The Ecclesia Network

a missional church network

Ecclesia Network

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Leader Profile: Stephen Redden

Stephen Redden is one of the founding pastors of NDC and oversees our church multiplication efforts. He is also the director of The Church Cooperative of Denver, the local church network NDC helped launch in 2017. He is a graduate of Mississippi State University (B.S. Computer Engineering, M.B.A.) and Dallas Theological Seminary (M.A. Biblical Studies). Stephen also does a variety of projects outside of NDC. He is the founder of Third Circle, a consultative coaching practice, where he works with individuals and organizations to maximize their effectiveness.  Between 1996 and 2000 Stephen worked as an information technology specialist at IBM Global Services before leaving to work on a project with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Kazakhstan and Russia in 2000-2001. After returning to the US in 2001, Stephen joined the staff at North Point Community Church to help lead the Community Groups ministry. Stephen married Kate in 2002, and they welcomed their first son, Ethan, in 2004 and were blessed again in 2007 with the arrival of their second son, Andrew. Stephen loves football (Go Broncos and Hail State!) and futbol (Go Rapids and Gunners!), snowboarding, and considers himself a closet redneck and a geek at heart.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Urban neighborhood

How would you describe the journey of pastoring New Denver? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

We started the church 10 years ago, and I was one of the founding pastors. In that time there have been a number of seasons and milestones along the way. The early years were marked by a lot of work to slowly build relationships and patiently serve our fledgling community as it grew slowly. In time, somewhere around year four, we hit a point where momentum began to build and we began to feel more stable. We had a steady self-sustaining community and focused on the tasks of growing our roots deeper. In some ways that season continues today in our main location, but four years ago we committed to making significant investments in multiplying our influence. We built on the momentum of our existing ministry residency and started a church planting residency as well. Two years ago we helped our first church planting resident launch a new church – Westside Church Internacional – a bi-lingual, multicultural church in west Denver. Today we continue to look for opportunities to grow and expand our influence at New Denver, but we are also exploring opportunities to bring on another church planting resident or work with an existing church to replant or revitalize a community.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started New Denver?

Perseverance is the key to longevity in ministry. Everyone faces challenges and adversity, and things rarely go the way that you expect. If you can hold your expectations open-handed before God and believe that he is always at work in ways that you cannot fathom or understand, it allows you to persevere through the inevitable highs and lows of pastoral ministry.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

From the beginning, we sought to be a values-driven church. Our values have changed over time, but our commitment to discerning the few things we want to focus on as a community has remained consistent. This clarity of values helps us to know who we are and how we focus our limited energy and resources. In pursuit of living out those values, we never get too attached to programs or methodologies. One of our values is community, and to date, we’ve tried a variety of different approaches to living that out. The goal remains the same, but we hold loosely to our strategies. Lastly, I think one thing we’ve done well is to try and steward the people who come through our community well. Our city is very transient, and it has been easy at times to get cynical about how many people come and go. But the more we remain open-handed – celebrating people when they come and when they go and making the most to guide them and develop them while we’re here, we seem to see God bless and multiply our efforts.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

We’ve had to re-think evangelism over and over. In the early days, we were so desperate to “get the word out” and make new connections that it was difficult to be patient to see and appreciate the slow work of God. We were always pushing people to invest in others and to invite them to church. As we have been able to grow slowly, it has allowed us to be patient and see that in very post-Christian contexts like Denver, it may be years to see people open to engaging somehow in the life of the church.

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

In the early days, we were trying to create gatherings to build relationships and get some momentum going. I remember we did an event at someone’s house, bought a bunch of food, and invited 20-25 people. Three people showed up. It was so disappointing, but I tried to value and appreciate those three people well. It prepared me for the coming years when there would be low-attendance Sundays or seasons when attendance and participation would mysteriously drop. We developed a mantra – “Love the church you have, not the church you want to have.”

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

I turn 49 this year, and over the last few years, God has been impressing on me that innovation and leadership to engage coming generations doesn’t come from 50 and 60-year-olds. It’s time for me to start getting serious about moving from the “front” to the “back” – to get behind younger leaders and use everything I have to push them forward. This is not something that I’ve seen done particularly well by the church leaders in the generations ahead of me, but it’s something I’m convinced we need to do better.

What do you dream/hope/pray New Denver looks like in five years?

In five years I’d love to see us continuing to grow and engage people at our current location. We currently share space with the aging and dwindling congregation that owns the building where we meet. It’s been a great relationship, but over the last few years, we’ve felt constrained by their refusal to make space for us to grow by adding additional Sunday services. It would be great to get that resolved. But I’d also like us to continue to engage with reaching people through church planting and looking for ways to invest outside our current community.

