Highlights from Planting Summit 09

So here is a bit of a summary of some key highlights from the SUMMIT that may be helpful to you….

1. Tom Nebel’s “8 Environmental Risks” to a church plant. Tom has a tremendous grasp of the issues that can tank a plant and that are often not weighted carefully. Contact the Regional office if you would like a copy of the assessment tool.

2. Some great web sites for resources including… www.chruchleaderinsights.com www.servantevangelism.com www.garyrohrmayer.com or www.yourjourney.org all worth a look regularly.

3. Andre Daley and Dave Kools presentation on community development. Key concept….outreach is out, withreach is in. Get “with” it! Andre and Dave will be hosting a full day on community development JUNE 15th stay tuned for details.

4.  Preparing to Parent Qualitative Assessment….a usable tool to explore the presence of key values predictive of a parenting congregation.   Contact the Region for a copy.

5. Stats….130 in attendance, 6 churches represented who have never daughtered and were present with 3 or more people exploring, 45 planters and spouses, great late night movie run to see Clint Eastwood one more time!, many new relationships and some great old ones too!

thanks to everyone who made this experience a hit!

HEART CHECK….soul care for church planters.

Your heart matters more than anything else….take out your concordance and check it out. It would be a great error to throw your energy into planting a church at the expense of, or to the neglect of, your heart for God.

Here are some key diagnostic questions relative to your heart.

1. What thoughts do you ruminate on?….Matt.15:19

2. What are you likely to talk about when you are under stress? “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”

3. How often does your ministry (or otherwise) cause you to complain? I Thess 5:18

4. Are you generally at peace with your life? Ephesians 4:31-32

5. Is worship attractive to you even when you are not leading? Ephesians 5:18

6. Are you a content person? Philippians 4:1-13

7. Do you feed on scripture even if you are not preaching on it? Psalm 119

8. Have you demonstrated humility recently? James 4:6

9. What commitment have you made to holiness? II Tim. 2

10. Are you “all in” for Jesus? II Chronicles 16:9

Heart disease is caused by unresolved wounds (Matt.18) or failure to recall God’s goodness (Mk. 6). Church planters…leaders…are wise to pay attention to their cardio condition!

RECENT RESEARCH ON GIVING…& what to do about it.

Passing the Plate is the title of a recent book released by Oxford University Press that looks closely at religious giving in North America today. Very interesting….and alarming. I am tired of being alarmed…but here goes.

1. If protestant Americans who were able to give 10% did so….and we allow for those who can give nothing as well as for those who already give more than 10%….the church would experience a windfall of over 80 billion dollars.

2. While a few givers make major contributions, the biggest givers as a percentage of income, are the lowest income earners. The widows mite still speaks loudly! Those earning 10k or less gave 2.3% of their income while those earning 70k give only 1.2%.

3. Only about 3% of the money donated to churches actually serves non-christian needs. We tend to give to serve ourselves. If churches took a more outward focus and put their money into those efforts we may see a very different attitude toward the plate.

4. Many people do not give because they are not asked to directly by their leaders. Pastors may themselves be guilty of not giving and so are reluctant to preach on it. Meanwhile, the deep value of stewardship training goes neglected.

5. Giving habits are well served by financial training and coaching. While many view spontaneous giving as spiritual, the better approach is to encourage a disciplined, routine and planned approach.

For more on this see the recent Christianity Today cover article.

$500.00 GRANTS FOR 2009!

Saturday I sat with a hand full of senior men who represent a little known group….Christian Men Supporting Church Planting.   They have existed since the mid 1940’s for the purpose of supporting new church starts through prayer and finances.  We met to exchange a check that will be disbursed in grants to planters.

Here is how to receive your $500.00 (one per new church in the Great Lakes Region).

1.  Register for the Regional Planters Summit at Camp Geneva contact steitsma@rcagl.org by January 9

2.  Draft a one page or paragraph proposal of how you will use the grant with a simple budget.   Need not be long but needs to be a new outreach effort with general costs.

3.  Submit the following data before January 9 to steitsma@rcagl.org :

a.  Number of adult baptisms in the history of your plant

b. Number of professions of faith in the history of your plant

c. Average worship attendance.

I hope I can write a check for your plant!

