I have been coaching three different church planters the past nine months and I'd like to tell you a bit about them, but first: This Saturday at 5:30 I get to preach at one of their churches - GeneratiOne Church in The Box @ LFC-Huntersville. I'd love for a bunch of you to come and enjoy their worship while encouraging this fledling church with your presence. Even better - invite a friend for whom you think this could be their church home.
One of the things I love most about this stage of life and ministry is coaching younger leaders whom God has called to do something like my own calling - plant a new baby church. Are you watching out for opportunities to give away some of what you've learned in parenting, marriage, career, leadership, financial wisdom, winning through to sobriety, etc? Because there's always someone a step or three behind you hungry to hear a report from further up the trail.
My coaching MOSTLY begins this way: "The only book I'll ever be qualified to write would be titled The 10 Ways I Almost Drove This Baby Church Into A Ditch & How the Holy Spirit Saved Us By The Skin Of Our Teeth Each Time. So our conversations will each be about a chapter in that book - learning from my mistakes." While that's pretty true, I also have some positive coaching from things I've learned. Like:
More church plants fail for lack of applying received wisdom through deliberate process, than they do for lack of zeal or spiritual heart.
During your pre-launch phase, tell yourself and the launch team this is not a church, its a leadership team with a toolbox constructing a church - therefore we will not spend time making our meetings awesome in worship/sermon/pastoral care (because for a startup pastor, they will obsess over that and spend all their time in sermon and worshp prep - its not time for that and the teams aren't ready anyway). Our time will be seeking the scriptures, forming teams, loving our neighbors and constructing a brand new bride of Christ.
A new church should have a primary purpose of introducing new people to Jesus. Build it into yourself and the launch team from moment one by starting EVERY meeting with prayer and stories about each persons 'list of 3 people who've given up on church but not on God' they are praying for and investing into with love and friendship (and yes if its appropriate to invite them to the launch service yes, if not congruent with the relationship, don't). Your new church culture will rise or fall in gospel authenticity with this action.
Here are three men I've had the privilege of coaching over the past three months. I respect each of them as men of God, leaders and pastors, and I love the unique churches the Holy Spirit has seen fit to birth through each of them and a bunch of their friends:
Quinn Rodgers and GeneratiOne Church. GeneratiOneChurch "GeneratiONE Church is an urban approach to ministry that caters to the Churched and Unchurched to experience Christ in a unique way. Yes our worship experience are on Saturday's...
Wes Barry andWaypoint Community Church, meeting at Myers Park High School in Charlotte. Waypoint Church Wes is doing a great job creating organic community and worship at this new ECO church.
Aron Gibson and our own Lake Forest Church - WestLake. He's been a refreshing companion in mission and theology for me, and has knocked our startup in Denver NC out of the park. LFC WestLake
Who are you spending a bit of time coaching in an important area of life in which God has given you significant experience?
2 Timothy 2:2 "Take the things you heard me say in front of many other witnesses and pass them on to faithful people who are also capable of teaching others."