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Leader Profile: Dustin Bagby

Dustin Bagby co-pastors the Evergreen Community in Portland, OR (with Luisa Gallagher). He has an M.Div from Western Seminary in Portland, and a B.A. in Preaching and Bible from Lincoln Christian University in Lincoln, Illinois. Dustin is married to Kelli, and they have two boys; Gram and Owen, and daughter Rose.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Hipster. 🙂

How would you describe the journey of pastoring Evergreen? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

I’ve been at Evergreen for 13 years so there have been a lot of different seasons. It’s been exciting to be a part of a church that has been a healing place for so many people in the “formerly Christian” camp as well as people experiencing Jesus for the first time.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started at Evergreen?

I’m not sure it’s as much about what I wish I would have known as much as who I wish I would have been. Certainly, we can’t become that person without a lot of experience and difficulties getting there, but to have been introduced to some works like Edwin Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve and the concepts that come with it earlier would have been VERY helpful.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

I think one of the key things we’ve tried that has worked well and has always been appreciated is leaving space for dialogue on Sundays as well as other environments where people can share honestly. It’s in that sharing where people realize that we’re not encouraging people to fake life or pretend everything is okay all the time. That honesty and authenticity have gone a long way in people realizing their need for Jesus and being able to encourage one another and care for each other.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework? What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

Just one? 🙂 I think one of the big failures from the last three years was the lack of thought we as leaders put into how we processed and dialogued about the LGBTQ conversation as a community. There was pressure from numerous people that the elders be explicit about our position and give them some kind of “statement.” We’ve always been a community where people have been allowed to “disagree without disengaging” and it just wasn’t something that was our number 1 priority. I think as we studied and processed as elders and then brought it before the community we didn’t do it as thoughtfully or thoroughly as we could have. Given the fact that our community is so split on their opinion on this, I’m not surprised that it was difficult and painful. But I think there are ways we could have alleviated that. I wish we would have come to a greater consensus on our elder team with more time as well as had a more open community forum where people could express their thoughts in a larger setting.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

It seems like God has revealed lately a root of some of the challenges we’re experiencing right now. In an increasingly polarized and divisive time, it is very hard to continue to try to bridge the middle and be a church where conservatives and progressives are worshipping together as family. We’re encouraged to “take sides.” At Evergreen we are encouraging people to take Jesus’ side- who critiques both conservatives and progressives in deep ways. In Portland, sadly even amongst those who would call themselves Christ-followers, that is not a popular option.

What do you dream/hope/pray Evergreen looks like in five years?

In five years, I pray that Evergreen is a church community that has realized its potential for inviting and welcoming more people into the life of the family of God. I think a lot more formerly churched and unchurched people could meet Jesus, heal, and really thrive in our community if we continue to invite friends and neighbors into relationship with God and Evergreen.

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Leader Profile: Eric Scwartz

Eric Schwartz serves as the pastor at The Gate Community Church in Bethlehem, PA. He and his wife, Maria, have been married for over 19 years and have 2 beautiful daughters. They both have a passion to make disciples for Jesus Christ. Pastor Eric has worked as a youth pastor, young adult pastor, and discipleship ministries pastor at House on the Rock Family Church for 7.5 years before obeying God’s call to plant a church. He is also a graduate of Moravian College with a B.A. in religion, and is also currently enrolled in Moravian Theological Seminary, pursuing a Master’s in Theological Studies. Pastor Eric’s desire is for all people to come to know their Creator in an intimate and authentic way.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Urban. 

How would you describe the journey of pastoring the Gate Community Church? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

Seeing the community of loving and gracious individuals God has brought together has been the highlight and joy in my time as The Gate’s pastor.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started the Gate Community Church?

It’s ok to not know what you’re doing, because I still don’t. ?

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well? 

Creating a format of open discussion during Sunday morning sermons where’s it not just me speaking the whole time. I am also super proud of what we call Deep Cuts. It is a series of bible studies where we discuss some of the deeper and more theologically controversial issues which the church at large is facing.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

A youth group. Yeah, we haven’t made that work yet.

What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

With our open discussion format I learned the hard way not everyone likes to speak or be put on the spot.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

I’m re-learning what it really means to trust in Him.

What do you dream/hope/pray the Gate Community Church looks like in five years?

I pray we can reach more of the church Nones, Dones, almost Dones.

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How I Discerned The Call To Plant A New Church

Kevin and Brooke Fontenot were part of our October 2019 Genesis Church Planting Training in McCall, ID. Here is some of their story of being called to plant a church.

