Revitalize Your Church

J. D. Greear shared a great article recently: How I Dumped the Megachurch Model and Found Something Bigger     Excellent food for thought.  Multiplication is higher math.

I recently received a complimentary copy of The Wholehearted Church Planter for review on this blog (via Net Galley) and found it to be a refreshing surprise.  Instead of a bunch of leadership tips and suggestions for creating flashy events, authors, Allan Karr and Linda Bergquist say the key to effective church planting is spiritual. The secret to launching a vital congregation is for the leaders to live in the overflow of holy character and love.  It is about passion for Christ rather than personality or programs.   I deeply appreciate this rich and biblical challenge to put first things first and to minister reflectively.

Church Plant Survivability and Health Survey

Jim Tomberlin, founder, president and senior strategist for MultiSite solutions, recently shared an insightful list of trends in the multisite church movement for Outreach Magazine . #8 on his list is of special interest to the small town-rural pastor.

My good friend, (West Michigan D. S.) Mark Gorveatte, recently reported on the amazing church planting efforts of Linwood Wesleyan Church of Sioux Falls, SD. Senior Pastor, Bill Kinnan, says, "Church planting is not something we've done, it's something we DO!"

I'm really impressed by what these guys are doing. Shawn Cossin, Director of Evangelism and Church Growth for the Western Pennsylvania District (Wesleyan Church), exudes vision and passion for reaching people for Jesus. Their D.S., Randy Swink is an outstanding leader. His son, Brad, served as an intern with us last year, and became a hero to my sons, Luke and Wes. (They talk about him all the time.) Next month, I'm scheduled to fly there and speak to these guys -- but methinks I'll learn as much as I teach. Check the 3 One Day Learning Events and the Videos at the bottom of the page!

Today, I had the privilege of speaking at our daughter congregation The River Church in Minong. I felt like a grandpa visiting the kids. We started it a couple of years ago by opening up an abandoned building for a candlelight Christmas Eve Service. From there, we launched Saturday night services -- and I drove the half hour there three out of four weeks to preach to 30 or 40 people. A little over a year ago, we secured a wonderful pastor, Ben Kidder -- and our "baby church" really took off -- moving to Sunday mornings on Palm Sunday 2007. Today, when I looked out over the congregation, I didn't recognize over half of the faces! Before the service, one lady shook my hand and said, "Glad you're visiting today! I'm sure you'll like our church so much you'll want to come back next week!" I told her I'm usually tied up on Sunday mornings. The River is really flowing, growing and moving forward. Well over 120 people attended two services this mor...

Denominational officials need to pay close attention over the next couple of months. Exit polls from the Republican primaries provide us free demographics for planting evangelical churches in America. Evangelicals leaving Republican polling places: Iowa -- 60% New Hampshire -- 21% Looks like someone needs to start planting churches in New Hampshire.

Some time ago, Keith Drury asked, "What would church planting look like if done the Outback Steakhouse Method . Good FOOD for thought -- and makes me steak hungry!

Free Church Planting Resources

Great blog interview of Bob Roberts at Ed Stetzer's blog -- Glocalization! Over 100 congregations have been planted from Bob's church, Northwood Community, in Texas. Just yesterday, my dear friend, Roger Ciskie, told me that Summit Church in Naples, Florida (where he attends), has grown to 1200 people, since it launched three years ago. This week, they'll open their new facility -- which seats 600 -- intentionally. They have also launched eight other congregations during that short span of time. Their main focus is not just to build a bigger church and hope the community comes. Rather, they believe God is calling them to reach out and bring the love of Jesus to every man, woman, boy and girl in the entire region -- and to also bless the nations. That requires multiple churches. Now, that's missional! I've been re-reading Phil Stevenson's excellent book on this subject, The Ripple Church. Ordered a copy of it for all my board members and pastoral staff. What...

John Piper on launching new churches: Jesus never said, "I will build my social service agency." He never said, "I will build my parachurch ministry." He never said, "I will build my university or my Christian college or my Christian school." He said, “I will build my church.” One institution in all the universe is given this promise. ‘I will build my church.’ So, brothers, be encouraged that you are about something extraordinarily important. I = A Risen Christ, worthy of eternal worship, is the one who plants the church. Will build = Christ builds His church through “ripping the gates of hell off of the human heart… so they can see.” My = The church belongs to Jesus Christ and Jesus is already at work in the city where you are planting. “For I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:10) Church = Only one institution in the entire universe is given the promise that Jesus will build it. (via Jonathan Herron , via Ed Stetzer

2007 Church Plant Survivability Report -- a Publication from the Center for Missional Research.

I was delighted to see that Grace Fellowship , pastored by my buddy, Dave Reno, made the list of the top 25 Multiplying Churches in America. I've never seen anybody more excited about the idea of church planting. I think Dave's ultimate goal is to give away his people!

We've had a 73 pound baby!! Last Sunday, 73 people attended the first Sunday service at our daughter church plant in Minong. Congratulations to our fantastic church planter, Ben Kidder, and his fabulous launch team! (I swiped the big baby birth announcement from John Jackson, who posted about a 358 pound baby born last Sunday in Dayton, Nevada!)