Seeing through new eyes (again)

A good friend who has a great deal of experience working with local churches and heling them understand better ways to reach people (her company actually designed the website at newhope - check it out @ http://www.newhopecc.org/) recently wrote this article - I know that I have been writing about "the journey to here..." lately and many of you have told me you are really liking understanding "HOW" a church plant starts, but I thought that an article on "WHY" we need new churches might be helpful - Dawn did a fantastic job of capturing a first time visitor's perspective! It breaks my heart that people far from God would experience something like this! Here is what she wrote: (for more info on Dawn or her company Aspire!One, visit http://www.aspireone.com/ or the Connect blog at http://www.dawnnicolebaldwin.typepad.com/)

This weekend, I had an interesting experience that put my job in a whole new light.

Most of my work consists of working with churches to help them understand how they can reach people more effectively. I spend time with senior leadership and run focus groups to find out why people come, what were their first impressions, what made them stick, etc. But this time I was able to experience the role of a new guest firsthand.

A close friend of mine decided it was time she started going to church again. Her kids are small and she wanted to instill a strong foundation. It was important to her that she plugged into a church close to her home so there wasn't a "temptation to not go because of the distance," and so her kids could get connected with others in her neighborhood. She had visions of plugging in at a meaningful level, volunteering and attending every week.

She checked out several church websites and decided to try one billed as, "relevant, contemporary & relaxed." They had a band [which she was happy about] and the website said the sermons related to everyday life. So this past Sunday, we went together.

When walking up to the church we were greeted with, "Where are all the men?" by the pastor. Perhaps it didn't occur to him that she might be a single parent [she's not] or maybe she wanted to check it out first before bringing a reluctant husband [she was]

It was a very small church, which doesn't ordinarily bother me although it does magnify the "outsider" feel when stared at. No one wanted to sit in our row. No one offered to give us the inside scoop.

Her 6-yr old daughter wanted to go with the others to "children's church" when the kids were dismissed, which made my friend a little uncomfortable. We had no idea where this was [in the basement] or what they were doing. The message was long, felt self-serving and was difficult to follow.

"Free choice" communion was at the end of the service, although each and every row got up and went together. My friend was a bit confused on what was going on and if she was supposed to do it or not. I tried to explain quickly in hushed tones what was going on, that she shouldn't feel pressured and I would stay with her if it helped. But the idea of sitting in our row [alone] while everyone continued to stare and possibly wonder exactly what kind of heathens we were became too much for her. So we went.

Inside I just screamed, "THIS IS NOT WHAT CHURCH IS ABOUT"I honestly wanted to cry.
My friend hadn't been to church since she was little. She was excited about the possibility of going again for her kids and had initially agreed to visit a few to find the right fit. But this experience turned her off to the point that she's reconsidering the whole idea.

Please hear me. I'm not against small or traditional churches. I've been working with churches of all shapes and sizes for fourteen years now. There's some amazing things going on for the Kingdom.
But experiencing the role of a first time guest through her eyes made me wonder how often this scenario is played out every week. And it broke my heart.

The Journey to Here: "Organization"

When I surrendered to the call to plant a church just a handful of months ago, I assumed that the person planting a church connected with a group of people, picked a city, raised a lot of money, moved into that city and started building relationships. I figured that eventually, there were enough relationships built to consider launching public services... and the rest would, as they say, be "history."

Well, that is in fact how some people do it. I remember some time ago "discussing" with God how he seemed to have gifted me. I remember telling a friend that I wasn't at all concerned about leading a church once it was at a point where people were willing to sit and listen to me talk. The thing that I was concerned about, was seeing the church get from me and Sheila to about 70 - that was the big concern!

Over the time of investigation after I submitted to what I believed God was calling us to do, I quickly found that the days of planting a church with a Bible and street corner are long gone. At this point, there are dozens if not hundreds of organizations and groups wanting to reach the lost by planting new churches!

To make a long story short, I investigated about 10 of those organizations including the one that we believe God has led us to - Stadia East.

Stadia has planted over 30 churches in the last 6 years and has developed THE system that many other groups are learning from. At this point, over 90% of their churches are sustained and considered "successful" plants!

