to get ahold of the concept of missional living, feeling released to build and enjoy genuine relationships with people that were not part of our faith, which they could see cultivating much more openness to the Gospel. J.R. Briggs, Director of Leadership & Congregational Formation has been walking alongside Koinonia in this last year. J.R. shares, “It’s been a pleasure to spend time with the Koinonia House community- and it’s been a joy to call Jessi and Todd Clemmer friends for the past few years. After talking about Ecclesia with the Clemmers and their leaders for some time, I’m thrilled that Koinonia House is now officially a part of the network.”

After many years of meeting in different locations, now they are seeking to put down roots, and be present and stable for the communities in which we live and are involved. On behalf of Koinonia , Jessica says, “We are excited about the ways that God has been connecting us with the greater Body, both in our local region, as well as through like-minded networking, such as Ecclesia. We are moving into a new season with great expectation, not of what we will be able to do FOR God, but rather, what we will be blessed to be able to do WITH Him.”

Ecclesia is excited to walk along with you in Koinonia and Neighborhood Church !

The Neighborhood Church in Garland, TX

Ecclesia Online Learning Hangout w/ Dave Fitch

Fri, 24 Feb 2017 19:26:00 GMT

Other Online Learning Hangouts this year will include Mandy Smith, AJ Swoboda and Deb Hirsch- watch for details!

From the National Director: Pentecost Offering

Fri, 24 Feb 2017 19:24:00 GMT

Last year we introduced the Pentecost Offering at the 2016 National Gathering. This new initiative emerged out of a desire among certain Ecclesia Churches to work more collaboratively across the network in the supporting of new communities of faith. Given our desire within Ecclesia to accentuate the PRIMACY of the local church, we determined that each participating Ecclesia Church had two options with the funds generated through their local Pentecost Offering efforts. First, they could decide to retain the funds from the Pentecost Offering within their own reserves for either a future church plant out of their congregation or for a project they decided to support specifically. Or, they could decide to send the funds to Ecclesia as a whole, which would then bundle, batch, and distribute the collective funds generated to a specific project or two. (Of course, some churches decided to do a mixture of the two).

As a whole, nearly $50,000 was generated through the Pentecost Offering in 2016 . We were genuinely surprised by the receptivity to this new initiative. Much of that was retained locally, but the portion that was sent to Ecclesia was ultimately given to a new congregation in New Jersey. New Hights Christian Church in Hightstown, NJ is a new congregation emerging out of Next Gen Church in Princeton, NJ. New Hights is pastored by Oscar Guerrero, a bi-vocational church planter, and is primarily focused on the Latino Community. You can see a snapshot of God’s action among them in J.R. Briggs’ update in this edition of the news as well as the Ecclesia Annual Report. With our collective support, New Hights has been able to purchase a van for their congregation to help the myriad of ministry they are engaged in on a weekly basis. This is an incredible story that our Ecclesia Churches are happy to be part of, that they likely never would have, apart from being involved in Ecclesia.
We are collecting the names of churches within Ecclesia desiring to participate in the 2017 Pentecost Offering. If you are interested, please reach out to Sarah Keasler (pentecost@ecclesianet.org) or myself (chris.backert@ecclesianet.org). We will be distributing information on the 2017 Pentecost Offering in the next month.

Event w/ Darrell Guder POSTPONED

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 23:17:00 GMT

Pastors and Kingdom Leaders,

We were scheduled to meet Tuesday in Plymouth Meeting, PA for an event featuring Dr. Darrell Guder. Unfortunately, Dr. Guder recently informed us that a medical emergency has occurred in his family and he will be unable to join us for the event.

Therefore, we are postponing Tuesday’s event. We will find another date that suits Dr. Guder’s schedule in the near future and let you all know when the reschedule date is for this event.

Reaching New Hights

Thu, 09 Feb 2017 22:34:00 GMT

– J.R. Briggs

February 5 may have been Super Bowl Sunday, but Sunday afternoon many experienced something much more significant than the Patriots’ dramatic win. New Hights Christian Church, a brand new Spanish-speaking congregation in Hightstown, NJ, held their first baptism service that included their worship service, baptism, recognition of new members and dinner and cake afterward.

Pastored by Oscar Guerrero, New Hights was birthed through the support of several mission-oriented tribes that desire to see more churches birthed. Three years ago Oscar participated in a learning cohort with Fresh Expressions U.S., a sister organization of Ecclesia. At the encouragement of Mia Chang (Ecclesia board member and pastor of nearby Next Gen Church in West Windsor, NJ) – along with the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey, Oscar attended the Fresh Expressions trainings and learned about joining with the Spirit in birthing new, creative expressions and extensions of church right where you are.

While the church started in Oscar’s living room just four months ago, services now include more than 50 people. That Sunday afternoon not only included 12 baptisms of new believers, but also included the recognition of 38 new members to the church! They serve the elderly and shut-ins, run after school tutoring for kids, started a youth ministry and host several Bibles studies each week. In that Sunday service, singing, praying and preaching in Spanish (which was then translated to English) reminded everyone in attendance of our big God who is worshiped and understood in various languages and cultures. Speaking of prayer, Oscar’s heart for and conviction of the importance of prayer is clear. “If we don’t pray,” he said, “our church will die. Prayer is how we depend upon God – for everything.”

Mia Chang and J.R. Briggs both present, where Mia assisted with the baptisms. She and J.R. gave a brief word of encouragement to the baptism candidates and laid hands on the candidates in prayer at the end of the service. When Ecclesia envisioned initiating a Pentecost Offering in 2016 we were praying faithfully that we could bless a congregation in a way that birthed fruit for the kingdom. What a privilege it is to partner with New Hights – in prayer, finances and relationships – in order to see new congregations bring God’s hope-filled mission to a world in need.

Sermon Feedback: 5 Ways to Discern When it’s Legit (and When People are Just Being Nice)

Thu, 09 Feb 2017 22:29:00 GMT

As pastors we have all experienced it.

We’ve studied, prayed and prepared a sermon all week – and now we’ve just gotten done preaching our heart out. As the service ends and people begin to leave, some look us in the eyes and say, “Nice job. Good sermon.”

“Thanks,” we say with a bit of timidity and an awkward grin.

But inside we think, Really? Do they mean it or are they just saying that? If so, I wonder what did they like about it?

The truth is we don’t think they’re downright lying to us, but we’re tempted to wonder is that the whole story – and how honest were they being – really?

Feedback, as they say, is the breakfast of champions. As a feedback junky myself, I want to improve and grow in communicating God’s Word to others. But over the years I’ve struggled with this drive-by encouragement on the way out the door. How am I to know what is legitimate feedback and when are people just being pleasant, kind, nervous – or maybe unsure what else to say but “good job”? I’ve learned to listen for five specific forms of feedback that are legitimate and credible:

(1) Specificity

When people give specific feedback to a sermon I see that they were really listening, careful to take in something of importance and then articulate that to me. Instead of “Nice job, pastor,” when I hear “You know, that second point you made about God’s patience with Israel reminded me of just how patient he is with me in my own life.” Or, “That verse you read – the one about being a living sacrifice – is going to impact the way I love my wife and kids this week. I haven’t been eager to do the simple things – change diapers, unload the dishwasher or pick up the toys on the floor after a long day. But I realized today that’s a part of what Paul is talking about.”

(2) Time passed

It’s easy to hear encouragement minutes after preaching, but I listen well when someone says, “Six months ago you taught on God’s goodness, even in times of suffering. I can’t get that concept out of my head. I think about it often and it encourages me when things are difficult.” The Spirit seems to have pierced their heart in such a way that it remains within them.

(3) People’s posture and body language

Outward appearance, of course, isn’t everything; but posture and body language can be beneficial and legitimate real-time feedback of what is happening to people internally. While we preach, we can look out and notice people to get a pulse of the room. Are people are leaning in and paying attention? Are people nodding or smiling? Were tears present during that story I told about my interaction with my neighbor? Are people leaning back with their arms crossed looking bored? Are people looking down, reading and re-reading – maybe underlining – something in their Bibles? Or – unfortunately – are people sleeping?

(4) The specific, intentional and solicited feedback of trustworthy people.

I’m a feedback junky. I always want to improve and grow. Part of my rhythm in teaching and preaching is to proactively seek out spiritually mature people who I know will be both honest and honoring with feedback a day or two after I’ve preached. I find that if I ask generic questions (“So, how was it?” I will always get generic answers (“It was good”). But if I ask more specific questions, (“How helpful was the opening story during the introduction?” or “If you could summarize my sermon in a thesis statement what would it be?”) I find I get very helpful and meaningful feedback. (I’ve even developed a one-page Teaching Feedback Form that I give to people and kindly ask them to fill it out and return it to me). At times what I hear is encouraging and affirming; other times it’s pointed areas that didn’t work and how I could improve upon them. Admittedly, sometimes some of the feedback stings, but from a trusted friend or congregant, I know they mean well and desire me to sharpen my gifts – and, for that, I am grateful.

