Wednesday Planter: Personal Transitions in Planting

Personal Transitions in Planting

My whole entry into church planting was spurred by a series of ministries I had in congregations which (at least at the time) had no interest in being effective or in changing. They feigned interest in reaching new people, provided those new people thought like them, dressed like them, talked like them, and did what they were told by them. That raised serious concerns for me.

My brother Tim was the first up close church planter I knew. My brother Matt was the second. They spurred me on by showing me how we could break out of the traditional mold and reach people many Christians would simply write off.

Since my ordination in 1983, it’s always jumped out at me was how the rest of the world was changing its styles, tastes, focus, and energy, but the church wasn’t: The church saw change as a threat. Communities were growing, yet congregations in them remained flat or declining. I pondered, “Why is everything booming but the church?”

I eventually realized businesses and communities were thriving because of change, something in which the church seemed to have no interest. My Bible College years found me — much to the chagrin of a couple profs — questioning what was essential for the church and what was not. I didn’t question theology. I questioned methodology. I began working to distinguish the difference between biblical teaching and modern practice. (In my childhood, you'd have thought short-hair, suits and ties, and hymns WERE biblical!) To this day, I know if I ask a pastor whether he understands the difference between biblical teaching and his denom’s practices – and he glazes over – he's in trouble.

The conclusion I came to is that in order for the church to be relevant to real life and to survive into the future, it needs to understand the change taking place around it, and transition its methodology (not theology!) to reach people.

At Adventure, we say up front in our Articles of Incorporation and our By-Laws: “Each generation of this congregation will continually prepare itself to minister to the following two generations.”

The message stays the same, but how it's delivered and presented must change. That requires a lot of personal transitions for church leaders. Over the next ten Wednesdays, I wanna share with you the transitions I had to make for this to happen for me personally.