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!!!