(5) The Spirit’s affirmation.

Despite what people think, the most important affirmation we could ever receive is from the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, it’s not a popularity contest and we aren’t trying to tickle the ears of our people. We are trying to serve the Lord. So, in the quiet moments in our office before heading home or when we drive home in the car, what is the Lord whispering to us? Do we sense affirmation of faithfulness to the preparation, to our motivations and to the text throughout the week – and this morning? Do we sense the affirmation of our faithfulness to the opportunity to present God’s Word? Listen to these quiet moments of affirmation or correction from the Spirit. It’s ultimately this feedback that we should pay attention to the most.

Certainly, we want to thank and express our gratitude for those who offer brief encouragement as we leave our gatherings. But lean in and pay attention most notably to the feedback given in these five forms.

Ecclesia Welcomes New Board Member Mandy Smith!

Thu, 02 Feb 2017 18:20:00 GMT

Originally from Australia, Mandy Smith is lead pastor of University Christian Church, a campus and neighborhood congregation with its own fair-trade café in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a regular contributor to Christianity Today publications and the Missio Alliance Blog and the author of The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry and Making a Mess and Meeting God. She is also the creator of The Collect, a citywide trash-to-art project. Mandy and her husband Jamie, a New Testament professor at Cincinnati Christian University, live with their two kids in a little house where the teapot is always warm.

Mandy says, “I’m honored to join my friends in serving on the Ecclesia Network board. God has used EN to remind me I’m not alone and I want to do whatever I can to help EN continue to encourage and equip others.”

The Ecclesia Network Board 2017

Mandy says, “I’m honored to join my friends in serving on the Ecclesia Network board. God has used EN to remind me I’m not alone and I want to do whatever I can to help EN continue to encourage and equip others.”

New Buildings- New Ministry Opportunities Within Ecclesia

Thu, 02 Feb 2017 18:15:00 GMT

After 12 years meeting in 3 different pubs and 1 rave space, the Evergreen Community in Portland, OR finally has a building! Evergreen has moved into the former Presbyterian Church of Laurelhurst, a beautiful brick building (view here to see a similar building like this and get it now ). This past month has been spent acclimating to the new space, and dreaming of ways the kingdom can be advanced out of it. Many neighborhood groups already make use of the space. Check it out!

Recently District Church in D.C. had some big news!
Over the last several years, they have been praying as a church about a set of what they’ve called God-Sized Dreams. These are things they believe God is calling us to but didn’t have the resources or people to make them happen. What this means practically is that they have been praying and looking for space that can facilitate as many of these dreams as possible; specifically, they have been looking for a ministry center space, not so much for Sunday mornings, but to base all of their work out of each week.

Recently. they were able to purchase an incredible property!

This property will serve as a ministry base and center for their multiplication efforts as a church! Located near the Brookland Metro in Northeast DC, it’s an old Catholic convent where Dominican sisters and then Jesuit priests lived and studied to train for ministry.

District Church plans to expand their District Fellows program to train people called to ministry, to house their foster care and adoption ministry, DC127, and support many of their weekly activities with the church— small groups, classes, and ministry teams. They will also be able to expand counseling and soul care work.

One Simple Key to Sane Church Planting: Let Go of Your Ideals

Thu, 26 Jan 2017 20:24:00 GMT

One of the first things I talk to couples about as we sit down for pre-marital counseling is letting go of their ideals. Not necessarily their ideals about what marriage can be, but their ideal versions of each other. Most, but not all of us, approach dating and potential marriage with a list of things we’d like to see in a potential spouse. By the time we arrive at the doorstep of marriage, we usually have come to realize that the person we are marrying doesn’t look much like the list we had in our heads… but we’re excited nonetheless. We have found someone we like, love and want to spend the rest of our lives with and we’re happy to let go of all the things we thought we needed in a potential Mr. or Ms. Right.

But… there’s still some letting go to be done: the idealized version of the person we are marrying. No doubt during dating and engagement we have seen some foibles, some potential character issues. Yet we hold out the hope that this is the perfect person for us, that they stand head and shoulders above all other potential mates- we retain an idealized version of our future spouse in our hearts and minds.

This same dynamic that has the potential to ruin marriages also impacts our church lives deeply, both on the leadership and congregational side.

For leaders, there’s an often an unspoken feeling that ministry would be great if it weren’t for all the people . We have an ideal version of the church we’d like to pastor in our heads, or even an ideal version of the particular church we are already pastoring. And reality rarely ever meets those expectations. For this reason, too many leaders long to head to the other side of the fence where the grass is perceived to be greener, and fail to recognize the inherent beauty and strengths in their own current churches. For the record, a perpetually dissatisfied leader is a poor leader. Someone who cannot appreciate the individual people and the community God has given him or her will never be able to help those people grow beyond the very things that cause the dissatisfaction and frustration in the first place.

Letting go of the idealized version of our church means thanking God for the reality right in front of us, the strengths we see if we will just look and even the deficits we are tempted to overly focus on. After all, those deficits, be they an inward focus and lack of vision for mission, or a tendency to fight with each other, or a lack of generosity to the church and others are the very reason we are there. An algebra teacher doesn’t doesn’t complain when she finds her students don’t already know algebra, does she? Of course not- it’s her job to teach them. But a pastor lamenting the spiritual immaturity of his or her congregation is no different.

In the same way, we need to help our people to let go of their idealized versions of community and church as well. Firstly, because of the damage they will do to themselves with those idealized versions. Too many Christians are still looking for the “right church” while failing to realize they’ve been a part of plenty of them, but were unable to realize it because they could not see the beautiful reality right in front of them due to their focus on the ideal version against which they judged everything and everyone. And so on they go, first from one church to another, while their dissatisfaction grows. Failing to put to death our idealized versions of community almost inevitably ends up with us being community-less, because no church ever measures up. I’ve seen it happen more than once.

Secondly, the damage done to others by those who hold idealized versions of community in their heads is serious. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in Life Together

“He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial. God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God Himself accordingly. He stands adamant, a living reproach to all others in the circle of brethren.”

This too I have seen more than once- the one who has created an ideal version of Christian community in his head, who becomes increasingly frustrated with the reality and begins to act out of that frustration, accusing others of being less serious, less spiritual than he. What begins with a patronizing attitude, descends into outright contempt for those who fail to meet the visionary’s standards and ends with condemnation of the whole community. Much hurt is caused by folks as they walk down this path, not encouraging others with the lessons they believe they have learned but condemning them for not having already learned them.

The quicker we can help people realize that while our goal is to grow and mature as a community, and while we don’t want to ignore our obvious growth areas, we’ll never reach the kind of full maturity and perfection they long for, they better off we and they will be.

Examine your own heart as a leader- are you discouraged? Why? Do you wish God had called you to a different place or different people? Do you compare what you know of your own church community with what you think you know of others’? Stop it before you do damage to yourself and your church. Learn to appreciate the people and the community God has placed you in, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant it is. God loves those people and that church- how can you do any less?

Then, help your people to understand that the journey to growth and maturity is a long one, and that the answer when we see problems in our community is not to find a new one, with a whole new set of problems, but rather to stay, root ourselves and work and pray for the benefit and growth of this beautiful mess of a community we find ourselves in.

If 2016 was a Challenging Year – You’re Not Alone!

Thu, 26 Jan 2017 20:00:00 GMT

I can’t think of another year since Ecclesia began where more congregations were …

Yes, 2016 was a year of obstacles for just about every church in Ecclesia (and from my vantage point, those outside Ecclesia too).

Here is what we must remember though- in these moments where we face challenges – we are not alone! We know this to be true right? Jesus told us he would be with us always, until the end of the age (Matthew 28). He also told us that he would not leave us as orphans, but send another comforter (John 14). We are not alone. Yet, why do so many church leaders feel alone?

I would suggest that often we feel alone because we face our challenges alone. We can be isolated as congregations, and therefore are more isolated from help when the attacks of the enemy or the effects of sin break forth in our midst. I dare say that churches that only look to themselves locally (fellow pastors, boards, elders, congregants, etc) always fare worse than those that look beyond their local context for help and support. Always.

Jesus left us with the reality of his presence through the impartation of the Holy Spirit in perpetuity. The Holy Spirit takes it’s primary residence in relationship to the people of God, and this is not simply a “local church” reality. It’s clear in the New Testament that there is a “local church” and a “universal church” but there is also a “regional church.” Whether this was the church in a region or a wider city (i.e. letter to Colossians), or most often referenced to the trans-local band of apostles and evangelists and prophets and teachers that worked among and throughout the early church, it’s clear that there was a concrete and personal community that was intended to exist in fellowship beyond a local congregation, even outside its own city. There is a fairly good basis to say that the strength of the New Testament church was at least partially in relation to a local congregation having a proactive relationship to this “middle” space between the local and universal. I think that today, even occasionally among Ecclesia churches, we have a tendency to forget the vital role the “trans-local church” carries.. It is the “network” level of church that keeps the local congregation from becoming myopic or insulated within its own locality. It’s the “network” level that helps make the universal church concrete and un-ethereal.

