Lead Like Jesus. Live On Mission. Make Disciples.
I came to know the love of Jesus for the first time at a church plant.
I then had the privilege of being a part of one of the most impactful church-planting churches in the Midwest for over ten years, having a hand in the start-up of various campuses and plants. [Read more…]
Have you ever noticed that some people seem to be wired up to create a sense of family and belonging? They’re always creating safe environments for people to be real and find healing, and can’t help but care deeply about others. They are empathetic, have a lot of patience for other people’s brokenness and feel an impulse to help others.
They typically are found helping the congregation to love and encourage one another. These are people the Bible calls shepherds (or “pastors,”), and they’re great! But they can also be so focused on cultivating harmony within a group that the group never grows, especially if they’re immature in their gifting.
Have you ever noticed that some people seem to be wired up to make connections and meet new people? They’re always growing their relational networks and can’t help but rally people to causes they believe in. They are naturally relational, often extroverted and happy a lot of the time.
They typically enjoy spending their time with people who are far from faith or marginalized in some way. These are people the Bible calls evangelists, and they’re great! But they can also be “all over the place” in terms of what they think God is calling them to, especially if they’re immature in their gifting.
It’s important for us as leaders to be able to recognize the immature evangelists among us, and disciple them to maturity so they can fulfill their ministry in the Body of Christ.
We recently hosted a webinar with David Fitch on 5 Ways Church Planting Must Change, but we didn’t get a chance to answer all of the excellent questions.
So we asked David (and Geoff) to answer some of them on video for you!