I always knew that I would plant a church. It was not a matter of if, it was a matter of when. Every time I thought about it, I figured it would probably be ten years away. All that began to change at the end of 2018.

Earlier in the year, I felt the Lord leading me to finish my bachelor’s degree. I’ll be completely honest, it was not something that I was excited about. I literally waited until the week before Fall 2018 classes began to register. I’ve always loved to learn and am a voracious reader, but have struggled with the constraints of a formal education. Yet, my decision to follow the leading of the Lord has led me down a path that was completely unexpected.

As I began to work through my classes, the Lord began speaking through the course material about church planting. It began to seem like something that was more real and a lot closer than I had ever expected. Instead of thinking about church planting as something that would happen in ten years, I began to consider it happening in the next couple of years based on how the Lord was leading.

Where To Go?

In October/November 2018, my wife Brooke and I decided to buy a house! At the time, we were renting an apartment in Carrollton, Texas where Brooke worked. We got a killer discount and knew that it was only temporary.
We began talking with our real estate agent about where in Denton we wanted to purchase a house and ended up touring three others within the next week. The home we ended up purchasing is in a fast growing area in town that is full of shopping, dining, and entertainment options that have all been added within the last few years.

We closed on our house mid-December and moved in after doing a little painting. That week was when our timeline for church planting really began to change. I began reading two books that struck me deeply The first was Richard Heitzenrater’s excellent book, Wesley and the People Called Methodists, and the second was Francis Chan’s book, Letters to the Church.

I wrote the following after reading through both books:
“Can the church be reformed from within? Our chief end cannot be numbers! We must produce quality disciples who spread the gospel of Jesus, root out sin in their lives, and are fully devoted to God. I feel God calling me to pursue this.”

This struck me so heavily that I took the next day to pray and fast as I sought the Lord for direction as I began to feel the weighty call of planting a church much sooner than expected. I began sketching out a model influenced by both John Wesley’s structure in the early days of methodism as well as a church in Houston called Church Project.

Over the next month, I was struck by what I felt the Lord calling me to do, but was still wrestling with the timing and the place. I knew that the Lord had birthed a vision in me, but I wasn’t exactly sure when and where that would happen.

In January 2019 is when I felt the Lord reveal that the reason we had moved back to Denton and that the reason we had purchased a house where we did was because he was calling us to plant a church in North Denton. So, I did what any faith-filled person would do… I started to do research on all the reasons we shouldn’t plant a church in Denton.

Getting Confirmation

As a data nerd, one of the first things that I did in my research was to find as much data as possible. What I found, was actually pretty shocking to me. The first piece of data that I came across was how much Denton had grown. In less than two decades, the population increased by about 70% from 80,537 in 2000 to over 136,000 in 2017. On average, our city added a net increase of 3,278 people per year in population.

While this was certainly compelling, it wasn’t enough to convince me that the Lord knew more than me. I began trying to uncover data related to the number of churches in town. As someone living in the Bible belt, there are seemingly innumerable churches all around. I was sure that I was going to find data showing that there are already enough churches in Denton.

Yet, what I found was that Denton ranks number 3,042 out of 3,143 counties/parishes in the United States for lowest ratios of churches to people. In other words, about 97% of all counties in the United States had a higher ratio than Denton.

Denton County averages 7 churches per 10,000 people, a statistic it shares with Providence, Rhode Island and Baltimore, Maryland. Interesting to note, Denton County does rank as one of the top 100 counties with most churches, which gives the perception of effectiveness, but is also one of the 50 largest counties by population.

Armed with this data, I recognized that the Lord did indeed know more than I did. By the end of January, I was 100% confident that God was calling us to plant in Denton and a sense that it would be within the next 18 months.

The next month and a half was spent having a lot of conversations with Brooke about what it would look like to church plant and praying through the nuts and bolts. In late February/early March we began to tell others about what the Lord was revealing and were very encouraged by the response. We were dreading a few conversations, but in every conversation we felt affirmed and encouraged in this calling.

On Easter, we publicly announced that we were planting City Church in Denton, Texas in early 2020.

Advice For Others

This is my story of sensing and confirming the Lord’s call to church planting. As I have read countless others stories, I recognize that most are different. You may be sensing the Lord’s calling and approach it completely differently than I did.

My biggest piece of advice is this: take it slow. It can be easy to want to run as fast as possible once you’ve sensed something from the Lord, but there is wisdom in going slowly and ensuring that what you are sensing is indeed from the Lord. God was faithful as we sought him to confirm what we were sensing.