This past year, living out of this middle space of “church” among Ecclesia we have helped one another in all these challenges we have faced. Churches have received council and wisdom from others in Ecclesia on navigating thorny issues related to sexual faithfulness. They have helped each other through unplanned transitions in senior leadership. There have been personal and relational challenges among staff that we have helped intervene among, and we have brainstormed together in order to generate ways of increasing resources in a financially lean time.

In addition to walking through challenges with one another, we have also collaborated on kingdom opportunities. Overall, Ecclesia experienced nearly 30% growth in the number of new congregations in 2016. We welcomed 4 new congregations into Ecclesia in addition to being involved in helping 8 new congregations launch into existence. We collaborated on our first ever Pentecost Offering, where nearly $50,000 new dollars were generated for church planting and pioneering mission. This, of course, is not to mention all the new ideas that have been shared with one another, the encouragement toward greater life in Christ, the sharing of resources (sermons, small group materials, communications ideas, advent planning, etc) with one another that have saved us time, and the many times Ecclesia staff or other leaders have visited congregations within the network to encourage and equip them. Whenever we reflect on things like this, we have to remember that what we mean by “Ecclesia” is both the relationships between churches and leaders and between churches and our Ecclesia staff who help make it all connect together. There is no Ecclesia without both of these realities. All of the kingdom good that is generated together is dependent on both of them.

Occasionally someone will ask me what they “get” by joining Ecclesia. This is a perfectly understandable question, but within Ecclesia we have a more robust answer than simply a list of benefits. While many concrete benefits exist, the greatest benefit of Ecclesia are the people. We have an amazing collection of leaders, with more joining all the time. As a Covenanted Community we are available to one another. We also have our staff, who love and support our congregations (and those in the process of becoming part) with sacrificial love and time. They help serve at the “nerve system” to be sure our network stays connected. Not long ago, Mandy Smith, new Ecclesia Board Member and Lead Pastor at University Christian Church, made this comment about them,

“I don’t know how I would have got through the past year or two without the support of Chris, Bob and J.R. At significant turning points, I have reached out to them and they’ve made themselves available, offering both their own insight and connecting me with others in the network. These incredibly gifted and servant-hearted leaders love the churches and want to serve them. They never make us feel like it’s a transaction. Between the three of them, they get all this work done in only 4.5 days a week. I was amazed when I recognized how much is done with so little time!”

Our staff are helping carve out a path for new congregations to be started, for existing congregations to be strengthened, and for leaders to be supported. If you lean in, I’m certain your life will feel the difference both from them and all the leaders of churches within Ecclesia.

As we look at 2017 as a network I want to encourage you to reach out to someone in Ecclesia with a phone call, drop a text, or send an email. Better yet, investigate being part of a Leader’s Circle with others in Ecclesia. Beyond that, encourage your fellow staff and congregational leaders to do the same. Let’s also keep in mind that there are some exciting new ministry opportunities on the horizon.

At our annual board meeting two weeks ago we discussed our belief that Ecclesia is on the cusp of a major season of growth as we have responded faithfully and diligently to the work before us the last few years. While so much fruit is growing, it is a time of financial leanness. To help resource the ongoing nurturing of the fruit, will you consider increasing your annual commitment? Would you join with us supporting the work this year, both as congregations and as leaders? You can even do so right now by following this link .

Let’s also commit to pray with one another, that we would simply be obedient in following the action of the Holy Spirit. If we can do these two things, I can’t wait to see what happens!

-National Director Chris Backert

New Elder Commissioning at Renew

Thu, 27 Oct 2016 20:00:00 GMT

On Sunday, October 23, The Renew Community (Lansdale, PA) officially added and commissioned two elders to their elder team. While elders have been commissioned at the church before, this was […]

Reality Check- Who is the Real Enemy?

Thu, 27 Oct 2016 19:05:00 GMT

It seems that we are at a time in our nation when it’s hard to make friends, but it’s easy to make enemies. I can’t tell you the number of people I have heard that have been “de-friended” or ridiculed for expressing a political opinion one way or another. I know of many sincere, non-ideological followers of Christ that have been vilified by suggesting they may vote for Trump, and many sincere, non-ideological followers of Christ that have been vilified for suggesting they may vote for Clinton. Recently, some of the prominent, Christian, political operatives in our country have even demeaned those who are suggesting that their conscience cannot allow them to vote for President at all. Indeed, we seem to be able to easily identify an enemy.

I’ve come to the point where I have great compassion and empathy for anyone who has struggled with this decision – whether to vote Trump, or Clinton, or neither (or other). To those who say they intend to vote for Trump because of the Supreme Court alone, or their wish to “stick it” to the political principalities and powers, I understand. To those who intend to vote for Clinton because of her concern for the poor or her advocacy for women across the globe, not to mention the significance of having a woman in the oval office, I too understand. When I think about my own faith, and the fact that by voting I am still personally endorsing two bad options, I am inclined to not vote at all. And here, it is possible, that any of these words may create an enemy for me.

Often I find myself these days coming back to the one thing I know to be supreme above all, and that is Jesus and the church he founded. These are realities that are concrete and far less ambiguous. In a time when enemies are being created by the day, we have something very important to offer – a reality check for who the real enemy is.

In 2 Corinthians 4 we are reminded that the God of this world has blinded the eyes of those who do not believe. Ephesians 6 tells us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers. 1 Peter warns us that the devil is roaming about like a roaring lion, seeking whom to devour. As Christians we know who the real enemy is – or do we?

The other day when my daughter was sick, I sat and watched the Disney movie Mulan with her. The main antagonist in the story – Shan Yu – was spoken of often. He was identified by the protagonists, they did their best to develop a strategy to defeat him, and it was clear they were aware (and in that case, concerned) about him. It was clear to them who the enemy was and you could tell by the amount of “air time” he got. If you looked at most churches today, across the theological spectrum, one thing is mostly certain: in few places would any neutral observer be able to identify who we actually believe our real enemy is. In our more progressive circles, we are doubtful that the Satan even exists. If he does, it is in some elusive and undiscernible form. Our more conservative circles are not too altogether different (though some corners of both Charismaticism/Pentecostalism are an exception). While we believe that the scriptures say the Satan is real, we rarely speak of him, also attributing his actions to some elusive and undiscernible form (and most of the “spiritual realm” we handle similarly). For those among us who are Centrist, I find that we believe in the devil and often know that he is really acting, but because we know that most in our congregations fall to one side or the other of us in this area, we rarely speak of our sub-human enemy at all. It’s no wonder we have so many other enemies – we can’t identify a personality big enough to occupy everything we need to lay at the feet of all that we disdain. C.S. Lewis was right when he said, “if the devils exist, their first aim is to give you an anesthetic – to put you off your guard. Only if that fails, do you become aware of them.

Herein is our great opportunity – name the devil – identify his works – articulate a strategy for his defeat – don’t let him blind us as well. When is the last time you preached a sermon, or led a study, on how to deal with the devil? Can you recall if you have exorcised a demon? Or, how about something less overt? Have you prayed against the devil and his schemes? Have you incorporated this important element of our faith into your liturgy? (You would need to have written it yourself as most liturgies omit this critical dimension of our faith). So, how can you begin to inform and equip your congregation to deal with the devil and his works? Jesus dealt with the reality of the devil quite often. So should we.

This is not a “devil or demon under every rock” theology. As best as I understand, the bible does not present the picture of a devil that is omni-present. There are also limitations on demons and we are clearly told in the scriptures that the devil can, even now, be defeated and that the demons tremble at the name of Jesus (James 4, Matthew 8, Mark 5). We should be so bold to speak his name, proclaim his blood, and give witness to our testimony (Rev. 12).

To my fellow pastors and leaders, I know that many of us fall into the category of leaders who believe the devil exist, who understand him to be a real personality, as well as being engaged in the “systems” of the world. Yet, never talking about him is exactly his wish. I suspect that he is happy to defer his glory for his gratification. It’s time we fight back – for this is something that ONLY a Christian can do. Indeed, this is the enemy we need to fight in these days.

From the Field: An update From Albuquerque- Jesse & Joanna Harden

Thu, 29 Sep 2016 20:23:00 GMT

Today, one year later, marks our third month on the ground in Albuquerque’s International District, a beautifully diverse, tragically marginalized and wonderfully resilient area of our city. We desire to see a missional community of faith spring up, which we are calling New Creation Albuquerque . We hope to be a people seeking the peace and flourishing of our neighborhood. 25% of our neighbors were born outside of the U.S. and nearly 50% live below the poverty line. It is where people begin when they have nothing or end up when they’ve lost everything.

