Suggestions for Developing Your Plan
Once you know the kind of men you want to develop, start writing.
Make it clear to the participants where you are headed. Let them know the kind of men you want to lead the church. Tie your end goal to the Scriptures and to the vision of the church. Let each man know what kind of demands being an elder will place on their time. Let each man know the character required to serve as an elder. Let each man know (generally) the doctrine they will have to affirm as Biblical to serve as an elder your church. Let them know the time they will need to commit to the training.
Encourage each man “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has ...
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A Priority to Leadership Development
As a church planter, there are thousands of things you can do. I’m convinced one of the most important things you can do is develop leaders for the church. In order to do that, though, you need to make it a priority. If you don’t, as I know from experience, there are too many other things that will demand and take your time and attention.
When you plant a church, leadership development is one of those things that falls into what business consultants would call not urgent, but important on your time management matrix or to do list. You can increase attendance without developing leaders. Leadership development doesn’t provide you much instant affirmation. Leadership development stories aren’t anywhere ...
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A couple of years into my church replant I was talking to my father about the state of the church. (My father, Wayne Grudem, is a seminary professor who has trained pastors and scholars for Christ’s Church the majority of his life). He asked me when the church was going to get elders.
“I don’t know,” I responded. “It’s going to take some time.”
“I don’t think it took Paul that long,” my dad replied.
“I’m not Paul.”
“I don’t think it took Timothy or Titus that long either,” he said.
His encouragement reminded me of similar encouragement I received from church planter and long-time Pastor Steve Smallman who helped me navigate my first year at the church. He ...
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Free Resource – Theological Clarity and Application: Equipping Leaders in Biblical Doctrine
The question I get asked most often by church planters and pastors of young churches is, “How can I train people in preparation for leadership in the church?” We often point them to Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology—referred affectionately among our tribe as simply, “Grudem’s.” Most people are not sure what to do with the nearly 1,300-page book with 57 chapters. The lay leaders with regular jobs are nearly traumatized when the 4-pound book arrives in their mail!
When Elliot Grudem gave me a copy of Christian Beliefs (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), I immediately identified a valuable resource to help pastors walk their ...
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Mission, Vision, Values of Church
We believe that the Christian faith is a call to Proclamation. Therefore, as we experience transformation through the Gospel, we are compelled to share God's story with the world, always pointing people to the sacred Scriptures as the final authority for faith and life.
We believe that the Christian faith is a call to Service. Therefore we submit our lives to Jesus as His servants and seek to imitate Jesus by serving others whom we value more highly than ourselves.
We believe that the Christian faith is a call to Community, not individualism. Therefore we embody the Gospel by living a shared life of intimacy, hospitality, and generosity as we establish a family of pilgrims on a journey of faith together.
What is your philosophy of ...
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