GREAT LAKES PLANTING SUMMIT January 25-27

By now you have probably picked up on the upcoming planter connection in January.   Here are some details:

Location….Camp Geneva

Cost….Free…yes, you read that correctly and that is no reflection on the quality!

Child care….still working on that but likely for infants

Weather….Cold

Atmosphere….Warm

Presenters….Tom Nebel and Gary Rohrmayer.    So here is the skinny on these two guys….

Together Tom and Gary are authors of perhaps the most popular church planting book Church Planting Landmines.   Bring your copy for an autograph and then sell it on the black market to finance your upcoming budget shortfall!   They are also leaders of a worldwide planting movement called CONVERGE WORLDWIDE.   They are authors of over 5 planting books….have degrees from Fuller and other esteemed institutions that take your money….have worked up close with 100’s of church plants across the USA and, perhaps most importantly have first had experience in planting when they were rookies wet behind the ears.   In fact, rumor has it that Tom was the first church planter from Gary’s parent church in Wisconsin and that Gary’s church voted to pay him $50.00 per week as a show of their generous support.  Gulp.  Needless to say, since then they have barely tolerated one another.  But we paid them enough to come together for our retreat to pour some of their quirky humor and wisdom into us.  It’ll be fun.

You should have gotten an electronic brochure by now….but if not, email steitsma@rcagl.org and we will get that out…and then RSVP to the same person who will not take any money from you.   Really!   This event is free!

ANDRE, HUGO AND RICH are ROCKIN.

The weekend was a bumper yield in the planter movement.

Mosaic Life celebrated the 4th year together with an announced vision to add a new worship venue and develop a second congregation several miles from their East town location into downtown GR. Andre Daley is setting the leadership teams and has anchored the location. Mosaic could have moved from East town to a larger space but the local business leaders begged otherwise. Very cool…Mosaic has developed a stellar reputation in the community! So they multiply….! Go get em Andre.

Meanwhile, Hugo Vasquez has been planting Alas de Aguila in Holland for the last 2 years and is now seeking to add a second congregation in Wyoming MI to reach growing Hispanic numbers there. The second service will seed a new congregation that will eventually call a pastor and move ahead. Go get em Hugo!

And then there is the case of Rich Reinstra. Two years ago Rich began the process with the Department of Corrections in Michigan to set an unprecedented mark in planting a prison congregation. Last night 40 men gathered for their launch service. Inmates led the praise team….inmates led the prayers and confession of faith….inmates demonstrated their ownership and Rich spoke the Word. We all watched in wonder as a remarkable new church was born….forerunner to dozens more we hope! Go get em Rich.

It is a very good time to be in the planting game!

Lewin Force Field Analysis

What are the inhibiting and enhancing factors in your plant?

If it’s time to look at your progress in planting you may be helped by an exercise that gives insight. The Lewin force field analysis can be helpful. Start by listing all the factors that enhance your ministry. Give them weight…say 1-5. Then list the factors that inhibit your ministry and weight them. Understand that your ministry is perfectly calibrated to give you exactly what you are getting (from a human perspective). Your work is to either reduce your inhibitors or increase your enhancements. If that takes place you will move the force field ahead.

The key with the Lewin analysis exercise is to do this in a group environment with your ministry leaders. This can accelerate buy in and appreciation for the inhibitors and enhancers that you deal with on a daily basis. As the group gains insight, you create alignment around diagnosis and strategic next steps. It helps you move everyone forward together toward a solution.

Status quo is never a good time for a planter. Try this tool next time you are with your oversight or ministry team.

NEVER A DULL MOMENT…news and notes in the Great Lakes Region

The pot is always cooking and stirring in our shared planting efforts. So here are some of the latest…

1. A person has stepped forward wanting to explore a second prison congregation at Ionia. The Department of Corrections has already welcomed the first in the state and RCA pastor Rich Reinstra is taking the lead in that one. Now number 2 is on the horizon!

2. I was approached recently by an individual interested in planting a singles congregation in town. OK…someone wondered if it would be called Eharmony Reformed. Bad joke! Actually, this individual has been a leader of a large singles ministry in a local church for some years and feels that there is potential in this area to tap into a very large singles community that does not appreciate the west Michigan church scene.

3. A new simple church network (we already have two!) is emerging in northern Michigan and Mason County. Randy is the emerging leader there and Mason County Reformed the parent. Innovations in the north country!