As we begin our church planting journey, we are sometimes bold, often uncertain and growing ever more dependent on the Holy Spirit for moment by moment discernment. God is on the move and is affirming His call on our lives! He is building the beginnings of beautiful relationships between our families and our neighbors, men, women and children born in America, Vietnam, Laos, Cuba, Africa and Mexico. We have attended a Buddhist festival at the invitation of a monk I met while prayer walking. We have prayed for broken marriages, empty bank accounts and hurting legs and backs. We are seeing God move. And, others are joining us! Three families have moved into the neighborhood to be an intentional presence with us. We have had over 35 adults attend the first 3 of a series of 10 weekly interest meetings. These represent a diverse and gifted group of Jesus’ followers discerning God’s call to join us on mission to the International District. God is moving. We are encouraged and are expectant for what the Holy Spirit is bringing about as we strive to bear faithful witness to Jesus’ Kingdom in this place.

Welcome New Ecclesia Member Church The Commons

Thu, 29 Sep 2016 20:15:00 GMT

Jon describes The Commons this way, “We are a young non-denominational church with a deep and rooted love for God and our neighborhood. We consider ourselves a family. What holds us together is not ethnicity, education, income, or politics. We are a family because of Jesus and owe Jesus a common allegiance. Christ, his broken body and shed blood, are at the center of all we do together. We each come, bringing our unique stories, to journey life together as a community. It is not about uniformity, but unity, so that together we may live for something bigger than ourselves.”

Here is a message from Jon to our Ecclesia community

You can find out more about The Commons at http://www.thecommonsforall.com.

We are excited to have Jon, Sarah, Micah, and Jude part of the Ecclesia family!

The Spiritual Formation of Leaders: Mid-Atlantic Regional Event October 22, 2016

Thu, 29 Sep 2016 20:10:00 GMT

The Spiritual Formation of Leaders: Mid-Atlantic Regional Event October 22, 2016 @ Horizon Church

14 E. Chatsworth Ave
Reisterstown MD 21136
A day long session for your community’s leaders which focuses on helping them gain an understanding of how God forms us, see the strengths they already have, view the challenges in their individual and corporate life through the grid of formation and the skills God would like to build through those challenges, and finally the new strengths/Christlikeness God is working to lead them towards.

We start with some formational prayer, move on to stages of formation as envisioned by Richard Rohr, the difference between the managed life and the forming life and then finally to individual and then corporate strengths/skills assessments as we discover together what God is up to in our midst.

Emphasis on both individual and corporate formation.

“ What I appreciated most was having a trusted, objective leader speak into the challenges and opportunities facing our community. Many of the things you shared about spiritual formation fit perfectly with what we’ve been teaching for years, but hearing it from a fresh outside voice lent credibility and weight to the centrality of formation and discipleship in our mission. It was also very affirming to hear someone tell us that our challenges are “good challenges” and to be encouraged that we’re struggling with the right things.”

“ Our day of Spiritual Formation with Bob helped our leadership dig some deep wells of character and calling that has generated great discussion and formative practices for us as a community.”

“ We appreciated the assistance in instigating a conversation on Friday night about our struggle with transience. You gave us an outside perspective on our problems and it was useful to know that we are not the only community that struggles with this issue.

On Saturday, I found the tools you introduced to be useful for introspection and to provide a lens for better understanding my own spiritual journey. Overall, it was just concretely useful; for instance, I have heard several folks in our community repeat the “forming life” question as they process a difficult experience.”

Facilitator : Dr. Bob Hyatt :: Portland, OR

Bob is the founding pastor of The Evergreen Community in Portland, Or. He did his Master’s at Western Seminary and DMin at George Fox Seminary. Bob serves as the Director of Equipping and Spiritual Formation for the Ecclesia Network and is also the co-author (with J.R. Briggs) of Eldership and the Mission of God: Equipping Teams for Faithful Church Leadership and Ministry Mantras: Language for Cultivating Kingdom Culture and the author of A Month with Richard Baxter: Walking with a Puritan Pastor of Pastors Through the Spiritual Formation of Ministry

Register Now!

Reflection on Ecclesia's Genesis Church Planters Training- Gary Alloway

Thu, 29 Sep 2016 17:59:00 GMT

I am a straight-A student. Even though I haven’t been in school for a decade now, that identity remains. I am one who succeeds, who passes the test, who figures […]

Some Updates from the Network

Thu, 04 Aug 2016 15:37:00 GMT

Starting in August he’ll be the Assistant Professor of Christian Spiritual Formation at Friends University, a Christian liberal arts college, teaching undergraduate students as well as working with James Bryan Smith to build a Master’s program for higher-level thinking in the field of Christian discipleship and formation. Sarah will be pursuing her master’s degree in business administration (MBA), something she has been wanting to do for some time now.

“It was just a few days after I learned that River Valley’s former Lead Pastor, Rick Callahan would be concluding his time at River Valley that I called Mark to mention that a position might be opening”, relates Chris Backert, Eccelsia’s National Director. “From walking along with several of River Valley’s leaders the last several years, I had a sense of the kind of person the church may need during this next season. Of course, I’m delighted that as they worked through their own process and time-line that out of dozens and dozens of candidates, they also believe Mark would be the kind of leader to shepherd River Valley in this next era.”

We’re pleased to welcome two new members to our Ecclesia Board…

On these new additions, National Director Chris Backert shares, “With Mia and Jon joining our leadership team, we are adding two people of both high competence and high character. Many in our network have learned from Mia in the areas of multi-cultural ministry and life in the Spirit. We are excited to have her shaping our collective efforts in these and many other ways. Jon is also the right addition at the right time for Ecclesia as we seek to solidify the organizational aspects of our ministry. He has a unique blend of organizational and administrative expertise, while being invested in the local church and new congregations in particular.”

How to Kill the Church You Planted When You Move On

Fri, 24 Jun 2016 18:24:00 GMT

There are some occasions when I wish that I was an actual Bishop. One of those repeated moments is when I find out that a church within Ecclesia is about to go through a pastoral transition. In fact, I cringe almost every time that I first get the news. Quite honestly this is born out of the pain of seeing several new churches (and some within Ecclesia) carry out the process of transition so poorly. Normally, the transition decimates them to the degree that it sets the congregation on an inevitable path of closure. What is most unfortunate about this is that prior to the change, they were actually quite vital. Up until recently, Ecclesia has offered help in each of these situations for the churches in our network (and even some without). I can tell you that in the situations our outside guidance has been received, the church has found itself on a good path. In those situations where it has not (which is more often than I wish) in every situation, the church has been crippled or killed.

Transitions are hard for all churches, but they are particularly hard for churches that have never gone through them before. I’m not saying that the Ecclesia staff or other member churches are all knowing when it comes to pastoral changes, but in an abundance of counsel there is wisdom. More than likely, our collective experience is greater than any of our individual churches.

Here are the common mistakes I see made for younger congregations.

Mistake # 1: The Lead Pastor or Founding Pastor assumes that the church they started will be fine. They are almost always wrong. If a church has been around a few dozen years and has seen a transition or two, they have weathered these storms before. They are also not nearly as likely to be as attached to the pastor, as they have already had a few.

Mistake # 2: The Lead Pastor or Founding Pastor leaves too quickly. For most churches, a month between announcement and departure is a good timeline. According to guardianship lawyers in Texas , i f it’s a retirement, longer is better and more tenable. However, in most new congregations, longer is needed. Usually 3-6 months is ideal. You can click for info to know about the retirement benefits that they will enjoy.

Mistake # 3: The church chooses the wrong interim leadership plan. If the transition of the Founding Pastor cripples a new congregation, the wrong interim leadership plan is often a death blow. The most honest reason for this is that young congregations are overwhelmed at the departure and also over stretched in time. Typically they will choose interim leadership without the qualification that they cannot be considered for long-term leadership. It should be clear that all interim situations cannot be the eventual situation to all parties. Obviously, there may be rare exceptions, but they should be considered only at the very end of a leadership search or discernment process.

Mistake # 4: The church chooses the wrong successor or successors to the founding pastor.

More often than not, they choose someone internal to the congregation. This may or may not be a good choice. However, in our network, it should be a choice where other Ecclesia leaders look at and say “that makes sense”. I have seen too many churches fail to heed our council. None of them have done well.

It is common practice to receive outside guidance during transition and for a new leadership situation to be affirmed from those “close” but not “in” the congregation.

Mistake # 5: In a shared leadership situation, it is assumed that one of the other leaders is the right choice.

This is a further application of the previous mistake. Shared leadership is a complicated scenario. Whereas I used to be an advocate of shared leadership, I now see its many pitfalls, despite my internal optimism that it should “work”. Its pitfalls are often most obvious in times of transition. The major problem with shared leadership is there is the lack of an honest account of “why” it works when it does. My experience on this is wide-ranging and I only know of 3 situations where those in shared leadership had an internal and shared understanding of why it works and the gifts they each bring. When that happens shared leadership can be beautiful, when it does not, transitions expose the cracks that were typically unspoken or obvious to those outside.

Mistake # 6: Not involving the founding pastor in the future direction.

