Over the past 25 years I’ve had the privilege of diving deep into church planting on an experiential level leading teams; as an advocate offering practical resources/training; as a mentor-coach for hundreds of church startups, both here and abroad; and, as a networker who dialogues regularly with a good number of leaders of church planting networks. What I’ve noticed along the way is that most teams tend to run into a cluster…
Continue ReadingThese past few years I’ve been privileged to work with a new and upcoming church starting network called Cyclical, which was founded by a friend (and serial planter), Nick Warnes. Nick and his creative content team assessed the kind of starters (church planters) Cyclical is encountering across North America and Canada, and devised a helpful list of nine leadership typologies. This is well worth interacting over, and you can download the short…
Continue Reading“I suspect that there are different questions for every age in life, perhaps every decade. Knowing them helps us to deal with people sensitively, and it gives us a better understanding of how to build a larger view of our own lives. . . And here’s the kicker. As the questions change, so does the content (and perhaps the form) of our spiritual interests. The `questions’ often become our way of approach…
Continue ReadingWhen’s the last time you caught yourself railing on some church for its faults? “I’d never consider taking my friends into that environment.” Or, “Wow, they’re the most cutting edge 90’s-style church in the city.” Or maybe it was a broader condemnation: “Most churches talk a lot about Jesus without acting much like Jesus.” These kinds of words may slide off your lips too easily if you’re a church planter. And when…
Continue ReadingIf you’re truly immersing in your local setting, you’re regularly encountering people who’ve decided they’re finished with church (the DONES) or who claim no religious affiliation at all (the NONES). The research tells us these populations are on the rise, perhaps eclipsing the 100 million mark in the US alone. These fellow humans experience shalom whether they know its Source or not. Much like you and me, they yearn to experience love,…
Continue ReadingLike many others, I can’t seem to get enough of Lesslie Newbigin. Ever since reading The Gospel in a Pluralist Society and Foolishness to the Greeks back in the early 90’s, I have an insatiable appetite to revisit his writings over and over again. From a missiological perspective, Newbigin is arguably just as relevant to the church today as he was when he first began to speak so prophetically to the Western…
Continue ReadingMany of us have fed so long and voraciously on concepts and practices related to “missional” that we’ve lost the appetite to dig in much deeper. I often feel stuffed myself. Such a volume of material, and so much of it only recasting in new language and stories the same beaten paths of application. Don’t get me wrong, I do still enjoy interacting over the latest nuancing of missional theology and praxis,…
Continue ReadingNot long ago I participated in a webinar with some pastors and church planters. We were interacting over how existing and newly-forming churches can grow in their engagement with their respective local contexts. About half way through, I realized we were really talking about how to help spiritual communities sustain that outward impulse into culture. As people interacted, I started scribbling down some thoughts. What would I recommend that leaders do to counter this…
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