4. Kensington Community Church in Troy is incubating a new baby for us….Paul Bradford is there as we write and will launch in 2009! Even more cool….Kensington wants to partner with us for another new start. Prospective planters…start lining up!

4. New plants are sprouting in Allegan (Roger Bird), Portage (Dave Bruininks), Kzoo (Nate Bull and Keith Platte), Holland (Don DeVlieger), Wyoming (Hugo Vasquez), Allendale (Troy Nanninga)….!

5. First Reformed in Holland is moving toward a plant in the South end of town.

6. Last I counted there are over 20 churches in the Region that have potential to parent. Is something in the drinking water around here?

7. Our upcoming PLANTERS SUMMIT is scheduled for the last weekend of January 2009 at Camp Geneva with Gary Rohrmayer and Tom Nebel…the Landmines authors. More to come.

Never a dull moment!

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR October 9th

Thursday October 9th Lighthouse Full Life Center in Grand Rapids will be hosting the Governors Office of Community and Faith Based Initiatives and the Department of Labor and Economic Growth for a free informational seminar on how to enhance communities through micro enterprising, housing, foreclosure prevention and more.   The event is titled PARTNERING WITH STATE and FEDERAL AGENCIES TO MOVE COMMUNITIES FORWARD.   To register at no cost contact 616-241-5448.

Lighthouse Center is at 670 Burton.  The event runs from 12:30 pm til 4:00 pm

GREAT LAKES RCA PLANTING UPDATE….

Here is for all you news junkies and rca types who track planting progress….

1.  Mission Detroit is off dead center with Paul Bradford landing this month in the metro working with Kensington Community Church.  Paul is leaning into discerning a lot of first steps…location, strategy etc…and comes with great experience and energy (try keeping up with this guy for a day or so!)

2.  Other new starts are churning….New Vintage (hiccup) with Dave Bruinicks in Kzoo,  Vanguard with Nate Bull and Keith Platte in Kzoo,  Roger Bird in Allegan,  Skyline with Don DeVlieger in Zeeland, Troy Nanninga in Allendale with Elevation.

3.  Just around the corner….First Holland is about to birth, Randy Boerma will pull the trigger in Mason County next year, Wyoming is shaping up with Grace getting serious about planting, other prospects are beginning to push forward around the Region but we are sworn to secrecy still….(this secret stuff can get to feeling weird).

4.  PLANTER PARENT SUMMIT….January 24-26 2009 at Camp Geneva with Tom Nebel and Gary Rohermayer ….they are the guys who wrote the Landmines book.  Stay tuned for details.

5. Fund Development shift….we are working hard to raise new dollars for planting around the region.  We will need about 12 million to do the next 45 plants.   This is half way point of our call and the “old dollars” are drying up.  There is plenty of new cash however if we tell the story well and to the right people!   Whoa!

There is all the news fit to print….call someone else for the dirty details!

ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO COACH?

Church planters need to be coached.

Good coaching is not about controlling or leading.  It’s about building a trust relationship where the planter can think aloud about the plant process they are working with accountability.

Who should do this?

Bob Logan has recommended the following list of qualities that predict a good coach.

1.  Good character including loyalty, shared vision and values.

2.  Respected by other leaders

3. Empower others for ministry

4. Teachable spirit

5. Have proven the ability to lead and multiply a ministry

6. Have the ability to listen and care.

7. Have the ability to strategize, train, challenge and confront.

On OCTOBER 20th the Great Lakes Region will be offering coach training from 9:00 til 3:30.   If you are interested please contact steitsma@rcagl.org

BEER, BRATS and the BOYS: How I got saved last Saturday.

Here is a miserable truth be told…I had lost touch with some real men.

True.

While I was not eaten alive by church meetings I had given away all my free time to relationships with God’s good people.   What’s not to love about that?   Alot.

So on Saturday when my son turned 16 and we picked tix to a the Spartan Notre Dame game I was so focused on his big day that I paid little attention to the 4 other guys (two dads and lads) that were joining our party.   Our connection….all our boys play football for the local HS team….that’s as deep as it went. Together we piled into the van and headed to East Lansing and the premier event…the tailgate.  Lots of beer, brats and very bad breath.  Yup.  Then the after thought….the game.  It was too hot and too tight.  But victory was sweet.

