Missional leadership depends upon the art of reframing. Reframing helps us to take a walk in someone else’s shoes and see the world from a different vantage point. Leaders who can reframe a context or situation can turn conflict into opportunity; despair into hope; sorrow into joy. An Alternate Lens When you are teaching a class, preaching, leading a formation …
3 Things To Do Instead of Looking for a Church Plant Core Team
One of the most common questions I get is “where did you find people to come help you plant a church?” “How did you find people for your team?” Today, after over 2o years of ministry and 10 years of church planting, I believe there is a systemic problem that can arise from these types of questions. Parachuting in to …
Want to Learn About Church Planting? Apply for this Apprenticeship.
Grace Capital City began as just a handful of people gathered in a living room has continued to grow into a strong, diverse group of men and women who are committed to seeing the good news of Jesus Christ shared in ever corner of our city. Now, GCC wants to pass on what they’ve learned. Grace Capital City Apprenticeship 2018 …
Stay? Go? A Better Question When Church Planting Gets Tough
“Would you stay in the neighborhood if the church plant fails?” Bryan Stabb’s recent post on church planting success and failure rightly deconstructs common pitfalls concerning unreasonable and unhealthy expectations associated with church planting. An aspiring church planting hero who moved to a city, bought a house, rooted himself in a neighborhood, and picked out his and his wife’s burial …
Santa's Trick or Treat: Discipleship in the Smart Toy Era
In the few days after Christmas, we’ve seen families in new church plants here in Seattle realize they have given their kids new tech toys not realizing these toys are often not a “treat” but a “trick.” Smart Toys and Secrets For example, in a recent report on NPR, a new talking doll called Cayla has some serious issues and …
Christmas Isn’t Over Yet
Now that Christmas Day is over many of us feel let down because the day we have been anticipating for so long has passed. The malls strip their elaborate decorations and junk their remaining Christmas stocks with huge 50-70% off sales. Christmas wreaths and trees are thrown out for the garbage collectors and our frenzied activities give way to a low grade …
Church Planter: Jesus Moved On. Should You?
Imagine that you have tried your best to make disciples out of a handful of people, but their interest in Jesus never goes beyond curiosity. Not a single one of them have made a commitment to obedience to Jesus for as long as you have been investing into those relationships. Or, let’s say no matter how hard and how long …
How To Get Out of the Church Planting Celebrity Trap
In a previous post I talked about the subtle but powerful temptation to plant a church with a celebrity fan club culture instead of a missional movement culture. I talked about how to diagnose whether a celebrity fan club culture is creeping into your church plant. Now I want to talk about a few concrete actions you can take as …
Is Your Church Plant Just a Celebrity Fan Club?
To be a church planter, you need to have vision to see something that doesn’t exist yet. You also need to organize your life around the goal of seeing that vision become a reality. There are a million temptations along the way, mostly having to do with trying to take control of the process, attempting to make things happen instead …
A Methodology for Discerning Impact: The Most Significant Change
Two to four years into a church plant? How do you know the church is making a difference? Courageous enough to seriously ask? How do we know our ministries—whether preaching, outreach, serving the poor, children’s programs, or life groups—make a difference? Measuring impact tends to be elusive and often downright avoided, especially in Christian circles. In this blog, however, I …