The Ecclesia Network

a missional church network

Church Planting

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Halfway There: What Comes Next?

In the Spring of 2047, it will have been 50 years since I preached my first sermon. 
I can remember the day vividly that I “surrendered to the ministry.” After I walked the aisle to answer the call, my pastor told me at the end of the service that “if I was called to ministry, I was called to preach, so next Sunday night you are up!” I looked up and said “Next week?” to which he replied, “The only way you learn to preach is by preaching!”

I didn’t know it at the time, but I stepped into the world of ministry at a moment that I would now describe as the finale of the church in the era of Christendom in the US. When I first went to school to study pastoral ministry later that year, it hadn’t been very long since The Purpose-Driven Church was initially published, one of the most popular periodicals for ministry leaders at the time was “Church Growth Magazine”, the conversation about future generations and church participation was aimed squarely at Gen X, and that was only in the tiniest corner of the smallest room, in the basement of the church complex in North America. In other words, to most pastoral leaders, church participation was largely stable and even growing. The surrounding culture of the common American city or town was either supportive or at least neutral to the values and worldview of the Christian Church. Further, most pastoral leaders were still respected and met with a common embrace and gratitude, even among those who did not faithfully attend.   

By the time I reach my 50th year of ministry, the landscape that I entered into will have so vastly changed that I know it would be unrecognizable to the world of the 1990s.  Like many of those who will be reading this article, I’m a “bridge leader” in ministry in the year 2023. I entered into ministry on the end side of Christendom and I will finish ministry when I expect that Post-Christendom will be so underway that nobody will even recall that there once was another side to the bridge. My ministry will have been summarized by a season that only a small portion of pastors since the Protestant Reformation will share in that, throughout our career, we will have crossed the bridge from one epoch of the church into another.  

Not long ago it dawned on me that I am halfway across the bridge.  I have been in ministry for about as long as I have left in ministry and now I am working on the back half of that bridge.  

As many of us are somewhere in the same vicinity, it’s a good time to ask ourselves: 

  • What do we feel called to during our remaining years? 
  • With more maturity, wisdom – and hopefully humility – than we started out , what mark do we want to leave on the world when we are done?  

What echoes deep in my own spirit is that I want to do all I can to ensure that there is a faithful, vibrant, and flourishing church that is fully equipped for what we might now call a Post-Church era.

I want to do all I can to ensure that there is a faithful, vibrant, and flourishing church that is fully equipped for what we might now call a Post-Church era.” 

Ecclesia as a whole has always been on the same journey – and those of us who are a part of this family have been drawn together for this shared purpose. Although we might articulate it with different nuance, it is my conviction that the churches and leaders in our family have always been characterized by a heart to bear witness to the gospel among generations of people for whom standard approaches to church were ineffective.  We certainly don’t know all that we need to know in order to carry out the Great Commission for the next 25 years – and we need to continue to learn from one another (and from others) – but we do have within our DNA several of the key essentials to fulfill the mission before us. More, we know that we are not alone.

[1] One constant theme in the life of Ecclesia over the last 15 years has been the number of leaders from outside Ecclesia who feel at home among us, but are constrained from having their church join us for one legitimate reason or another. Perhaps they share an understanding of the gospel with Ecclesia, sense a common approach to ministry, or perhaps most of all an affection for our relational posture. But, whatever the case, they have had the desire to come more closely into life with Ecclesia. This is why we beta-tested an Individual Membership option in 2022. Having found initial fruitfulness among a handful of friends, we are excited to share that we are now planning to make the Individual Membership option a formal part of our future plans.    

[2] In like manner, we have also seen the rise of congregations within Ecclesia sensing the need to start local networks of churches within their city or region.  These are popping up in all four corners of the country and run the gamut from city-wide networks cooperating around church planting to collaborative approaches to youth ministry across a town. Given that these networks are the outgrowth of the character and nature of leaders within Ecclesia, we believe there is a “tissue match” between Ecclesia as a whole and these emerging local relationships. For that reason, another growth step we have decided to take in 2023 is to become more proactive in encouraging the formation of local networks through Ecclesia churches as well as exploring how Ecclesia can serve these local networks through our churches.. 

