This is some of the latest, most fresh research on starting churches. It is a two-year study of 260 ministries related to church planting.
Here are some of the major headings in the blog of findings from the study.
What did you find most interesting about the report?
This week, we want to introduce Kevin and Lisa Vance, church planters in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Why did you choose the place to plant?
We didn’t really choose where we were going to plant a church, God chose it for us. And he chose us to work here. Seven years ago, we started a children’s outreach in the inner city of Regina; it was small with just six or eight kids that first year. By the end of the second year, there were 84 kids, and the call to work and live among these people became so strong that we couldn’t ignore it any longer. Although we were both working at other jobs, and lived in the suburbs, we moved into the inner city, to be incarnational – to live and work among the people. It is a matter of identification – people here identify differently with those who live among them. And it has changed us to identify with them too.
Since that children’s outreach, our ministry has matured. We now have about 100 children and teens in three different outreaches. The growing edge is in our high school group, where we have 25 students. These young people are amazing, they serve in so many ways. They help with the kids outreach and the middle school youth group; they invite their friends; they have developed into a close group that loves to do things together.
What is your vision for what you are doing?
Our vision for this ministry is that it will grow and reach out to many more kids and teens. Our ministry started at one of the inner city schools; there are three others where we can start outreaches just in the neighborhood. And more teens are coming to our youth groups each year. The work is really just beginning.
Beyond the local work, we see church plants happening throughout Canada. These will be churches that are strong communities of love and support, with a vibrant evangelistic mission to the world. The work in Regina is a greenhouse, a training ground where leaders are being raised up and church planting teams can be trained and commissioned.
What made you want to become a church planter?
I think the joy of reaching out to people, sharing Christ with them, the challenge of communicating effectively with people who are a long way from the Lord and are jaded towards anything spiritual; the power of a Christian community coming together to serve God and reach out to the world; the God-pressure on my heart that he wanted me to live and work in the inner city, to the point where doing anything else would have been disobedient.
What tips or advice would you have for someone interested in church planting?
Pray often, seek the Lord, follow his leading. It’s like a roller coaster ride, an adventure. Join him in his mission, it will be the greatest joy you will ever experience. Incredible highs, tremendous disappointments, but God’s leading at every moment.
If you are interested in church planting, or would like more information, please visit our website at missionalive.org.
By Gailyn Van Rheenen
It was a transformative trip – for churches among the Kipsigis of southwest Kenya, for national leaders meeting at the Nairobi Great Commission School – and for me personally. We all felt God’s presence!
The purpose of my trip was to give encouragement; greet families (especially those of loved ones who are ill or have spouses who have passed away); visit as many churches (or clusters of churches) as I was able; and to teach 3-day courses at two Bible schools. I returned from this 2½ week trip tired but empowered.
When we left the Kipsigis area of Kenya, where we ministered for thirteen years, there were 100 churches. Today there are 450! This growth has not simply been numerical. These churches have also grown spiritually – using disciple-making and mission to form new communities and growing existing ones.
High points of the trip were visiting elders who helped start the churches, praying over leaders who were seriously ill, and greeting and giving condolences and memories to the families of leaders who had passed away. A special joy was sharing time with Matayo Matwek, a leader now 101 years of age, weak in body, but strong in spirit and testimony. Once upon a time he cast vision and encouraged Christians in his home area. He partnered with other leaders to build a mighty movement of God in his home area. We shared time with Mary, the widow of David Sambu, who was Chairman of the “Committee” (Board) of Siriat Bible School and prayed for her extended family. I miss David, my African mentor and confidant! Another good friend, Daniel, once worked for me tending my yard and garden and later became the sub-chief in his area. He now is very sick with cancer. I joined with others praying over him and giving finances to pay medical expenses and help his family.
