Church Planting
Living the Book of Acts
We understand the challenges involved in starting a new ministry from scratch. We also understand the amazing possibilities. If you’re considering planting a church or are in the early stages, we’d love to walk alongside you through the process.
We can help you understand the different stages of planting a church—from vision to team building to leadership development. We can help you think through the essential issues to consider along the way—including prayer, finances, structure, and outreach.
And if you have a vision for planting not just one church, but many churches– a multiplying movement of churches — then you’ll definitely want to connect with us to be better prepared and resourced for the amazing adventure that lies ahead.
The starfish group
One woman in my church plant has started a new group. One of the members, new to both the group and the church, wanted to call the group “the starfish group,” after the book The Starfish and the Spider—with the idea being that the group is set up to multiply right...
When God’s people pray, God’s power is released
I remember the powerful impact of having an intercessor pray onsite during an entire church planter training. Having prayer coverage during the whole training made a huge difference. So when someone within my church context asked me how her specific gifts might be...
Start with listening prayer
Yesterday, our house church spent time in listening prayer. We asked God questions and waited quietly to sense the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Questions raised included ones like: Lord, what should be be asking you? What have you already shown us? Where are...
If you’re not falling, you’re not learning
Learning to do ministry is like learning to ski; we can’t do it in a classroom. There may be certain elements that could be described in a classroom, but any self-respecting ski instructor is going to take you out on the slopes first thing. You start at the lowest...
Is your church a family or a team?
Often in churches we use the language of family to describe our relationships with each other. And that description can be helpful in some ways. However in other ways a group of churches that is really moving forward is functioning more as a team than as a family....
A recent leader meeting
I recently had a campfire meeting with the leaders of ViaCordis, the church we’re starting. ViaCordis is Latin for “way of the heart”. And we connect with our leaders regularly in what we call “campfires.” I wanted to help the leaders get a clear picture of the...
Measuring the fruit
When I posted last time about rethinking church subsidies, I mentioned investing in leaders that have fruit rather than just potential. Some readers wondered how I would define fruit. Many of us are rightly skeptical of a system that counts success as full pews and...