Church Planter Interviews – JR Briggs
Bob Hyatt
September 23, 2010

So your church, the Renew Community, is in Lansdale, PA. Tell us a little bit about where you guys are planting in the city.

Well Lansdale isn’t in the city and it isn’t rural, but I’d also be hesitant to call it suburban, because it really isn’t. It’s about 30 miles away from the steps in the Rocky movie outside Philadelphia and is considered one of 10 towns or boroughs that are considered a part of Philly, which is the 4th largest city in the United States. Because it’s so wide and stretches so far it’s a bit like a megacity when you look at the metropolis in scope and size. But Lansdale itself only has about 16,000 people.

For the most part it’s blue collar, working class kind of people. The downtown needs to be revitalized and they’ve talked about it since the mid 1980′s, but a shopping mall about 12 minutes away saw a movement of many businesses in that direction.

Lansdale has a train station, which is actually an important feature because it allows many people to walk to the station and take the train into the city to work. Other people choose to commute into city by driving in.

Tell us about the process you used for planting your church. What did that time look like? What did you do?

Well we were coming out of a pretty painful time in leaving our last church, which is probably 20-25 minutes from where we are now. My wife and I just wish it could have ended a bit better. So even the very beginning was particularly hard.

In the early summer of 2008 we started having Vision Meetings and invited anyone and everyone who wanted to come to be a part of it. We ended up having three meetings because we had so many come to the first two and had more than 110 people come to the meetings. Pretty amazing.

When they got there, everyone was given Renew’s core values and vision and a Community Covenant everyone in the Core Team would have to sign and commit to. I was explicit that I didn’t want anyone signing it that night, I wanted people to take time to read over it and really process it. Then, I’d meet with each person or couple for coffee or meal sometime over the course of the summer. I wanted to take time to make sure they were coming for the right reasons. Lots of people go to a new church plant because they are leaving their old one. I wanted people on our Core Team who were  coming to Renew , not leaving somewhere else. I wanted them to feel called to this community. For me, a lot of it had to do with motivations.

So yeah, it was kind of like an audition. Some people we said yes to, some people we said no to. In the end, we had about 40 adults on the Core Team and 18 kids. And even now, as I think about it, we probably should have said no to a few more people.

So once you got the Core Team locked down, what did you do to get ready for launching your church?

Our Core Team started getting together every week at the Boys and Girls Club in a back room. We’d sit in these squishy and somewhat terrible chairs. I think the big thing for that time wasn’t about learning something; it was about unlearning a lot of things.

Each week someone would share their story for about 15 minutes. We’d open up the scriptures. We’d discuss a lot of things.

We didn’t really have a plan and a timeline. I basically said, “Look, we’re not going to launch a Sunday gathering until we see some fruit from this group.” I really needed them to understand that the life we were looking for was in Monday through Saturday, not only on Sunday. So we waited it out. Some people really missed the candy of the Sunday morning service and they decided to leave.

Eventually we started meeting in house churches that met every week. We did this for a couple of months. And after we felt like those were established, we had a more public worship space that happened once a month on Easter of 2009.

Obviously the focus of this blog is more towards the missional church and looking at different church structures. What is the structure of your church? What would the average month look like?

We talk a lot about the dual expression of the church, how scissors have two blades that, when they come together, they do what they’re created to do. For us, our house churches and public worship gathering are those two things.

So we alternate between the two.

Twice a month we have public worship gatherings, and the other weeks each person is in their house church.

So as you think about the last 12 months of planting, what do you think worked really well?

In July of 2009 we started Lansdale’s first ever Farmer’s Market , which was about a year in the marking. I remember early on I sat on the back patio of a borough council member’s house asking questions, attempting to learn about the DNA of the community, its needs and its personality. As we drank Cokes and talked, I broke in: “Renew is here to serve the community – to be an ally and an advocate. And we’re asking the question, ‘How can we bless the neighborhood?’ Would a farmer’s market be one way that would really serve Lansdale well?” I threw out other suggestions during that meeting as well, like starting a community garden (which we’ve started as well), having a centralized recycling program in the borough, volunteering at the newly re-developed Center for the Performing Arts, etc, but the farmers market idea was received with the most enthusiasm.

You wouldn’t believe how successful and how much energy this has produced in the wider community.

We were really specific not to promote it or attach it to Renew, even though we were the one sponsoring it. Eventually word just got around that we were doing it and people seemed to really like that the church was doing it and weren’t taking credit. I think it actually had a more positive effect than if we’d tried to make sure everyone knew.

In the last 12 months, what hasn’t worked?

We just recently went through a formal assessment of where our church is, so some of this is on our minds even as we’re talking about it now.

I think one thing that came to light is that people feel like they are a part of two separate churches, like maybe the dual expression is actually working against us. They feel connected to the people in their house church (which has about 8-12 people) and when they come to the worship service the next, they don’t know anyone.