Afterward, more tailgate.   Rum and Coke was the adult beverage of choice at this point.  And birthday cake for all six of us.   Then in the van for the trip home.   All told we had 9 hours of male bonding and the parting words were all about our next planned experience.   Sure we talked about being dads and other male stuff.   They even dropped a couple references to church.  I didn’t take the bait.  Maybe next time.

Somewhere in all that foul odor, grease, sweat and yelling I got redeemed.   Set free from church to be with the guys and work on some overdue friendships.  It was great…I loved it.

So guys….and ladies….don’t miss this stuff.   It could be just what you needed.

WESTERN SEMINARY PLANTERS GREENHOUSE 9/22

Chad called me on Wednesday

Like other WTS students he is exploring being a church planter but not really sure if the systems or means are going to work for him.  Seminary was headache enough!

Monday September 22nd from noon til 1 planters and planter wannabes will gather for pizza and conversation on the 6th floor of the library at WTS for open discussion on church planting.

Interested?   RSVP with steitsma@rcagl.org  or just show up.  There should be plenty of food.

PLANTER COACH TRAINING OCTOBER 20th 9am til 3pm

33 plants and counting!

Since 2003 the Great Lakes Region has seen 33 new congregations planted.   Far from cookie cut, these projects are each one of a kind with unique leadership and unique challenges.

47 plants and counting!

By 2014 our hope would be that 47 more new starts will come “on line” to reach unique people groups across the region.   To do that we will need more coaches!   A coach is a person who comes alongside the planter to help them work their process in planting.   Far from being a know it all…a coach helps a planter clarify action in the fog of the battle.

If you are interested in being a coach to a church planter we would love to invest in your training.   The first step is Basic Coach Training which can be found through the offices of Roger Price or Vicky Menning.   Then add to that Planter Coach Training at the Regional Offices October 2oth.   Contact steitsma@rcagl.org to register!

ALAN HIRSCH AT GRTS WEDNESDAY SEPT 10th

That’s right…Alan will be in town (GR) to speak on missional church from 10 til noon at the Grand Rapids Theological Seminiary auditorium.   The best way to access that is off of Leonard St. near the Beltline N.E.

“Who is Alan Hirsch?”   OK, clear the decks and be there!  You’re overdue.  Meanwhile check out www.theforgottenways.org

PLANTING AT THE SPEED OF TRUST

Stephen Covey has given us a great new read that has much to do with church planting.

THE SPEED OF TRUST. Catchy title.

Trust changes everything. When trust goes up…the cost of advancement goes down while the pace accelerates. When trust goes down…the cost goes up while the pace slows. Covey asks 4 questions to get at the core issues of being a credible leader…

1. Are you congruent? 2. What is your agenda? 3. Are you relevant? 4. What is your track record?

He moves from there into describing 13 behaviors that build trust. It’s a list worth the price of the book times ten! Trust can be built and measured. When we do we remarkably reduce our frustrations and increase our ministry progress.

Finally Covey looks at organizational trust and how to inspire it.   Another mother lode of wisdom.

THE SPEED OF TRUST by Stephen Covey published by Freepress. Own it.

STAFF SUPERVISION: using a M.A.P.

If you are responsible for staff supervision then heads up.

Many of us have never supervised a person in a paid position. The early temptation is to rely on a casual connection at Starbucks now and again to catch up and talk. Over time however, a relationship that does not respect the need for accountability can become a frustrating to everyone.

Enter the MAP.

MAP is short for Ministry Action Plan. It is a tool that helps a staff person define their work and creates a format for exploring progress. A MAP has three sections. “M” is for MOMENTUM. A person should have 2-4 tasks that make up their “M”. These are those few things that if you do them really well they will dramatically contribute to progress. They should be expressed in terms of s.m.a.r.t. goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timed).  Momentum items are often achieved in a few months or a year. “A” is for ACTIVITIES. A person should have up to a dozen or more of these duties that must be done but are routine.  Activities usually are long term detail responsibilities.  “P” is for POSSIBILITIES. A person should have at least one of these activities that represent risk, exploration and freedom to fail.

The idea is to have your staff person design their MAP and contract with the supervisor for alignment with your needs and vision.   Then meet monthly or quarterly to evaluate progress and confirm alignment. As pastor, you may want to have a MAP too. It is your accountability check and creates a document for your board to use with you.