While I can often understand the rationale for excluding the previous leader in the future picture, among those who have started the church, I believe it should be held open for their inclusion. I further believe that an external reference should be a primary guide on whether or not they should be. From one angle, if the transition has come under good and noble circumstances, then there is likely no person more vested in seeing the church thrive upon their departure. They also have a certain objective proximity that is invaluable. The main reason I would suggest not involving them is if they have any associations of guilt or burnout with their departure. These two realities typically make the founder un-objective.

Why am I communicating this now?

I’ve noticed these things for a long while and wanting to maintain our value of the “primacy of the local church” I have always offered to help in transition, but have been quiet when it has not been received. I know there are churches within Ecclesia going through transitions right now, and it’s possible that they will read this with an assumption that it is written for them specifically – it is not (though it is written for them generally).

I’m breaking my silence on this now for two reasons. First, I’m very tired of seeing churches in Ecclesia (and those like our congregations) decimated by poor transition. Almost always they are decimated needlessly. I am also observing, at this very moment, what appears to be the conclusion of a very good transition that Ecclesia was involved with and our outside input was greatly considered. Second, I’m returning from speaking to the entire Kentucky Methodist Annual Conference which happened to coincide with the retirement of Bishop Lindsay Davis. It was a joy and honor to attend his retirement celebration. He had been a good Bishop and it was obvious. His help and wisdom in seasons of difficulty within churches and the conference was particularly valued. Of course, he had the authority in which his help was not in question.

While I am not a Bishop, I have a Bishop’s care. The least I can do is speak plainly and provide a warning to all our churches and those like them elsewhere.

From the National Director: Working My Way Toward Praying For Revival

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 17:43:00 GMT

Even as a self-described charismatic (a subdued charismatic though), there are still things about this event that feel over the top to me. It’s also easy to dismiss some of this as a great deal of hype coinciding with the anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival, even though to the faith-filled heart, there are many supernatural circumstances that came together to bring this about. The hope is that over 100,000 people will gather to pray for revival, the unity of the church, and for God’s miraculous outpouring. The whole assertion of a big gathering to pray for revival easily touches the skeptic in me. When I think back historically, none of the great awakenings or revivals seemed to start by a large meeting. In fact, they mostly seem unplanned, but yet born out of a great deal of almost invisible prayer from disciple to disciple and congregation to congregation.

The question that has caught me though as I have tried to find myself leaning into this moment is – “Do You Want Revival Chris?” “Would You Really Like To See It Happening?” Do I want to see people come to Christ and experience the power of Jesus? Do I want to see bible studies over-filled with people yearning to engage the scriptures? Do I want to see healings take place and miracles occur? Do I want to see the church growing and thriving with a humble, Christ-like authority? Do I want to see our tremendous racial barriers broken in our nation? Wouldn’t I want it? These are all the fruits of revival.

Among many leaders of the variety that pay attention to Ecclesia or Missio Alliance or anywhere in the “missional” conversation, my guess would be that your response to something like this wouldn’t be very different than mine. Like me, you may have to work yourself through your first, second, and maybe even third layers of skepticism to get to the point in your heart where you would come to realize that actually you do want it to. Even if you don’t think it will happen, hopefully you would want an awakening to occur.

I remember Dallas Willard telling me that the first question he would ask any skeptical philosophy student who would walk into his office is “Do you want there to be a God? And, if so, would you want Him to be like Jesus”? Of course, his point was that our mind (and therefore our actions) will have a hard time being open to that which our heart is closed toward. So, here, I ask to my wide-ranging friends who somehow find themselves around the “missional” conversation, Do you want, in your heart, a great awakening? If so, could you begin to pray for it? Even if you pray in a way that would protect you from disappointment if it doesn’t happen?

Now that I’ve realized that I really do hope that something happens, I can pray that something will happen. And, I can pray in a way that unashamedly asks Jesus to pour our His Spirit upon His people and our land. Would you join me? And if that skeptic in your rears its head, ask yourself, “don’t I want this?” I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t.

Ecclesia 2015-2016: Looking Back & Looking Ahead

Sat, 27 Feb 2016 00:27:00 GMT

As 2015 came to an end, it closed the 8 ^th chapter in the short history of Ecclesia. For all intents and purposes, Ecclesia really began in 2008 with a few churches and a small handful of church planters who were looking to provide a unique witness to the gospel in a scattering of cities, mostly on the east coast. There was a good deal of experimentation in that small collection of churches and churches in development. There was the hope of friendship between leaders and churches that shared a heart to be about God’s mission in the world together.

For the first 6 years our network had a good and consistent rhythm of two steps forward and one step back. We had even more limited funds than we have now and we stretched those as far as possible. Through a good deal of effort and sacrifice, something more solid began to emerge in ways that I believe many sensed and could see happening – but were not as easily coherent in those early days.

In the last two years, something significant has changed, as we have had enough solid footing to actually make some “leaps of faith” toward the future. In 2014 we brought on two other Ecclesia pastors at 1 day/week to help give time to our network that was pregnant with opportunity. This was a step of faith for us in that we didn’t have funds to pay them even at 2/3 of what we should pay them. It was a year to re-connect to both our churches and mission and Jesus provided us with enough funds to pay the bills. Last year we stepped out in faith again, moving everyone on staff to 1.5 days/week with the knowledge we would need to raise outside funds for that to happen. 2015 became a year of solid growth for our network, with not only many churches in our network continuing to develop more vital ministry in their community, but also several churches that were already a decade or more in age, deciding that Ecclesia was the family for them. Within the last year we started several Leaders Circles, strengthened our media and communications, and were able to make more visits to more churches to preach, train, equip and support, etc. our leaders and congregations. Again, Jesus met our needs.

As we come into 2016, there are so many good efforts at work. Leaders Circles are expanding and there is a desire for more to be organized. After some groundwork in 2015, we are preparing to launch a Residency Initiative for churches to help equip future leaders. Our coaching network is in place and available to support leaders and we are preparing to launch our first collective, Ecclesia-wide offering at Pentecost for church planting and pioneering mission. We have 3 new congregations being welcomed into Ecclesia at our National Gathering in March and a least a dozen more that are in process.

When I look through 2016 into the next season of life in Ecclesia, there are 5 words that seem more settled in my soul (and yes, they all start with “f”) – friendship, family, faithfulness, fruitfulness, and future.

Friendship – Ecclesia began with the bedrock of friendship and a desire to leaders to journey together through the uncertain course of ministry in these transitional times. My hope is that, with each passing year, these friendships are taken one step further and new friends are welcomed in.

Family – One of the unique desires of Ecclesia is that we would be a network of churches built off a network of leaders. Our heart from the beginning is to increasingly become an extended family on mission together as churches and leaders. In the coming season, my hope is that this extended family transcends those of us who are in more identifiable “clergy” roles and moves more and more into the churches we shepherd through connecting leaders together, collaborating on joint projects or global partners, or supporting new pioneering church plants and mission endeavors.

Faithfulness – In the midst of a church culture that can easily become captured by a vision of success that looks more like the American dream than a Kingdom dream, we strive for faithfulness to the gospel and the mission of Jesus together. In our time this looks like attending to the work that is in front of us and the community we’ve been called to, over the long journey of cultivating disciples of Jesus from the ground up. In addition, I believe it will increasingly look like the need to encourage one another toward faithfulness around the historic gospel that has been handed down to us from past generations of the church, even though the exclusivity of the good news of Christ will be increasingly challenged by our cultural context.

Fruitfulness – While we want to be faithful, we don’t want to exchange faithfulness for fruitfulness. Our heart in Ecclesia is to see the fruit of the Spirit proliferate our churches so that they are filled with the character of Christ and therefore can carry the power of Christ as made possible through the revelatory ministry of the Holy Spirit. With the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit at work, we can only expect then to see tangible Kingdom impact from our churches.

Future – Perhaps at the core of what I believe Ecclesia to be about is that we are creating a future together – one that is not isolated – but is a forerunner in cultivating an identity and practice for the whole church as we transition to an increasingly post-Christendom era in the West. When I look at the various streams of influence that flow into our network, it is hard to understand how they can all fit together. Yet, my belief is that somehow the Holy Spirit is at work among us to prepare a community of leaders and churches for faithful mission with an apolitical evangelical identity for the future.

It’s an exciting time to be journeying together in the years ahead. Please keep going with us and inviting others along the path too!

Chris Backert- Ecclesia Network National Director

Ecclesia 2015-2016: Looking Back & Looking Ahead

Sat, 27 Feb 2016 00:27:00 GMT

It’s an exciting time to be journeying together in the years ahead. Please keep going with us and inviting others along the path too!

Chris Backert- Ecclesia Network National Director

Ecclesia Welcomes Mid-West & New England Churches into the Network!