I also think we stressed Monday through Saturday so much that perhaps we’ve devalued what happens on Sunday. I feel like the pendulum needs to come back the other way a bit. Not too much, but a bit.

That being said, one thing that came out in the assessment is that people really felt like they were living the most missionally when were in the infancy stages, when it was just the Core Team. It feels like there aren’t as many Doubt Nights or parties or cookouts, etc.

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

Children’s Ministry is definitely one of those. Our work with kids has never been that strong. I know it’s like that for most church plants, but I think it’s just not something we’ve ever done that well.

I think discipleship is another big one. We haven’t emphasized it enough, it’s been lower on the priority list and it just has to be something we get good at. Right now we’re not.

Ok. Let’s imagine it’s 365 days from now. What needs to be different in your community?

For me, I really want to see my teaching gifts used differently.
I feel like the past several years I’ve focused so much on  making leaders that I haven’t focused as much on  being a leader. So practically, I’ve not taught nearly as much in our gatherings as I’d like because I was giving other people opportunities, letting them try or practice.

I think I need to take a more primary role “on stage” (not in the rockstar way) as the teacher of this community. It’s where my primary gifting is, it’s what I love to do and I think I need to have a stronger presence in that teaching role within our community.

What is the biggest thing God has been teaching you in the past year?

I’ve been much more open to the working of the Holy Spirit than I ever have been before and that has led to some pretty incredible things.

So let’s think 5 years into the future. What does Renew look like? What’s happened?

Man, I’ve been thinking about that and it’s actually a hard question. I honestly don’t know where Renew Lansdale will be in 5 years.

But I know from the very beginning we said we wanted to be a church plant that plants churches. And the big stat that has always stuck out to me is that if you don’t plant a new church within 5 years of starting, you more than likely never will. So we really need to do that.

In the next 5 years we need to have birthed a child. We need to be a parent.

I mean, we currently have two apprentices who are with us for the next year and they are really excited about church planting, so that may be it? I don’t know. I just know we’re going to be planting a church.

The Magic Power of Encouragement

By Bob Hyatt • January 17, 2025
When I graduated from college, I moved to Alaska and took a job teaching middle school- a job I had zero business doing. I want to give props to those of you who are teachers- it’s a fantastically important job, but also a ridiculously complex one. You must balance pedagogical skills, HOW to teach so others learn, with sociological ones, classroom management, and so much more. It was classroom management where my ineptitude really shone, though. I thought managing classrooms full of middle schoolers would be easy- just call them out when they do something wrong- make sure there are consequences in place, and the place will basically run itself. I learned that year that you cannot punish someone into good behavior. You more often just punish people into stealthier ways of misbehavior. It wasn’t until years later that the light bulb came on for me. I was volunteering in my son’s kindergarten class, and I assumed I was going to be walking into a zoo. Contrary to my expectations, Mr. Waters, the teacher, had that place running like a well-oiled machine. And the most surprising way was how he did it. He called for reading time when all the kids were supposed to get up from their tables and sit on the reading circle. He made this call and like two kids responded. Oh man, I thought- he’s lost the room! Nope. He just stood at the front of the class and said “I see Billy doing what I asked. I see Sienna doing what I asked.” And every time he said that another few kids would look up, leave what they were doing and rush to take their place. In about 30 seconds, he had them all sitting quietly around the circle. Blew. My. Mind. It seemed so simple once I saw it done, but I had never realized just how big a gap there was between trying to motivate with consequences and nagging versus motivating with encouragement. Which is funny, because as I thought about it, I realized my wife had been using this tactic on me for YEARS. I married a woman who liked to dance- swing dance, even. I grew up a Baptist, so… But whenever I would do a little two-step with her in the kitchen or just play-dance with her to music in the living room, she would go OVER THE TOP. “Bob, you are doing that really well! Bob, you’re a great dancer!” I totally knew I wasn’t, but… I sure liked to hear her say it, and so I’d do it more. So, here’s the rule: What you criticize me for, I may stop doing. I may also just try to hide it from you. But- What you praise and encourage me in, I will continue doing. The Apostle Paul was a master at this- just look at 1 Thess. 5:11- ”So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” What is Paul doing here? Yes, he’s encouraging them to encourage each other by encouraging them for how they’ve already been encouraging one another! That’s a lot of encouraging. But he’s doing what he’s asking them to do- demonstrating how it works. I’m sure not everyone in the church of Thessalonica was good at encouraging others- but those who were doing it well were heartened by Paul’s words here, and those who weren’t yet, were… encouraged to be more encouraging. Paul uses the word “encourage” 7 times in 1st Thess. alone. This command to encourage each other is central in the NT. Hebrews 10:24-25 says this: Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Paul writes in 2 Cor. 13:11 “Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.” How long can you go on one compliment, or one word of encouragement? A few days? A week? Our words have so much power! I once had an orange t-shirt, that had a disturbingly deep V-neck. My co-pastor Dustin would laugh every time he saw me in it. But you know why I continued to wear it? Because it was literally the only shirt I ever owned that had been complimented by a woman I was not married or related to. A barista one time told me she really liked that shirt… So, what I’m saying is, you can get me to do just about anything, if you encourage me. BUT- With great power, comes great responsibility. Notice that these verses on encouragement come in the context of helping others become the followers of Jesus they could and were meant to be. “Encourage each other and build each up.” “Motivate one another to acts of love and good works. Encourage one another.” “Grow to maturity. Encourage each other.” There’s a growth mindset behind the biblical admonitions that we ought to encourage each other. The growth mindset says “I may not be good at this or have mastered it… yet. But if I keep trying…” Unfortunately, most of us get stuck in a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset says “I'm either good at something, or I’m not. So, I’ll give myself only to things where I can show I’m good. If I must work at it, it means I’m not good at it, or smart enough for it, so why try?” Studies have shown that encouragement has a positive effect on performance, while discouragement has a negative effect. Ok- that’s obvious. But… studies have also been done about how TYPES of encouragement affect performance. Encouraging effort, for example, has a positive effect on performance, while praising ABILITY has a negative effect. One study showed that when two groups of students were presented with difficult challenges 90% of the ones who had been praised for their effort embraced the difficult tasks- while the majority of those praised for their ability resisted tackling hard things. I probably don’t have to spell out the leadership lessons here. So, I’ll just leave you with this: I encourage you this season to be thinking about the people you work with and especially those who work under you. They are just as hungry for encouragement as you are. You have the power to give them not only what they need, but through that encouragement to spur them on to the personal and ministry growth you want to see in them. (By the way, while we’re talking about encouragement, if you need some this season, join us Feb 25-27th in Alexandria, VA for this year’s Ecclesia National Gathering . I guarantee you and your team will leave feeling encouraged, equipped, and empowered. And think about how encouraging YOUR presence would be to everyone else!)

