Confessions of an Unemployed
Minister - Part Nine: Planting A Church
Another gift of being in employment transition has been the
opportunity to work with a group of people to plant a new church. It started
with a colleague inviting a group of us to pray with him about his own
vocational transition. He had worked in the same church as me for many years,
but had decided to leave there. After completing doctoral studies, he gathered
this group of us to talk, pray, listen and wonder about what God might have
next for this minister. As a group, we discerned that God was calling this man
to start a new church, especially for those who in our neighbourhood who had
never been in a church, or had wandered away lately. He invited any from the
group to join him in this adventure.
My wife and I felt led to join the team to plant this new
gathering. I had been let go from the church we had been serving for many
years, and this friend was the only person to invite me to volunteer in
congregational leadership for about a year’s time. We joined the “launch team”
and I volunteered to team teach with him. About half of the original
discernment group also joined the leadership of this new plant.
We had heard of a strategy for planting a church that included
meeting as a small, home group for about six months before inviting others to
join us for an official “launch”. One of our members said he wasn’t waiting. He
would be taking his guitar to the beach the upcoming Sunday and if anyone
wanted to join him, this would be the beginning of the new church. Both the
lead (part-time paid) pastor and myself were away that coming Sunday, and so,
the church started without us. There were about 15 people on the beach that
week. There was worship, prayer, bible reading, and expositional proclamation.
Because of the size of the group and the informal nature of the beach setting,
there was lively discussion following the short bible exposition.
Over the following several weeks, the gathering grew, especially
with teenagers from a few local youth ministries as kids returned from outreach
camps. The basic elements remained the same: worship, prayer, bible reading,
exposition, and discussion. Kids played on the beach and local strangers
wandered by, probably wondering what this group was all about.
As the weather grew worse, we looked for a place to congregate
indoors. My pastor colleague announced he had found a place, in our
neighbourhood to meet. A local United Church was willing to make their basement
available Sunday mornings. The Minster was interested in supporting us and
intrigued to partner with us in not only using the building, but also in
mutual friendship and encouragement. When the pastor announced what church this
was, I was stunned. This was the very church I was a member of from age 8
through 23; from the time I had moved into that neighbourhood until the time I
moved away to work in full time ministry in another city. What was God up to?
The next eighteen months have been a delightful experience of seeing God do
some astonishing things.