I thoroughly enjoyed teaching two 3-day seminars, one in the Kipsigis language at the Siriat Bible School in what I call my “home area” of Kenya, and another in English at the Nairobi Great Commission School for major Kenyan leaders in the 
capital city. In each seminar I applied sections of the 2nd edition of Missions: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Strategies to their contexts. I began each section with a teaching time, a time of discussion as a group, followed by discussion and/or prayer in small groups and pairs. The favorite teaching was a parable on “spiritual awakening”—how crawling caterpillars are transformed to become flying butterflies able to both draw nectar and spread pollen. The most important teaching was “how do people of the kingdom of God make decisions.” Attentive listening! Laughter! Confession! Dialogue! Prayers! Worship! Transformation!
I visited as many of the churches as I could in the short time that I had. The churches in Konoin are vibrant for the Lord, focused on evangelism, highly respected by the local community, and are growing locally and in other areas where they send evangelists. They give generously to build facilities for their church gatherings and other events but also meet from house to house. A local Christian named Jonathan builds these facilities.
Throughout the trip I experienced African hospitality. I stayed in a small two-room house with an outside latrine and shower area on the homestead of my good friends Philip and Irene Chebose. Irene cooked most of my meals, indigenously African and deliciously prepared. They took care of my every need, even warming up the water for my morning sponge bath. It was a joy sharing life with this family! Their son Wycliffe is growing as a preacher and another son Nicholas is learning African sign language so that the Kipgsigis-speaking congregation can connect with the deaf congregation, which also meets in their building—much like the deaf ministry at the Willis Church in Abilene, where I was once served as an elder.
Throughout the trip I walked and ministered with David Tonui, Principal of the Nairobi Great Commission School, my son in the faith who once lived with us while completing his Masters in Christian Ministry at ACU. I praise God for how David and I worked synergistically during joint presentations, knowing instinctively how and when to speak and when to remain quiet. It was also a joy to share many meals and trips with both David and his wife Eunice. They illustrate both great hospitality and partnership in the mission of God. They are a rural/urban family—one home in the big city of Nairobi close to the Nairobi Great Commission School where two of their children work and study and another in a village near Siriat Bible School in southwestern Kenya, where the two younger children have been in school.
In many ways I became part of both the Chebose and Tonui families during my stay in Africa—eating, living, and sharing in close proximity.
I was called many years ago to be a missionary in Africa and served there for 14 years. I am energized by being there for a short time! My goal is return every two years to visit the churches and in the process both learn and teach. After each trip I feel that I have received more than I have given.
Our prayer and goal is to continue to grow and develop a similar (though culturally different) church planting and renewal movement in North America through Mission Alive.
Reflections on September 4, 2014
In Mission Alive we move from Theology to Practice. Theology is listening to God and seeking to do the will of God. It is like the rudder of a boat—setting direction. I can remember how our children, when they were small, loved pedal-boats and always wanted to “drive”. At times they were so intent on pedaling–making the boat move–that the rudder was held in an extreme position, and we went in circles. Realizing their mistake, but still intent on pedaling, they would move the rudder from one extreme to the other so that we zig-zagged across the lake. Without the foundation of theology, church leaders and church planters tend to zig-zag from fad to fad, from one theological perspective and related philosophies of ministry to another. Theology helps center us so that we turn the rudder according to the will of God. It forms and guides the mission of God. Then, paradoxically, our practices of mission begin to inform and shape our theology–a movement from Theology to Practice and then from Practice to Theology.
In Mission Alive the first step in training is a two-day, interactive lab called CULTIVATE: Personal Discipleship. The theme is that “what God will do through us he must first do within us.” We would say that the two most important questions are: “What is God saying?” and “What does he desire that we do about it?” In these labs and through coaching and equipping huddles life transformation is sparked for both church planting and renewal.
In Mission Alive we believe in both church renewal and church planting. The impulses of growth, learning, and transformation are similar yet different. These impulses spiritually form searchers to become disciples of Jesus who then go on mission within growing vibrant communities—that meet publicly for teaching, inspiration, and testimony and in smaller groups in neighborhoods and relational networks for mission and community. Discipling-making leads to missions resulting in the development of community. We believe that “the future of the Western Church is . . . a powerful return to Jesus’ heart for making disciples, and multiplying them into missionary leaders” (Jon Tyson, Forward of “Multiplying Missional Leaders”).