Sat, 30 Jan 2016 00:36:00 GMT

University Christian Church (universitychristianchurch.net) in Cincinnati, OH and Church at the Well in Burlington, VT (wellchurchvt.com) were both officially accepted into our growing network at our recent board meeting. For many within Ecclesia, the leadership of UCC will be a familiar face to you. In 2014 we were blessed to have Lead Pastor, Mandy Smith, serve as one of our special guests at the National Gathering. In addition to Mandy, Nathan Smith and Anthony round out a strong pastoral team that is leading a thriving and growing church in the middle of the downtown life of Cincinatti, OH. Mandy Smith shared this with us about their recent decision to join Ecclesia. “Joining with Ecclesia Network is important for UCC on several levels. As an independent congregation, we don’t have the support of a denominational network. And since our ministry is a little a-typical (urban/campus/neighborhood setting, coffee shop ministry, female lead pastor) we can easily feel alone or be lone rangers. It wasn’t until our staff began developing relationships with EN folks and churches that we discovered there are others out there doing similar things, longing for similar things. And our hearts have been healed to find thoughtful practitioners and missional academics among our EN friends. We’re also excited about any way that we can contribute something to the EN conversation or be an encouragement or resource to others in their work.”

Next time you’re in Cincinatti, drop them a line. Or, if you haven’t already, pick up a copy of Mandy’s latest book at IV Press, “The Vulnerable Pastor”.

Also joining the Ecclesia family is Church at the Well (wellchurchVT.com) in Burlington, VT pastored by Adam Avery, Kevin Fitton, and Ian Bailey. This is a young church with an incredible story of perseverance and collaboration in the midst of one of the most difficult contexts for church planting in the country. Originally, Adam and Kevin had planted separate congregations, but as they became friends they recognized their shared heart for ministry and their shared vision for Burlington. After a lengthy process, the two congregations merged, Church at the Well was formed, and they have been growing more fruitful and faithful ever since.

Here are Adam and Kevin in their own words …
“We are incredibly excited about being formally invited into the Ecclesia network, though the words “formally invited” aren’t quite right. Because what we’re most excited about is the fact that we feel as if we belong to this community. We are a five hours’ drive from the closest Ecclesia church, and yet when we are together with the network at regional and national gatherings, it feels like we are with our people.” – Adam Avery, Lead Pastor

“This is a great time in the life of our church. We have hit many milestones in this whole church planting process, and while this one might not be the one you first think of as a ‘we made it’ moment, it is huge that our church is at a point where we have established enough of an identity to connect with something larger and know that it is truly the right place for us. We are excited to know that our future is tied in with Ecclesia, with this great organization and incredible group of churches.” – Kevin Fitton, Associate Pastor

Let’s support our friends in New England and be praying that a new church will join them that’s just a little bit closer!

Ecclesia Welcomes Mid-West & New England Churches into the Network!

Sat, 30 Jan 2016 00:36:00 GMT

Next time you’re in Cincinatti, drop them a line. Or, if you haven’t already, pick up a copy of Mandy’s latest book at IV Press, “The Vulnerable Pastor”.

Let’s support our friends in New England and be praying that a new church will join them that’s just a little bit closer!

Welcome New Board Member – Tom Ward Sr.

Sat, 30 Jan 2016 00:31:00 GMT

Tom Ward Sr., Lead Pastor of Eastpoint Church in Newark, DE recently joined the Ecclesia board at our annual meeting in early January. We are really honored to have someone of […]

Pentecost Offering Begins This Spring!

Sat, 30 Jan 2016 00:28:00 GMT

One of the heartbeats of Ecclesia has always been to resource and support current and prospective church planters. After all, no single church around came into existing without being planted in some way. Particularly, we are in a season where new kinds of churches need to be started to bear witness to the gospel in the increasingly complex context of North America.

During the Pentecost Season we are launching our inaugural Pentecost Offering to further support church planting and church planters within the network. Be on the lookout for more information in the coming months – especially at the National Gathering in March.

Rhythm Church in Miami Celebrates 5 Years!

Thu, 10 Dec 2015 22:31:00 GMT

Hear more

Thoughts and Reflections from Sabbatical- J.R. Briggs

Thu, 10 Dec 2015 20:53:00 GMT

A gift, a tool, a mirror and an emotional colonoscopy.

Oftentimes this is the response I give when people ask me how my three-month sabbatical was this past fall.

When my wife and I, along with some faith-filled friends, started our church seven years ago we were excited, thrilled, expectant and scared out of our minds. It’s been an amazing, exhausting, exhilarating, encouraging, terrifying, thrilling, discouraging journey all in one. (As I have talked to several dozen church planters we all seem to describe the process in eerily similar ways.) But seven years of high-adrenaline, high-stakes, full-schedule, long to-do list, significant decision-making ministry can take its toll on a leader’s soul.

When the elders of our church came to us several months ago to offer this gift of time to rest, reflect and be refreshed, we were honored. They did not believe I was burned out; they simply wanted us to rest after seven years. We were grateful that they truly wanted to care for us to make sure our souls, our marriage, our family – and our church – were healthy in the long run. During the three months I reflected a lot (saw a counselor, spent time with my life coach, journaled daily), engaged in life-giving activity (took several out of state trips, visited several major and minor league baseball parks, made lasting family memories) and engaged in life-giving non-activity (read a lot, ate good food, delighted in nature and took naps).

During my time, the sabbatical taught me many things – too much to communicate all of them in the space provided – but here are four of the more significant lessons I learned.

[1] I am responsible to the people in my church, but I am not responsible for them. This phrase (something my friend Bob Hyatt first shared with me) has stuck me with the past few years. Sabbatical helped me see that I have a role in the lives of people, but not an ultimate role. One friend, a pastor in Texas, offered me a wise piece of advice: “You can carry people’s dirty clothes to the laundromat, but you cannot wash them clean. That’s someone else’s job.” I knew this, but I needed one, giant reminder of something crucial to the essence of ministry: our church is Christ’s church, not mine. I play a part, but the part I play is not the primary role.

[2] Rest is not just a good idea; it’s absolutely crucial in the life of a kingdom leader. Additionally, I came to see that the world needs more rested leaders. Before the sabbatical I thought I maintained healthy rhythms and I didn’t believe I was that tired or worn out. Boy, was I wrong. Looking back, I would call the first month of the sabbatical a “detox.” Even the healthiest of pastors are addicted to adrenaline – and I was one of those adrenaline addicts. The most disconcerting part is that pastors don’t even realize this addiction because adrenaline has become so normalized in our schedules. When sabbatical started and I unhooked from the stimuli (turned my phone off for a large portion of each day, only checked email once a week and completely signed out of all social media for three months) I had an “adrenaline crash.” Fortunately, I was not burned out, but I was depleted – much more than I ever imagined. I slept well each night – in addition to an almost-daily two-hour afternoon nap those first three weeks. While the post-sabbatical schedule doesn’t allow for daily afternoon naps, I’ve come to grips with how I’ve become lazy with my sleep and rest standards for my life. Disciplining myself to go to bed earlier than before has become a spiritual discipline as I realize that sometimes the most spiritual thing I can do today is to be in bed before midnight.

[3] Sabbatical is like taking an exam. When pastors step away from an extended period of time, it’s not just good for the leader and his/her family. It’s good for the church as a whole. It gives opportunities for people in the community to step up and use their gifts further, deeper and in a more focused and evident way.

One of the most meaningful comments from one of our leaders upon my return was when he said, “We missed you… but we didn’t miss you.” I knew what he meant by his tone and body language: we missed having you around relationally, but the church did well in your absence. I was thrilled to hear this. Had the church fallen apart, panicked or looked around wondering what to do for the next three months, it would not be a poor reflection of them; rather, it would have been a poor reflection of their leader. By God’s grace, he has provided our church with leaders who are faith-filled, confident, competent, flexible, patient and courageous. God has called me over the past seven years

[4] The Church of Jesus Christ is broad, vast, varied and worships in many different expressions. One of the unique parts of sabbatical was being free from responsibility on Sunday mornings. My family and I were able to visit about a dozen different churches (both local and out of state). It reminded me again what it is like to be a first time guest at a church. It also allowed us to be fully present with God, not having to worry about what is next in the service or if the logistical elements of a gathering will be tied up prior to the Call to Worship. It was refreshing and life giving and allowed our family to see what God’s Church is doing in various expressions. We all walked away each Sunday morning with a greater appreciation and expanding view of the Kingdom of God in it’s contextualized local expressions scattered all over the country. We knew this in theory, but it was great to experience it first-hand.

I am excited to be back in the saddle, feeling rested and excited for this next phase of ministry at our church. I highly recommend sabbaticals for pastors and church planters. I want to encourage church planters, pastors and elders to talk openly and honestly about what a culture of healthy rhythms of work and rest looks like in their particular context. I recommend sabbaticals, not simply because it sounds like a good idea (I mean, who wouldn’t want some extended time off?) but because by doing so you will see things and learn things you can’t learn when you are maxed out, busy and distracted. Your church will learn how to mature and grow without becoming unhealthily dependent upon the pastor. Additionally, it models for the community a culture of rest and life-giving rhythm in what it means to live freely and lightly as kingdom agents.