As we move into the future then, we see the ministry of Ecclesia being centered around leaders, churches, and local church networks. While we do not expect to diminish our focus on the three important phases of healthy local congregations – Starting (years 1-3), Strengthening (years 4-8), and Sending (years 9+) – we do believe that now is the time to formally create paths that allow individual leaders and local networks connected to our churches to benefit from the ministry of Ecclesia.

As I stand now in the center of the bridge, these steps for Ecclesia resonate as the kind of actions that strengthen our capacity to be more faithful and fruitful in the unique time that we have been called to steward together (with others) on behalf of the gospel.  

Does your own calling, wherever you are on the bridge, resonate with this?  If so, we would like you to take a further step with us in 2023 in these ways: 

  • First, if you are a leader, not officially connected to Ecclesia, consider joining our family on this mission as an individual leader.  
  • Second, if you are a church, or aspire to plant a church and know that you need a company of friends to be in ministry alongside, but without the trappings of a hierarchical denomination-type structure, then consider joining with us or planting with us in 2023.  
  • Third, if you are an Ecclesia Church already, why not consider how the gospel might multiply more fully if you created a network of like-hearted and common-minded churches within your city or town? If so, we would love to help.  

And lastly, if you are a leader of another ministry that would be a “peer” to Ecclesia and happen to be reading this, and are wondering how we might team up our common efforts, then drop us a line because we are exploring that too in this season.  

We are in a unique season as ministry leaders in 2023.  The challenges in front of us are greater than those behind us – and yet, so is the kingdom opportunity! Let’s not lose heart as we emerge from these last few years of immense challenge and let us recommit ourselves to the cause of the gospel in our time and let us do it together.

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What Do You REALLY Want?

An interesting thing happened to me on the way to church planting: I got offered a 70k a year job out of the blue.

In 2003, before we felt drawn (or pushed… pushed probably fits better!) to plant a new community in Portland, OR. I had been sending out a lot of resumes. I knew it was time to get out of the media job I had been doing at a large church and back into pastoral ministry, and to that end I was putting out the feelers far and wide. But… I kept being number 2. It came down time and again to me and someone else, and yet in the end- always someone else.

At about that time, God really grabbed my attention. I was told my media job would be ending, and I’d have 3 months to figure out what came next. We had just bought a house, gotten pregnant… mild panic began to set in. 

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Unless a Congregation Dies

Kingdom Mission doesn’t happen by accident. Here’s what we can do today to participate in God’s Kingdom Mission.

I am a bi-vocational church planter. In my day job I own a marketing agency that helps business leaders grow their organizations.

When I sit down with my clients I start by asking them where they want their business to be in two years and then where they want it to be in five years.

When they tell me where they want to be in two years, it is about survival and growth – 50% revenue increases, a dollar net income figure, adding locations and services, etc. When they tell me about their five year goals, however, they start talking about their passions – the things that come from their heart and drives their desire to grow and work.

I ask these same questions when I sit down with church planters.

When church planters tell me that they want to have a growing congregation that is self-sustaining in two years, it is about survival. They want to make enough money as an organization to pay their bills and allow the pastor to work for the church full time.

When I ask what they want in five years, either they say things like ‘bigger’, ‘more impact’, ‘more staff’, ‘more missions focus’, and the like, or they simply have no idea what they want.

Without clarity about the telos – the eventual end goal – the intermediate goals and the daily work are not clear.

Six months before we launched Redemption Hill, I was sitting at the Exponential Conference in Orange County and God was starting to shift my vision. I knew I was called to plant a church, and I thought it was about building a great organization. A healthy place for kingdom impact in a neighborhood. To grow and raise resources to spend on impact in the city…things like that.

That wasn’t a bad vision, but if it doesn’t grow, it would become toxic. If our ministry is about growing our influence, our impact, or our organization, it is ultimately about us. The gravitational pull is towards our internal community. Even outreach and mission become an expression of our virtue – a percentage of our wealth rather than a sacrificial investment.