There are two types of leaders: those who listen primarily to human voices to guide them forward and those who listen to God’s voice. Mission Alive aims to equip leaders to listen to God’s voice in both church planting and renewal.
The art of church planting is like three intertwined rings, like Olympic circles, each related to the others. The first circle, disciple-making, is guiding people to become more like Jesus. The second is mission, summarized by Jesus’ statement: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” The words “follow me” designate discipleship, and “I will make you fishers of men” is descriptive of mission.
The third, community formation, is the result–the outcome–of disciple-making and mission.
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| Community is inherent in disciple-making and mission. It becomes the arena of nurture, of spiritual maturation.Thus, the art of church planting is learning to make disciples on mission with God, which results in new communities of faith.Disciple-making, mission, community-all three are counter-intuitive to North American society. Our tendency is to emphasize champions over disciples, participation without mission, and attendance with little community.
The process of Mission Training integrates disciple-making, mission, and community through experiential learning processes for the sake of both church renewal and church planting. Click here to download a Mission Training brochure. Gailyn Van Rheenen Mission Alive |
A recent update shared our excitement about the kickoff of the first Mission Training Equipping Lab called Cultivate. There’s another reason we’re excited about it, too. This Mission Training Cohort signifies the beginning of a new Mission Alive network! Mission Alive’s vision is to equip leaders to plant and renew hundreds of churches all over North America, thereby catalyzing a movement of mission and discipleship. By God’s grace we’re seeing this begin to happen — from San Antonio, Texas, to Regina, Saskatchewan, and from Newberg, Oregon to Williamsburg, Virginia! We are pursuing this vision through the creation of regional networks – where leaders and churches in a particular geographical area connect and work together for planting and renewal. As a result, we’re thrilled to commission Fred Liggin as the Network Coordinator for Mission Alive’s new Mid-Atlantic Network! Continue reading
Praise God for new beginnings! On Monday, November 18, 2013 the Redland Hills Church in Wetumpka, AL held its first gathering. After months of conversation, planning, and praying, our core families, along with others who have been interested in what we are doing, gathered for a night of worship and thanksgiving. And we have much to be thankful for! God has been walking with us and far ahead of us each step we have taken. We are grateful for the partnership, advice, and coaching from Mission Alive to even get to this point. We have been blessed with a great space in a neighborhood clubhouse, with even space for a kids program. We’ll begin renting this space each Sunday beginning in January 2014. And we’re so grateful for the many prayers and encouraging words that friends and supporters have shared. It is humbling to begin a new work like this, but so rewarding to see it come to fruition.
October 11-12 was a big weekend for Mission Alive! We launched the first Cohort of Mission Training, the new equipping process for church leaders we have been developing in the past year.
Thirty people in six teams came together to participate at the Williamsburg Christian Church building in Williamsburg, Virginia – three church planting teams and three renewal teams (from existing congregations).
Mission Training is designed to equip church planting and renewal leaders as missionaries in their particular contexts. They begin to envision how the churches they lead can make disciples, reach those who are searching for God, and embody God’s inbreaking kingdom in their communities.
Leaders experienced Cultivate: Personal Discipleship, the first Equipping Lab in the Mission Training process. Cultivate fleshes out our fundamental conviction that the most effective church leaders are devoted Christ-followers. The purpose of the Lab is to help leaders evaluate their own personal spiritual health, have an encounter with God, and identify spiritual rhythms they want to live out in the six months following the Lab. Throughout the weekend, leaders receive teaching input, engage in personal reflection and journaling, and interact with other leaders in Equipping Huddles.
Wes Gunn, team leader of the Redland Hills church planting in Montgomery, Alabama, enjoyed the personal formation and networking opportunities in Cultivate:
“I appreciated the focus on personal discipleship and the foundation that we must be shaped by Christ ourselves prior to being able to guide others. A particular blessing to me was networking with other church planters and encouraging each other in our journeys.”