Sabbatical Interview with New Denver's Stephen Redden

Mon, 09 Nov 2015 11:32:00 GMT

Our elders created a policy that every employee of NDC will take a sabbatical week each year (beyond ‘vacation’ time), and every seven years they will take 12 consecutive weeks of sabbatical. I just returned from my first “seventh year” sabbatical. I was on sabbatical for 12 weeks – from early May to early August.

My brief reflections are that this time was first and foremost a gift – certainly from God, but also from our elders and my fellow staff who made it possible. Looking back I don’t know if there’s anything I would change or do differently. My primary goal was to disconnect from my regular routine and engage in activities that would help me to rest and replenish my soul. By that measure the time was incredibly fruitful and successful. I wrote up some extensive reflections on my blog for anyone who would like to read more.

2. We know that New Denver Church has a strong culture of taking care of its pastors, including having regularly planned and expected sabbaticals for its pastors. How did the concept of sabbatical become a regular part of your culture? Where did that come from?

It began as a part of developing our discipleship culture a number of years ago. At an Ecclesia Gathering in 2010 we were challenged by a session Doug Paul and Ben Sternke did on building a discipling culture within your church. One of the concepts they introduced us to that was core to the approach to discipleship they were teaching (which we later learned was from 3DM) was the idea of creating a rhythm of life that oscillated between work and rest. As pastors we began to see how we had neglected the practice of Sabbath in our own lives and began to pursue healthy rhythms daily, weekly and seasonally that would help us experience the freedom and life of honoring Sabbath. As we did that and began to share this idea, both through discipleship groups, leadership gatherings, retreats and Sunday messages, we began to see other people trying to bend their life around sabbath as well. Around that time (sometime in 2013) within the context of a discussion about ensuring the health and well-being of pastors and staff, our elders suggested coming up with a sabbatical policy. It started out as something for pastors only but they eventually decided to extend the benefit to all full and part-time employees of the church.

3. What expectations did you have going into the sabbatical?

Honestly I think most of my expectations were negative! This was the first time I’d ever taken more than a week away from work, so I expected to go through some frustration and withdrawal from being productive. I expected to struggle with my sense of identity and value apart from work. Certainly I experienced some of that but not nearly to the degree that I expected. For the most part I was able to give myself fully to each day and let go of anxiety about being away from work when it did pop up.

I don’t know if I’d call it an expectation, but I did wonder – “Is God going to drop some big revelation on me?” It’s funny how much that’s an expectation that’s built into an intentional spiritual practice like sabbatical. Fortunately I talked with some people I respect who’d done sabbaticals and wrestled with not having a “burning bush” moment so that helped temper my expectations a little that I wasn’t “doing it wrong” if that didn’t happen. But I was certainly open to it.

4. What surprised you the most your time?

I think I continue to be surprised at how “noisy” my everyday life is and how “quiet” it was during sabbatical. I was fortunate to get to travel, either on my own or with my family, for most of the time of my sabbatical. Getting away from my everyday context and disconnecting from meetings, emails, and even our regular social schedule with friends helped me to see how full my life is. It’s full of great things that I’ve intentionally chosen, but nonetheless it’s full. And that fullness creates noise and often distraction. It was striking how life-giving it was to step out of that noise for a little while. What was surprising about that is I’m an extrovert and have always lived for experience and interaction with others. I’ve thrived within the fullness of life that I’ve pursued. But pulling away afforded me an ongoing sense of connection and dialogue with God by his Spirit that I’d never experienced before and have longed for since being back to my regular routine these last six weeks. I guess I discovered my introverted/contemplative side during sabbatical!

5. How did the Lord meet you in this unique time where you were given permission to pause, stop, rest and reflect?

The primary way I perceived the Lord was through an ongoing sense of his presence and communion with me throughout the day. In a typical day my mind jumps from thought to thought, consumed with whatever is before me that day. “I’ve got a meeting in 30 minutes. I’m teaching this Sunday so I need to organize my thoughts on this topic or passage of Scripture. I need to return so-and-so’s email/phone call/text message.” And on and on. Once those things are taken away or significantly reduced, there’s silence and space to allow your attention to turn Godward. What was remarkable about these experiences was how unremarkable the “content” often was. I liken it to that point in marriage when you realize you can just be with another person without the need to say or do anything. That’s how many of my days felt during sabbatical. There was this tangible unmistakeable sense that God was with me in the moments of my day, but most of the time we didn’t have the need to tell the other anything or ask anything of the other. We just enjoyed each other’s company. This was a new experience for me.

6. We know you benefitted from the sabbatical, but how did your family benefit from it as well?

The most valuable thing I think we can offer others is ourselves – our time and attention. In the course of our lives, we have to choose where we give our time and attention. I regularly struggle with how to decide how to do that in my everyday life. One of the gifts of sabbatical was the permission – more than permission, the direction – I was given to set aside giving time and attention to pastoral duties. The primary beneficiaries of that surplus of time and attention were my wife and kids. I spent time with my mom and some friends as well, but most of my time and attention during my sabbatical went to my immediate family. I don’t know if I can yet say what the benefit was for them in this. My hope is that the result will be deeper, richer relationships and a greater sense of perspective and intentionality in those relationships going forward. One of the primary realizations I had during my sabbatical was that due to the age of my kids (11 and 8) that I have ten very important years to invest in my kids before they launch out of the nest and ten very important years to invest in my marriage to prepare for life as empty nesters.

7. How are you different now that you’ve come back from it? What rhythms have been included into your daily/weekly life? And are there any things that have been trimmed back or completely eliminated from your life?

It’s a terrible time to ask me that question! It’s been six weeks since my sabbatical ended, and I still feel like I’m in a period of disorientation, trying to get reoriented. Norton, my co-pastor at NDC, took his seventh-year sabbatical last year and warned me that there’s a sense that the learning from your sabbatical continues long after the actual sabbatical ends. I think that’s true. All real learning seems to follow this pattern of disorientation and reorientation. I feel like I have a greater sense of clarity around what I’m supposed to be about going forward, but I’m still figuring out how to move in that direction. That takes time. For now I’m trying to figure out how to hold onto the conscious awareness of God’s presence and give myself fully to the moment each day. That’s much harder now that I’m back in the “noise” of everyday life. Still struggling with that one.

8. What would you say to other pastors who are about to enter into a sabbatical or pastors who might want to think seriously about taking a sabbatical?

First I would say listen to Nike and “Just do it!” I would say that not only to pastors but to anyone open to receiving the gift of an extended period of Sabbath. There are all these barriers and reasons why you think you can’t do it. Some of those are real, but a lot of them are self-imposed. I honestly don’t know if I’d have had the courage to do a sabbatical if our elders hadn’t forced it on us. But now that I’ve done it and experienced the benefit, I would say it’s totally worth it. If you’re about to enter into a sabbatical, seek out the people you know and trust who’ve done it and ask them about their experience (feel free to contact me if you want btw). There’s no “right” way to do a sabbatical, only a “right for you” way, but taking some time to discern goals and how to structure your time is important so that you make the most of the opportunity.
Stephen reflected further on his sabbatical time here

Sabbatical Interview with New Denver’s Stephen Redden

Mon, 09 Nov 2015 11:32:00 GMT

3. What expectations did you have going into the sabbatical?

4. What surprised you the most your time?

5. How did the Lord meet you in this unique time where you were given permission to pause, stop, rest and reflect?

6. We know you benefitted from the sabbatical, but how did your family benefit from it as well?

8. What would you say to other pastors who are about to enter into a sabbatical or pastors who might want to think seriously about taking a sabbatical?

Report from New Denver Guatemala Trip

Thu, 05 Nov 2015 23:28:00 GMT

Earlier this year New Denver church took another mission trip to Guatemala, a country they are heavily invested in. Here’s a report on the trip from one of their leaders.

When our team arrived in Guatemala this Spring, I was thrilled to experience the culture of the lakeside villages, witness the school and church in action, meet Pastor Antonio and hear his stories of faith. I teared up while watching the NDC videos of others meeting their sponsored children but I started out with mixed feelings about meeting Yahir, the child I sponsor, and his family. Something about it made me feel uneasy. I wasn’t sure that it would be helpful – in nurturing the sustainable partnership between New Denver and Vida Real – for me to be the face of the support that allowed Yahir to go to school.

Antonio led our team members around the village to visit the homes of our sponsored children. When it was my turn, I followed Antonio, winding from the street through narrow alleyways, back to a small concrete home with laundry hanging from clotheslines and tree branches. Unsure in my language skills – and emotions – I brought my roommate and fellow NDC attender Meghan with me for translation and support. I shook hands with Yahir and he gave me a hug. I used my limited Spanish to ask him about his favorite classes and favorite activities (fútbol, of course!) Antonio then introduced me to Yahir’s mother, a beautiful woman in traditional Mayan clothing, holding a baby. She came out of the house and began speaking to me, showing me her home and introducing me to the rest of her five children. I wasn’t sure how to react when she pointed to all of her laundry hanging outside and asked me for laundry soap. She told me that she couldn’t afford it, and with her five kids, there was a lot of dirty laundry!

