The Shaping of a Network: How A Post-Denominational Connectional Church Is Being Formed (Part II)
Bob Hyatt
Feb 08, 2012

The Practices of a Network:  Church Planting – From Centralized Function to Collaborative Mission

One of the primary reasons for any church network to exist is to facilitate the more rapid development of church multiplication.  Almost all of the new forms of church networks have this as their original goal and many of our historical denominations could attribute this kind of work to their original intention in formation.  Indeed, most of those that have developed traction and momentum have kept this as their organizing goal (Acts 29, Redeemer, ARC) and even those that were once stagnant and returned to church multiplication as a collaborative goal, have experienced new life and energy (Baptist General Conference/Converge, The Christian Church)..  Clearly, this focus aligns with the sentness of the church in community with one another. There is no shortage of studies to remind us that the starting of a new community of faith is the greatest evangelistic tool that the church has in its repertoire (even though the forms those new communities should take can morph over time).

In established denominational circles (again, the church “networks” of the past), church planting has been one of several departments housed in the denominational office or hierarchy.  There were professionals assigned to the task of starting a new denominational branch in an area that was lacking one at the time.  In general, the pattern of organizing and developing the church was similar in every circumstance.  Churches within the association understood that it was the central office’s job to start new works.  They may need to act as a sponsor congregation or to send a few people to help initiate the new start, but this was rarely at the initiative of the congregation.

In the network philosophy, church planting will occur as the leaders of various churches in the network collaborate with one another, both in leadership and finances, to initiate new communities of faith. The post-denominational network will equip and facilitate church-planting and church-planting partnerships between churches.  While there could be avenues and possibilities of funding for church-plants coming through the centralized network, the majority of resources for church planting in the post-denominational network will be derived from church partnerships and relationships. Just like dax realtime it will also lead to greater investment in the project and relationship on behalf of both the church plant and the sponsoring church.  The network could provide leadership to recruiting, assessing, and training potential church planters as well as providing ongoing coaching and skill development during the planting process.  Yet, the majority of this work will be accomplished by pastors and church planters within the network.

In general, this is how the Ecclesia Network has developed in relationship to church planting.  Unlike many denominations, there is no centralized pot of money from which a project can draw support or a salary.  Funds generally come from partner churches within the network, from funds raised by the planters themselves, from a core team, or from some form of bi-vocational work by those planting the new community.  Often, all of these avenues are necessary in putting together a viable financial plan for planting.

Through Ecclesia, a number of the critical components of planting new communities are offered.  Each year we sponsor our church planters training.  We have always offered coaching in Ecclesia, but now coaching for church planters is becoming more organized and required if planting with Ecclesia.  In many places, regional meet ups are available to connect with other ministry leaders and when they are not we are working strengthening relationships and connectedness through phone and Skype.  Practitioners are the ones involved in developing and guiding all of this and we are constantly seeking to bring more recent church planters into the church multiplication work of Ecclesia because they offer a critical perspective along with those who have involved in planting work for or 10 or 20 years.  In addition, because there are no one (or even two or three) models of church planting within Ecclesia, it is even more critical to show a varied approach.

Our next steps in this realm could be summed up in two phrases – more new communities of faith and better new communities of faith.  I use the phrase “communities of faith” because I expect (along with several others) that the shape of new churches in the future may look less and less like “church planting” as we’ve known it in the past.  Or, at least it will take longer for these new communities to look like a “church plant” that we are used to.  Our increasingly post-Christian culture in many places is a primary factor in that development – calling for more and time needed to cultivate a new community in context.

How It Is Now Is Not How It Will Always Be

By Bob Hyatt • 20 Mar, 2024
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!

By Chris Backert • 19 Feb, 2024
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
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