Jason Thornton, a team member from the Williamsburg Christian Church, was touched by the depth of community and spiritual intimacy in the Lab:
“The Mission Alive Lab reminded me of the importance of the ‘each otherness’ of walking with Christ. I found it refreshing to be in a Huddle and to share in a time of confession with other brothers in Christ. Having been in ministry, I have frequently felt like I was on an island in spiritual battle. From my brief time in the Mission Alive Lab, I feel like I had more true spiritual intimacy with brothers and sisters in Christ than I had experienced in most of my time in ministry.”
Cultivate is one of four Equipping Labs hosted every six months in the two-year Mission Training Process.
Click here to download our Mission Training brochure.
We are excited and thankful to God for the opportunity to walk alongside kingdom leaders and equip them for the mission!
Charles Kiser
Director of Training
First, we are excited about Mission Training. Tod, Charles, and I were in Williamsburg, VA, this past weekend facilitating the first lab of our new equipping cycle. Thirty-six participants (from three new/beginning church plants and three established churches) explored how to “Cultivate Personal Discipleship.” These participants were both growing as disciples themselves and learning to help others do the same.
Second, we are excited about new church planters–committed, talented, people of experience!! For example, Wes Gunn recently announced to the Landmark Church in Montgomery, AL, that he was resigning to follow God’s call to plant a new church in the area where he lives. Praise God for the words of encouragement and affirmation that Wes and Amanda and their core team received from their church family. Please pray for Wes and Amanda Gunn (pictured), Tim and Diane Castro, Rob and Rivers Sellers, and Rob and Joy Williams as they begin to reach out into their community. Read more about the Redland Hills Church at http://www.redlandhills.org/blog. And we are thankful that this church planting is fully funded from the beginning. Praise God with us!
Third, we are excited about the leaders who are growing to heightened spiritual vitality and understanding through our Equipping Communities, which we have been calling Huddles. Continue reading
In late July Becky and I finally finished writing and editing the second edition of Missions: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Strategies. Completing this missions text is very significant for Mission Alive. Writing the chapter on “Planting, Nurturing, and Training: An Incarnational Model for North America” (in the context of the
other chapters leading up to it) has helped to sharpen our thinking and led us to be very intentional in the process of church planting and renewal. This text has nine new chapters and moves more intentionally from theology to practice than the 1996 edition (http://zondervan.com/9780310208099). This first edition has gone through 12 printings. Its publication will also be significant for us as a ministry.
In the next few weeks I will continue blogging a few excerpts from this text. We invite you to read and to respond.
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God’s Ministry through Jim and Julie
Jim and Julie discerned that they were naturally gifted as evangelists and this understanding amplified their interest in missions. As youth ministers, they felt the calling of God to begin Missional Communities, meaning in this case, Christian relational networks within schools to help searchers know God and walk with him. With other leaders of their church, they conceived of multiple Missional Communities, embedded in neighborhoods and relational networks, as extensions of their public Worship Gathering on Sunday morning. The seeds of the communities were planted when they began to pray with Christian student leaders about their schools and to minister with these students during campus activities and in coffee houses. They were present for many school activities; it was their arena of mission. Soon Jim and Julie were ministering to a broader group of students who were friends of the core group within the church. After a student’s death, Jim and Julie were at the school to comfort, counsel, and pray. They attended many sports events and the coaches frequently asked them to pray for and minister to struggling students. Jim and Julie attempted to model Jesus’ ministry on earth in their campus environments by teaching, listening, praying, and healing. Reflecting the ministry of Christ, they also prayed diligently for the students from their church who ministered with them. After extended prayer, they selected twelve students, six from each of the two high schools in their area, and invited them into two discipling huddles. The huddles’ focus was to help the students grow as disciples of Jesus and partner with them to be Christ to their campuses. As a result, within a year missional communities of about 40 students were ministering in the name of Jesus on each campus and worshipping in the church’s public gathering. Mission had gone out of the church building and into the schools and homes of the community.
What do you think are Jim and Julie’s assumptions about the nature of ministry?