Also, if there’s another piece of advice I could give it’s this: your calling doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s. We’re planting a church in a way that is different than the way most are planted. We’re intentionally continuing to work full-time jobs. We’re not planning on a big initial launch. We’re not raising a huge launch budget. We’re simply following the Lord and allowing him to direct our steps. Consulting outside resources is great and I highly recommend it, but don’t get too caught up in how everyone else is doing something so much that you listen to their advice more than what the Lord is calling YOU to do. Only you can answer the question of, “Am I called to plant a church?”

If you have any questions/comments/prayer requests, feel free to email me at kevin@trainedup.org.

Also, if you’re interested in learning more about our church plant, head over to citychurchdenton.com.

(This article originally appeared at ServeHQ .)

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Leader’s Profile- Gary Alloway

Gary Alloway serves as the Pastor and Director of Mission for Redemption Church in Bristol, PA. Gary is an alumnus of Penn State and Princeton Theological Seminary.  He is passionate about seeing the healing love of Christ spread throughout the world.  He also loves indie rock, startup businesses, community ventures, and his family.


We recently had a chance to ask him a few questions!

How would you describe the area your church is in?

A post-industrial suburban small town.

How would you describe the journey of pastoring Redemption Church? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

When we first started, we were young, immature, and ambitious. 3 years in, we re-booted, spending the next 6 years in a house church model, which helped us develop depth, a culture of discipleship, patience, and a willingness to invest in small things, rather than try to conquer the world. House churches forced us to focus on relationships, both inside and outside the church. We re-launched our weekly gathering this past year with a whole network of local relationships to invite in, rather than just a good idea for a new ministry in Bristol.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started Redemption?

I wish I had known how slow things would go. We planted in a dying post-industrial town and expected to see growth and change right away. If I had had a more realistic expectation for the pace of change, I would not have been as discouraged in the early years and would have spent more time rejoicing over the little victories along the way.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

Community partnerships. As a small church with a small budget, there are limitations on what we can do on our own. However, when we have partnered with both individuals and community organizations, we have been able to accomplish things far beyond our scope. We have helped launch a housing non-profit, a coffee shop, and a community festival. We have worked with local businesses to host Bible studies, storytelling nights, and discussion groups. Our resources and possibilities grow tremendously when we work with others rather than only within ourselves.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework?

One mistake was thinking that there would be dozens of people in Bristol who were excited about a new church. In our post-industrial, post-Christendom setting, nobody was excited that we showed up. People were interested in who we were and what kind of neighbors we would be, but not what we were offering on Sundays. It has forced us to think about how we do Monday through Saturday well, not just think about Monday through Saturday as a means to enlarge Sunday.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

God continues to bring me back to the truth that it is all about discipleship. We can build a big church, but all that really matters to God is whether we are being shaped and formed to be like Christ. This the reason we exist. And if we invest in this, whether the church grows large or dies, we will be successful.

What do you dream/hope/pray Redemption looks like in five years?

I hope and pray that our church community is even more enmeshed in the life of Bristol. That we would be the salt and light not only on our main street, but in every neighborhood, on every street, in our schools, etc. I pray that even if we grow large, we wouldn’t lose sight of the fact that individuals matter to God. That we would love our neighbor, not as a concept, but instead, actually love our particular neighbor.

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ENG20: Get to Know Our Presenters- Keisha Polonio

At ENG 20 Reflecting the Son, you’ll experience a mixture of traditional plenary sessions and “TED”-type talks, along with workshop options in specific tracks around
theology, discipleship, leadership, and multiplication.   We’re excited that Keisha Polonio is joining us as a featured speaker as we seek to recover Church in the image of Christ!

Keisha Polonio is the Associate Director and Coaching Director for the Tampa Underground Network. As a certified leadership coach, she invests in the lives of leaders who have kingdom dreams. She provides them with the tools necessary to accomplish their goals within their businesses and their personal lives. Originally from Belize, Keisha serves as a storyteller and champion for Created Women, a ministry committed to serving vulnerable women caught in the sex industry. Through this ministry, Keisha is able to showcase God’s compassion and love towards women who are often times left in the dark and forgotten about. Her husband Ryan and Keisha disciple young leaders how to emulate Jesus everywhere they go, in their weekly home church, Kindred. She and Ryan currently reside in Tampa, FL, and are the parents of two wonderful boys: Jarron and Evan. As a cancer survivor, Keisha remembers to always be present and fully celebrate and conquer the trials and joys of life.

Find out more about her on her website!

For more info and registration on the Ecclesia National Gathering 2020, click here!

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