The strength of Stadia's model is that they have build a system to support the gaps in giftedness of a typical church planter. As you may be able to guess, most church planters are outgoing, people oriented leaders - not usually the detail type if you know what I mean!

I don't have enough space here to outline everything that Stadia brings to the table, but here is a brief synopsis...

• Planter coaching. In a very short time, I will be assigned to an experienced church planter who will serve as a "coach" for the sometimes trouble packed first 2 years. This voice will help me navigate the day to day decisions that sometimes plague planters.
• Spouse Support. Sheila is already beginning to connect with "Bloom" the spousal support arm of Stadia! These ladies serve to connect and support the wives of planters! This group plans retreats and efforts in addition to regular one-on-one support! (this was a big help in our decision!)
• Administrative support. This is HUGE (those of you who know me well, know exactly why!) The resources that Stadia provide related to administration are unbelievable! In addition to paying a book keeper from day one (which will ensure that your donation receipts are handled correctly!), Stadia also supplies a partnership with Passion for Planting and a personal connection with a guy who will essentially serve as our off-site "executive pastor" making sure that I understand all that is necessary to planning, organizing and launching a church! There just isn't enough room here to outline all of the administrative support that Stadia provides - just know that they have really thought through the kind of people who are willing to plant churches and designed a process around supporting them!
• Leadership Support. Stadia has organized and will provide a team of pastors and leaders from across the country that will serve as off-site, organizational Elders for a period of 3 years. This enables church planters like myself not to need to rush into asking people to occupy this important role until they are properly vetted and effectively trained! Not having something like this is what kills a lot of young churches
• Funding Support. In addition to provision of numerous support efforts, Stadia also plays a financial role in the success of the plant! These guys work tirelessly raising funds to aid in planting a successful church! They also coordinate other ministries who will be partnering with us in Jackson!

Finally, once we chose Stadia to help us down this road, we connected with several projects that they were working on (embodying a concept of following God's will that I have taught for years - see where God is already at work and GET IN WHERE YOU FIT IN!)

After much investigation, dozens of phone calls and interviews, we went to Jackson, TN to meet with a team of people who wanted to see a church planted. Within minutes of meeting these people, I KNEW without doubt that these were people that I could work with! (As many of you know, I greatly doubt my ability to be effective if I am not working with friends!) It has been UNBELIEVABLE to hear how our journeys to this point coincide so significantly! (embodying another principle I have taught for years - God's Will is not be determined circumstantially, but you can't ignore circumstances in determining God's Will. )

Let me tell you that there is a great deal of support going into ensuring the success of this plant - not because many of you will follow God's leading to support this work, but because the GLORY AND RENOWN OF GOD hangs in the balance! If you have questions about the organization and what it does (or if you are one of my ministry friends and have been considering planting) please let me know - I would LOVE to help!!!

The Journey to Here: "Assessment"

[This post is part 3 of a series of posts related to the process of planting the church in Jackson, TN]

Over the past few months, the cry of our heart to God has been for Him to shut doors in our path if this was not His will for us. Among the many doors that have opened for the past several months was the formal assessment that each church planter with Stadia must go through.

Our thirteenth wedding anniversary found Sheila and I sitting in a hotel conference room across the desk from a clinical counselor. For the 6 or so weeks prior to our four day intensive, on-site evaluation, Sheila and I wrote a combined nearly 40 pages of documentation (questions regarding theology, practical experience, relationships, condition of our marriage, parenting opinions, and tons more) as well as filled out 3 different temperament/personality test (Taylor Johnson Temperament Analysis, DiSC profile and a Spiritual gifts assessment) not to mention development of a 3 generation family tree, resumes, references family pictures and other stuff.

Because of how the process works for other candidates, I am not able to talk publicly about the totality of the assessment process, but suffice it to say that it was grueling (in a very positive way)! Imagine this... you take 4 days of vacation to go through an assessment that you know NOTHING about... you walk into a room where you no absolutely NO ONE... sit down at a row of tables. Just before the main facilitator walks in, a row of "assessors" walk in, laptops in hand and sit behind you and begin to assess everything that you do... how you interact with others, how you lead in a group, how you follow. The scariest part... they separated spouses for almost all of the projects... SHEILA WAS TERRIFIED!

