Christ Covenant

• Joe Holland
• Aug 25, 2010
• Series: Church Profiles
• Categories: Church Planting Articles, Latest News

Briefly describe your story of your call to plant a church 

I spent the first 6 years of ministry as an assistant in two different churches in Mississippi. Toward the end of those six years I started to get the church planting bug. I was being exposed to Acts29 resources—especially the preaching of Mark Driscoll. I was also attending the annual Twin Lakes Fellowship—a ministerial fraternal dedicated in part to church planting.

I always have had a desire to return to my home state of Virginia to plant a church. Through connections the Lord provided through some friends I found out that there was a work underway in Culpeper, VA that was looking for a church planter. After conversations, assessment, prayer, and study my wife and I confirmed that we were being called to plant a church in a growing town that desperately needed a church plant.

How did you build up your core? What advice would you give to guys in the core-stage? 

When I arrived in Culpeper I had a core of approximately 10 families. Those folks had been doing the hard work of praying for a new church in Culpeper long before I ever knew the work existed. When I arrived I began working with them to grow the core and prepare for a launch.

The advice I would give to guys in the core stage is to focus on three things. First, teach your core a strong Christology. We spent many a conversation discussing the Christ centrality of the Scriptures and Christian living. I told them we wouldn't move on to anything else until we—as a core group—had an unwavering commitment to aggressively keep Jesus at the center of all our plant was and would be. Second, we spent a ton of time talking about Missiology. To some on my core group, the concept of every Christian as a missionary was a new one. We began brainstorming what it would look like if we recast our "core group" as a "long term mission team" to Culpeper.

Third, we talked at length about cultivating intentional diversity within our congregation as a reflection of what we believed the community around throne of God is—a worshiping multitude of every tribe, tongue, and nation.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in planting your church (and/or currently facing)? 

We have had (do have) two big challenges. The first is developing ministry teams to do the work of the church. From the beginning we have had a number of dedicated individuals who have worked very hard. Right now we are laboring to move from dedicated individuals to dedicated teams. Secondly, we are seeing significant spiritual warfare especially in terms of illness with people in our congregation. We have an inordinate number of our members who are undergoing acute difficulties in their life. It encourages us that our work here is worth opposing.

How did you become involved with Acts 29? What have been the biggest benefits of being in the network? 

I sought to be involved with Acts 29 for three reasons.

The first reason is a selfish one. I need as much fraternity and resources as a church planter as I can get. Acts 29 puts me in direct relationship with guys that are doing what I'm doing, suffering the way I'm suffering, rejoicing in what I'm rejoicing in, and working toward the goal I'm working toward—seeing more people meet Jesus through the means of church planting.

The second reason is that I have seen the fruit of Acts 29 in the planting of churches and the reaching of the lost. I want to be a part of that.

The third reason is that I'd love to help the network with whatever gifts the Lord has given me. Acts 29 has grown because men have given their time to both their churches and to seeing other churches started. I want to do the same thing. I wouldn't be planting a church without Acts 29. I want to repay that debt of gratitude with my participation in the network.

What advice do you have for men who are wrestling with the decision to plant? 

Seek the advice of as many godly church planters as you can to help you work through the decision. Open up every aspect of your life to them and let them guide you through whether or not you should plant. And know in the end your success or failure is completely wrapped up in the sovereign and good plan of king Jesus.

How do you pastor your family? 

I try to put Deut 6 into practice the best I can with my wife and sons. My wife and I want to help our children and each other apply the gospel to life whenever we can. We pause to pray during the day. We talk to our sons about the sin of irreligion and religion. We take time in the evening to sing and pray. We talk about the sermon from the past Sunday. We memorize Scripture and catechism questions together. We talk about reaching our non-Christian neighbors. It isn't punctuated moments of intense study, it is more like a natural flow of intentional dependence on the Jesus that saved us.

Outside of the Bible, what is the most helpful book you have read for church planting?

Confessions of a Reformissionary Rev, Driscoll

How can we pray for you?

Pray that I would keep Jesus as my first love. Pray that my marriage would continue to grow and that God would give my sons an undying passion for the gospel. Pray that God would be glorified through his church in Culpeper, VA.

Church Profile: Christ Covenant
Launch Date: April, 2010
Location: Culpeper, VA

Mission, Vision, Values of Church 

We are redeemed sinners who worship Christ in community on mission.

What is your philosophy of community in your church and what does that look like practically in your church? Of evangelism? 

It's all wrapped up together. We're launching our community groups this Fall. In community we are missionaries to two groups of people. We are missionaries to one another—entering into the messiness of life with each other to point one another to the gospel. We are missionaries to the lost in our neighborhoods and communities—entering into the messiness of our broken communities to point the lost to the gospel.

What are some examples of God's grace that you have seen in your life and/or the life of your church? 

The first is that after a year in Culpeper we're still here. God has preserved my soul, my marriage, my family, and our growing church. Second is that after a year in Culpeper we're growing more in love with Jesus. Third, is that I'm seeing men and woman, boys and girls catch the vision for reaching the lost in Culpeper with the gospel—exciting. Fourth, God has done the first three in a way that we have been utterly unable to boast in ourselves but have been joyfully forced to boast in how great he is in the work of church planting.