Two days went by as we continued to do work on the land next to the church and spend time with the children, and my thoughts kept returning to Yahir’s mother and her request for laundry soap. I knew that I could afford to buy her laundry soap for the whole year if I wanted to, but also that doing so could create a relationship where she depended on me, and likely wouldn’t help her become more self-sufficient in providing for her children in the long term. On the other hand, I saw that she had a very real, simple need that I was able to meet. If I didn’t do something, would I be ignoring an opportunity to show grace? I told these concerns to God and a few members of the team, and then brought the idea to Pastor Antonio. We decided that I would give him money to buy some laundry soap and take it to Yahir’s mother. This way, Antonio – the pastor of the church and a permanent member of the community – would be the one giving my gift and connecting with this family.

In spite of my initial mixed feelings about meeting Yahir and interacting with his family, I came to take joy in the fact that because of me, this child is able to attend school. A school that not only keeps him safe, but provides greater opportunities for his future as well as teaching him about following Jesus. I am incredibly grateful that God has given me the chance to see how my contribution has made a very practical difference in the life and future of a child and his family. So thank you for your support of the partnership between New Denver and Vida Real School in San Pablo. Your support has a positive impact on the futures of some pretty amazing young people. But don’t just take my word for it; go see for yourself!

Sincerely,

Katie TenHulzen

An Invitation to Partnership…

Thu, 05 Nov 2015 19:27:00 GMT

http://www.refugeeone.org/lov.html

Thanks for hearing our invitation and considering joining us as we join Christ in creating refuge for refugees!

-Cyd Holsclaw, Life On The Vine, Chicagoland

Network News- Oct 2015

Thu, 05 Nov 2015 19:20:00 GMT

here

Online Learning Hangout with James Bryan Smith

Thu, 05 Nov 2015 17:03:00 GMT

Our next Online Learning Hangout will be Thursday, Nov 19th at 1pm PT/4pm ET.

This time we’ll be hearing from James Bryan Smith , who will be our keynote speaker at this year’s Ecclesia National Gathering .

Join us!

At 1pm PT/4pm ET on Thursday Nov 19, just click here to watch

NextGen Church Takes the Next Step (West Windsor, NJ)

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:40:00 GMT

It’s hard not to get excited about what God is doing in and through the people at NextGen Church in West Windsor, New Jersey – just outside of Princeton. The church continues to grow numerically, but their desire and creativity to serve those in their community is what is most encouraging and inspiring when you hear them talk. Pastor Mia Chang and her team continue to press into the Lord and creatively serve others as they seek the kingdom together with palpable expectation.

Globally, they have focused their service efforts on the continent of Africa. A team just returned from another mission trip to Kenya, where they have ongoing relationship with local church leaders. Additionally, they are currently working to build a church and a school in Nigeria, as well as establishing a 501(c)(3) non-profit NGO in order to cultivate a long-term local presence in that community. These efforts have been spearheaded by NextGen pastor Lola Akiwowo, whose years of experience in education and passion for this project are bearing great fruit.

Locally, the church is engaged in starting a fresh expression of the church in the Hightstown NJ area, creatively and compassionately serving a minority population that has been largely ignored by others. They are also in the process of planting a new church out of NextGen in nearby Trenton, NJ. The church plant is led by Adam Banks, associate pastor at NextGen and a student in his final year at Princeton Theological Seminary. For the past few years, NextGen has served the Trenton Public School System in a local elementary school on Saturday mornings by offering additional schooling, mentoring and training for both kids and parents. These efforts have been widely embraced and appreciated by the local school board. It was from this deepening trust that NextGen felt called to launch a new congregation. Currently, about 30 people have gathered regularly for worship. Mia said she’s most encouraged by the fact that most of the 30 people gathering are people from the community and not originally from NextGen.

If you know anything about NextGen you know that they have cultivated a deep and passionate culture of prayer. With that, there are three very specific ways we can be in prayer for them as a community:

[1] The Trenton church plant has been incredibly encouraging, but so far there have been no options for spaces to meet. They are currently renting a large party tent each week. In the summer and early fall, this is not a problem, but as the weather turns this will no longer become possible. Pray that a meeting space opens for them to meet in for worship.

[2] Currently NextGen is in need of a worship leader. Pray that God brings a passionate and humble worship leader to their congregation. And, by the way, if you know of anyone who would be willing to serve in this capacity, contact Mia Chang.

[3] Jim Butler (pastor of community care) and his wife Andi, have both recently had several procedures to remove cancerous skin cells from their bodies and are currently taking significant time off to recover. Pray for their recovery during this time.

Learn more about NextGen by logging onto their website at: http://nextgenministry.net

Ecclesia Northeast & Mid-Atlantic Church Leaders Gathering – Saturday January 30th

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:31:00 GMT

Last year we launched an effort to more fully support, resource, and connect the “non-vocational” leaders of the churches in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. On a very cold Saturday in January, nearly 100 people showed up at Eastpoint Church on their day off to get a jump start on the year ahead as a leader. The response was overwhelming that this needs to be an annual part (if not more) of the ministry of Ecclesia.

This year, our focus is on “The Faithful Leader: Following Christ & Your Calling” and we will spend the day being encouraged around this theme, looking at our equipping (APEST) gifts, receiving some peer-learning on the ministries we lead, a being reminded of what it takes to be faithful over the long haul.
Registration and publicity will be launched in the next month – but save the date now!

Ecclesia Northeast & Mid-Atlantic Church Leaders Gathering – Saturday January 30th

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:31:00 GMT

This Fall, Remember Ecclesia

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:28:00 GMT

This Fall – Remember Ecclesia! Our National Director, Chris Backert, takes a moment to encourage all in our network with a simple thought for the coming months. Take a look […]

Awesome Story from Ecclesia Church Veritas

Mon, 24 Aug 2015 20:44:00 GMT

Recently, Ryan Braught from Ecclesia Church Veritas shared this story from someone in his community with us- we wanted to pass it on to you.

This summer, I’ve been using my music to connect with others as well as praying. I’m growing closer to God in taking a practice that I love and realizing his work in that. God has expanded my expectations about how I could be a blessing in ways not exclusive to music.

I met my friend Serge at an open mic night at The Rabbit & The Dragonfly. I go there to hear what the people in the city have to express. I heard his song named “Mosquito”, voicing a personal injustice. The song didn’t keep my attention as much as his action of playing. I didn’t realize at that time that he was borrowing a guitar from someone else. I showed up to open mic with a uke that I would hesitate to share.

The following week, I reached out to my Dad for a time to hang out in Lancaster City. During that time, I shared some of my latest songs on ukulele. He enjoyed them and shared a statement similar to Wes. “ I’ve got to get you that guitar”. He referred to one he had at home that wasn’t being used. Father’s Day came around and I went to Harrisburg to visit him. He sent me home with the guitar he had. His intention was to provide me a tool that would help me further my playing. Upon receiving the guitar, I realized that I was in a position to pass a playable guitar on to Serge like I previously hoped for. Over the week that followed, I was on the fence about whether to use the guitar for myself or give it to a friend. I prayed about this and sought an opinion from Pastor Ryan Braught. I listened more to that sense I had to pass it on. Ryan said that God would bless such actions in unexpected ways.

Then, next open mic night came and I asked Serge to hang out after listening to all of the acts. I was with my band at the time and they were impressed by his song and approach to playing guitar. We arrived at home and when Serge was seated, I presented the cased guitar to him as a gift. He responded, “Are you sure? …I know you need one to learn with.” Why don’t we share?”

In that moment, I was surprised. I was faced with the expectation I had about the exchange… that this guitar could only belong to one person. “Yes we can share”, I responded. I was pleasantly surprised, not considering that possibility. I thank God for this moment of insight, and blessing us both.

Recognizing Newly Ordained & Commissioned Leaders Within the Network

Wed, 24 Jun 2015 18:10:00 GMT

At our annual gathering a few weeks ago we were delighted to celebrate a number of ordinations and commissionings that have taken place throughout the network this past year. Within Ecclesia we like to say that these significant events are best “locally coordinated and conducted – regionally involved and affirmed – and nationally celebrated and recognized”. Here are those we are celebrating this year:

– Amy Hyatt was recognized as a Pastor & Elder at Evergreen Community in Portland, OR.

– Juliet Liu was recognized as a Pastor at Life on the Vine in Arlington Heights, IL.

– Shanna Cummings was commissioned as Pastor of Community Life at Ascension Church in Yardley, PA.

– Robin Kurashewich was commissioned as Director of Youth Ministry at Kairos in Lancaster, CA.

– J ana Perea was commissioned as Director of Children’s Ministry at Kairos in Lancaster, CA.

– Daniel Hale was commissioned as Community Liturgist at Austin Mustard Seed in Austin, TX.

– Chris Morton was commissioned as Community Developer at Austin Mustard Seed in Austin, TX.

– Adam Banks was commissioned as an Associate Pastor at Next Gen Church in Princeton, NJ.