Now, I said all of that to say that there is a significant amount of investigation that goes into choosing a church planter/plant site partnership. This is not a decision that is entered into lightly!

Toward the end of the assessment process (after which I had a grand total of about 6 hours sleep - I think they want to see what you are willing to do to complete a project!) they meet with each potential planting couple to give them the results of their assessment.

You can imagine the tension that hung in the balance - and the relief when they told us that we had the "green light" on planting! We realized what a large process this was when we received a 60+ page report on our performance at assessment! WHEW!

If you are thinking about it, pray for other potential planters who are going through assesment NEXT WEEK (September 14-17) - they are terrified and their dreams of planting hang in the balance!

The Journey to Here: "Investigation"

[This post is part 2 of a series of posts regarding how we came to the decision to plant and "how" a new church gets started]

Here is the one thing that we have always known about Church planting: The best way to reach new people is to plant new churches! Sheila and I surrendered to God's call on our lives to plant a new church because we want to reach new (lost) people!

When we decided that God was calling us to plant a church and surrendered to that call, our understanding was quite limited. Like many of you, we thought that church planters decided God was calling them, raised some money to live on, moved to the area where you wanted to plant and started reaching people.

While that might be true for some people, we understand that God has not gifted us to "maverick" this plant! Over the years, I have seen God significantly develop the gifts and abilities that He has given me. Conversely, I have also seen that no matter how hard I try to be good at things I am not gifted to do... I still suck at them! '

I KNOW THAT I NEED A TEAM!

From the very beginning, I have been committed to moving forward with the right support network and systems to fill in the "gaps" in my giftedness. For instance, over the years, I have realized that my strengths are designing systems, working with people, understanding/communicating vision and preaching. In those same years, I have come to realize that I am not called to manage the system, keep the books, or mind the details (or a bunch of other things).

During the early months of investigation, I talked with a number of church planting organizations - each possessing different strengths. Some of those organizations offered better funding while others offered better marketing. Each of those organizations and groups also offered a "success rate" meaning that they have a certain percentage of their experience that has seen a new plant become a financially independent church within a period of time (usually about 3 years).

At the forefront of those organizations is a group called "Stadia." Over the past decade alone, Stadia has successfully planted over 100 churches! Those churches average 300 people in weekly attendance (more that 50 times the national average) and have a success rate of over 90% in a nation that struggles to see 50% on average! (Can you tell that I am a little proud of the team I am privileged to be a part of?)

Not only is Stadia extremely experienced and successful, but they also offer a number of resources that will help fill in the gaps in my leadership giftedness. For instance:

• Planter coaching. After we get rolling, I will be assigned a specific "coach" that has gone down this road before me. This coach will help me see the speed bumps ahead and ensure that I have the right tools in my bag to navigate them. He will also serve to ensure that I prioritize my family during this very busy season of life!
• Spouse support! We all know how important it is for our spouses to be on board during crucial times in our lives. Stadia is able to supply a connection to a ministry that they call "bloom" that serves to connect planter's spouses into a support network! I can't express how significant this was in our decision making process!
• Book-keeping. From day one, Stadia supplies the back-office support of a book-keeper to ensure that the finances and logistics are cared for.
• Boot camp. In the month of January, myself (and members of the team in Jackson who can make it) will attend a week-long intensive setting called "boot camp" that will serve to ensure that we effectively plan the efforts in planting this church! It promises to be grueling, but I am looking forward to it! (Put the date on your calendar and be praying for us... January 18-22, 2010!!)
• CONVERGE! One of the things that I have always realized I would struggle with is "how" to get the ball rolling in planting a new church! Stadia is able to provide partnership with an organization called "passion for planting" that has developed a web-based solution called "converge". This solution, along with a personal partnership with a guy who is experienced both in planting and this particular solution, will provide support through the critical first year. P4P has developed a list of over 300 crucial steps that a planter will need to take during that first year to ensure success - they help to make sure that we plan the work and then work the plan!
• Management team. One of the most pressing needs that a new church struggles with is the development of leaders. Remember that we are endeavoring to reach NEW believers, so solid, Biblical Elders and leaders are not easy to come by. For the first three years, we are kept from adding new Elders to our team which will give us ample chance to develop leaders as servants and see them grow to that leadership position. During those three years, the "management team" will serve essentially as off-site elders to protect the church in those formative years (these guys are usually pastors from around the country and their churches have a vested financial interest in seeing this church move forward)