Focusing the Gospel Around the Table is Still Important Today

By J.R. Briggs • November 26, 2024
“Food is just fuel for your body.” When the raw vegan enthusiast in my community said it I knew that wasn’t right. I thought of all the great meals shared with family and friends around tables for Thanksgivings, Christmas Eves, and Easter afternoons – among others. I recalled the verse: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” And I realized that if this was God’s vision for food, then he would have designed our bodies with built-in IV ports where we would hook up pouches of food to our sides and let it drip in slowly to our bloodstreams. And Jesus wouldn’t have given us the greatest experiential metaphor of communion around the table in fellowship with others if it was merely physical and transactional in nature. I get his point: what we put into our bodies matters. Food is for much more than just physical energy. It’s also about connection, bonding, and relationship. Storytelling and laughing and crying and interacting. Like former U.S. President Ronald Reagan said, all great change in America begins at the dinner table. But I’ll offer a rejoinder: all great change – no matter the country – begins at the dinner table. The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has declared loneliness as a public health crisis and an epidemic . 30 percent of adults say they feel lonely., with 10 percent reporting loneliness every day. 60 years ago the average dinner time was 90 minutes; today it’s less than 12. We are more connected to our devices and less connected to others. Almost twenty five years ago political scientist Robert Putnam wrote the popular book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community . Over the summer, the New York Times interviewed him , inquiring if he saw this crisis of loneliness coming. He stressed the idea of “social capital,” saying it comes in two forms: bonding and bridging. Bonding ties us to others like us and bridging ties us to people who are different from us. Meals together with others at tables have the transformative power to do both. They bond us to other people in our church; they bridge us to connect with others who aren’t yet connected to faith. As my next-door neighbor says when we’re trying to find a time to connect for a meal, “Everybody’s gotta eat.” Coffee tables, lunch tables, high top bar tables, card tables, dinner tables – all have the intent to bring us together with others over food and/or drink. It was Len Sweet who wrote in Tablet to Table that Jesus was killed for his table manner and his table company. Later he stated that the gospel message was Jesus eating good food with bad people. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find any gathering in the New Testament that didn’t involve some sort of table. And as Ian Simkins, lead pastor of teaching at The Bridge Church in Nashville, shared with me, the table is the centerpiece by which the gospel is expressed. The church has moved to prioritize the table by asking some key questions: What if we reclaimed the table? What if our tables weren’t for just feeding, but for forming? What if, at the table, foes became friends? What if, every time we sat down, we prayed, “at this table as it is in heaven”? What if we brought the gospel back to the table? These are the questions that must become front and center for the church in North America in the days ahead. In fact, you can view the church’s creative and compelling videos on Instagram here and here . Americans eat, on average, 21 meals a week. Think for a moment: how many meals did you share with others this week? How many meals did you eat alone this week? How many people did you share with those who weren’t your immediate family members? How many of those were with people who are not followers of Jesus? What if the greatest advancement of the gospel in the days ahead occurred not in our churches, but around tables?
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