Jesus’ words in John 12:24-26 could be said to us like this:

“Truly I say to you, unless a CONGREGATION dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. Congregations who love their [community, building, programs] lose it, and congregations who hate their [community, building, programs] in this world will keep them for eternal life.”

(Robert’s translation)

As my vision started to shift, I asked a different question: How can I reach a whole city? How can I reach a whole region? How can I reach a whole country?

I don’t think it is my responsibility to make all those things happen on my own, but as a strategic question, it changed the vision for our church plant. We started to think about long term impact beyond the doors of our congregation. These words started to stick in my head that I heard at Exponential: “My fruit will grow on other people’s trees.” I realized I was supposed to make leaders who could multiply the kingdom mission beyond the doors of my leadership. Beyond the impact of our congregation.

Unless a congregation dies to itself, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit.

What if Jesus was talking to not just us as individuals, but as a movement? What if living to preserve the institutions that we built will keep us from making an eternal impact? Jesus understood how to build a movement, and it wasn’t through great organizational leadership. It wasn’t through institutional longevity. It wasn’t through crowds, wealth, resource hoarding, and buildings. Jesus spent 70% of His time doing one thing: training and discipling twelve young people to own the vision and mission of the kingdom.

And it worked.

Maybe we shouldn’t just take the teachings of Jesus, but our ministry should look like the methods of Jesus. (see The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman)

So as we started to ask how can we reach a whole city, God impressed on me that most of my time should be developing disciples who can lead as apostles, just like Jesus did.

So here’s how I’m trying to pursue that calling:

  1. My main job is not the crowd. They get 30% of my time, so Sunday prep only gets 30% of my church time. That means 5-7 hours per week including sermon prep.
  2. Every day my main metric for success and effectiveness centers around the question: how much time did I spend with the people I am training/discipling?
  3. I identify 8-12 leaders per year whose development I will prioritize; I will seek opportunities to help them grow in their christlikeness, character and competency.

How am I doing at it? Not great every week; but this metric helps me know when I am winning or not winning – when the kingdom is advancing or retreating.

If my fruit grows on other trees, and the Jesus movement is dependent on pouring into other people, I better be tending those other gardens as much as I tend my own.

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Reflections on the Ecclesia Bootcamp

By Bob Hyatt

This was the second time I’ve participated in a Church Planters Boot Camp and the first time I got to present at one. 

And in comparing my two experiences, I think I can say, like all things Ecclesia-related, this one was just “better.” 

Part of the value of Ecclesia is that when they say “relational network”, they actually mean it. Those involved in the network agree to be in relationship with each other, not just in some vague metaphorical sense, but with actual phone calls, conversations, and time spent with each other. 

This seems to all begin at the boot camp, with meals together, late night talks, long walks on the beach (ok… I made that last one up, but still.)

From the moment I arrived, I began to realize – this is a room of like-minded individuals intent on seeing the Gospel spread and healthy, missionally-minded communities planted. And in the lonely world of church planting, I can think of few things more valuable than having a handful of friends like that.

The boot camp itself was a great mix of the theoretical and the practical, the motivational and the devotional. Times of prayer, times of discussion, lots of learning and lots of dreaming. Plenty of room for divergent models- no, not everyone here is going to plant the same kind of church- but a common heart because of a common focus on the person of Jesus.

If you ever take part in one of these bootcamps, and you should, just don’t expect to be wowed by experts who started their church and a year later had 1,000 people showing up. This wasn’t like that… and since your church planting experience probably won’t be either, that’s a good thing. 

This was a really healthy mix of seasoned practitioners and newer church planters all sharing what they’ve learned along the way. And everyone was invited and even expected to do the same. This boot camp quickly became a community of learners and teachers as everyone contributed.

The setting of the Richmond Hill community was wonderful with its rhythms of daily prayer and contemplative atmosphere. Hard to imagine a better setting for listening to God and seeing what it is He might be birthing in you as regards church planting. 

This boot camp is an annual event so there will be another one in 2010. If you are interested in learning more about Ecclesia and the boot camp, you are invited to e-mail Christ Backert by using our the contact form on our website.

You can listen to the audio from the 2009 boot camp here