As you can see, the partners that we chose in Stadia during the "investigation" stage are going to be a big part of what God is going to do over the next few years! But, we are still investigating the most important partners that we will have - - YOU! Over the next few years, we will need to raise a significant amount of money that God will use to reach lost people in Western Tennessee! But that is a post for another time... but pray about it in the meantime! Wouldn't it be awesome to know that you had a part in reaching people for Christ who would otherwise lived (and died) apart from Him? Now that's worth it!

The Journey to here: "The Calling"

Planting a church is a pretty confusing thing! Once the news was out, several people asked me "so, what do you do, go to Tennessee and buy a lot?" (or something like that). To be honest, when Sheila and I said "yes" to what we believed to be God's calling on our lives, we didn't know much more than that. But, over the past six or so months, God has provided a lot of clarification (and a whole lot of new questions) for us!

I know that some of you are very curious about what is involved in "planting" a new church. So, for the next few posts, I would like to walk you through a little of our journey to date (and let you in on some things for the future).

"THE CALLING" (God's will should not be interpreted circumstantially, but we can't ignore circumstances in interpreting God's will.)

Sheila and I have talked about the idea of planting a church for about 8 or 9 years now. Actually, we seriously entertained the idea before we came to New Hope 7 years ago this December. At that time, it became obvious to me that there was much I needed to grow through both in skill and maturity before God would be able to make the most from how He has gifted me.

Over these years, we have felt a tugging at our heart toward this idea, but have had almost NO IDEA what was involved in planting a church. A number of times, we considered it only to be unified under an answer of "not yet."

This past year has been an amazing journey. For some time, I had been feeling that "tugging" again. As my role at New Hope has changed, I have seen God work toward developing passions and experiences that have worked to clarify His direction in our lives.

This past Spring, God really moved in our lives. For Spring Break, we traveled down to Myrtle Beach, SC making our usual stop in Lynchburg, VA to see friends. These particular friends have been a significant part of our lives (particularly since we had investigated the idea of starting a church with them several times.) As we were leaving, Sheila said "if you are waiting on them to go forward in planting a church, I am getting the feeling that we should stop waiting." talk about a breakthorough moment!

The following months were a total whilwind. We have felt, many times, like God was dropping breadcrumbs for us to pick up as He led us to this end. It has been an amazing ride! Here are a few of the "breadcrumbs" along the way:

• Our Community Group (aka "Home Group") Over the past 4 years, these people have been some of the most significant voices of friendship and direction in our lives! This past year, we did a short study on how/why we should be broken hearted for the lost and how to share our faith in Christ. This study, and the growth of those in our group, was the foundation for God to move in our lives.
• The "Fearless" series Every week, as George was preaching, Sheila and I would sincerely understand the exact same calling related to our future. Many times, one of us would grab the other's hand and squeez like we were on the ride of our lives (I think that we are). Frankly, we were getting a bit worn out from God speaking so clearly, I really had no intentions of being convicted the 2 weeks that I preached during that series... no such luck! The David and Goliath sermon has served as the basic analogy for this endevor (maybe you have heard about something called the "economy"... but that's a post for another time)
• "Orange Conference" For months, our children and student minstry staff had been planning a trip to Atlanta for a training event for children and student workers. I was looking forward to taking a break from hearing God working toward calling us to plant a church - I figured a family ministry conference would be a safe place. Man, was I wrong... speaker after speaker challenged me (like I was the only person in the room) to move forward in faith. At one point, I actually wanted to leave the room because the feeling was so strong!

Countless other conversations, studies of Scripture, sermons, songs and much more have all been moments of affirmation that God is in and through this whole thing! I am looking forward to helping all of us better understand what the future holds for us... and how we got here...

Here are a couple of "previews" of posts to come...

• "Investigation" (finding partners in planting)
• "Assessment" (3 days of grueling interviews)
• "Organization" (how effective, successful churches are planted with Stadia)
• "Funding" (how we are going to see all of this happen in the next few years)