I’m still not sure how I became a church planter. Seriously, my gifts and talents don’t seem to make me a likely candidate. I wasn’t picked early as having “church planting potential.” I don’t have that serial entrepreneur thing that a lot of planters do (although I did start a punk rock band in high school and we were actually kind …
In this post, we continue what we started in my last post on Jesus and Movement (see bottom of this post). My two posts can be read separately or together (in any order). The Key to Movement In his book The Great Omission, Dallas Willard identifies the key reason why we don’t see movement take place in the West today. We have …
We’re pleased to announce that Church as Movement: Starting and Sustaining Missional-Incarnational Communities our very own JR Woodward and Dan White Jr. is now available! Purchase it as a discount rate here and get additional free resources here. From the Foreword One of the strengths of the book derives from the fact that JR and Dan are reflective practitioners; both have …
Church planting is hard work, and it’s easy to get caught up in the present, which isn’t necessarily bad since getting caught up in the very things God has called us to and wired us for is one of the deepest joys in life. That being said, being caught up sometimes means we’re overdue for reflection. We may need to pause and …
V3 author and Imagine Church planter Kevin Sweeney and his wife Christine have been a big part of the V3 Movement. Recently, they joined us at Praxis as featured missional practitioners and taught the amazing, interactive sessions Discipleship and the Person of Peace and Discipleship and Imagination. Their real-world experiences were immanent in their Praxis sessions, and participants heard how a vibrant, creative, missional …
Recently I read an article by a person I highly respect about gathering a team for a launch. The ideas were solid, but every suggestion offered was dependent on a culture that was seeded with enough Christians to make it easy for churches to borrow or enlist people who are already Christians. How the Church Planting Scene Has Changed I remember …
This past weekend, church planting practitioners gathered in Washington, D.C. to work together and share on the topic of discipleship. Missional-movement leaders such as Deb Hirsch, Kevin Doi, Paul Sparks, Mark Scandrette, Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, and David Fitch worked with other missional-movement leaders like you from all over the country. This year’s focus was discipleship, and the workshops were phenomenal, thoroughly engaging the relationships …
In my previous blog post, I shared how leaders establish culture through what they teach and model, as well as by what they pay attention to, reward and sanction. I want to continue the topic of creating culture by looking at Christ. A Thought Experiment Imagine Jesus is the leader of your church—Hopefully he is!—in a sense similar to when …
The RePlacing Church Podcast with Ben Katt In this episode, I explore the Teachers as “Sage” by looking at the story of Apollos from the early church, and identifying the three main practices of Sages as they pursue restoration in the neighborhood. Series Summary: In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul mentions 5 gifts for the church – Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, …
The RePlacing Church Podcast with Ben Katt In this episode, I explore the Shepherd as “Healer” by looking at Psalm 23 and the story of Barnabas from the early church, and identifying the three main practices of Healers as they pursue restoration in the neighborhood. Series Summary: In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul mentions 5 gifts for the church – Apostle, …