MAPs are evolving documents that reflect progress and make sure every one is on the same page. They create a format that make it easier to have difficult conversations. Staff supervision does not just happen over coffee. For most of us, it requires some structure and the MAP can work for you.

Ubiquitous Altruism: Bill and the folks on South Division

It just keeps popping up.

So last week my Time Mag featured a story by Bill Gates on “creative capitalism”. OK…before you choke on your mouse…hear him out. Gates is really convinced that he can fix capitalism by linking the for profit ventures of business with concrete needs in the developing world. He tells the story of the RED campaign that has hooked up Hallmark and Gap (and Microsoft) along with others to forward a percentage of their profits to fight health problems like malaria in Africa. I had to smile as he told the story how Bono drive that engine. Bravo! Score one for Bill.

Then last night I was hiking along south Division in GR and encountered the Avenue of the Arts event. Seems the second Saturday of the month the two dozen artists who anchor their businesses on south Division put their goods out on the street to engage customers. Gotcha. I had a great conversation with Reg who works in New Orleans and in GR. Like others they were passionate about their work and the community they are creating through micro enterprising. Results…community, dignity, productivity and some interesting art. OK it’s not for everyone…..but try this….

As  one writer put it…”some theologians focus on the problem of evil, I am wrestling with the problem of good. There is a growing spirit of altruism in and around us and that can only be coming from one place.” Score one for the spirit.

So how does a planter pay attention to that activity in ways that bless and advance the cause? Your turn.

Planting a Verge

If you catch Leadership Journal you have seen the story of Dave Gibbons, planter of New Song in LA. Dave’s world changed after spending time in Bangkok where he discovered that the Evangelical Covenant Church had about 400 churches with 4000 attenders. Back home in LA New Song also had about 4000 members. So he asked which was stronger.. …..?

Easy choice for Dave.

So much of our default mode is to centralize and elevate one leader. With that comes great vulnerability and a high ratio of passive worshippers. Now Dave is committed to “verge”. That is to converge the best features of small and large churches. He sees them as churches from 30 to 100. Much larger and the pastoral leader is swallowed up in internal organizational duties while the percent of spectator behavior goes up. Much smaller and they are too fragile and not enough people energy. Hence the Verge.

I was encouraged recently to hear of one of our RCA plants that is worships about 60 and is now considering planting another site. They have taken to “verge” thinking. Big isn’t bad…it’s just been over rated for so long. To reproduce in multiple forms you have to be “on the verge”….on the edge of small and large. Read more in the current LJ.

CAN WE AFFORD TO PLANT 50 MORE CHURCHES?

The shared goal of the Great Lakes Region is 50 more churches by 2013  (swallow hard).   At an average outside funding cost of $200,000 per start that computes to a 10 million dollar project.   Can we do this?   A few thoughts to put this price tag in perspective.

1.  With 50,000 confessing members in the Great Lakes Region if each one gave $40 a year we could fund the movement.   Some will not be able to do that, others can, still others can do more.   This is doable!  As the saying goes, you swallow an elephant one bite at a time!   However, people will not part with that modest amount without a clear and compelling reason.

2. $40 bucks a year is small change in the grand scheme of things yet a clear case is required to release those dollars.   Increasingly we need to look at funding from the perspective of stewardship development.  Why….why is a new church in East Overshoe Michigan a wise stewardship choice by a person who is seeking to grow in the grace of giving?   Why….why is the plan and the person “right” for the opportunity?   What….what are the benchmarks that will assure us we are making the progress that is needed?

3.  Planters must increasingly be stewardship prompters.  As the need for new donor money increases the need for planter involvement in fund development will increase.  People give to people.   Donors want to know who is leading the charge and planters increasingly will be involved in relating to donors.

4.  New churches  must own the vision for the next wave of plants.   I was delighted recently to receive a significant check from Alas De Aguila  in as part of their “giving back to the movement” in planting.   Many new starts do not participate in this kind of contribution because their vision easily is set too low.  A perspective to resource scarcity takes control!

The truth remains…there is no shortage of resources…only a shortage of stewards.   Paul charged Timothy in I Timothy 6:18 to “command those who are rich to be generous…”.   Stewardship is not a natural behavior.  It requires prompting.    We can afford this!