Garden City Church | San Jose, CA

• Justin Buzzard
• Apr 14, 2011
• Series: Church Profiles
• Categories: Church Planting Articles, Latest News

Briefly describe your story of your call to plant a church

I've always started and led new things, but I'd never thought about church planting. I seriously had given no thought to where churches came from, it's as though I assumed that churches had simply always been there. Then, six years ago, I was sitting on my porch reading an article about church planting and I was electrified. It's like a whole new world of what I could do with my life opened up to me. I was a youth pastor at the time and soon went on to be an associate pastor at a large church here in the Bay Area. But at that moment I knew I would plant a church in the near future.

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

I put a big dream in front of people--I told them that I want to call dead people to come to life in San Jose, that I want them to join me in this mission, and that Jesus will build his church and will accomplish this mission whether they joined me or not. Then I gave people a top ten list of the reasons why they shouldn't join our church plant.

I gave people a big vision and set a high bar for pursuing the vision, and this scared many people away and got many other people excited and committed to being part of something much bigger than themselves.

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

1) Thinking this is up to me, not Jesus.

2) Designing and putting in place systems for church life.

3) The amount of people that want my time, and trying to discern the most strategic use of my time/the most strategic people I should be discipling and pouring myself into.

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

Shortly after God gave me a church planting vision I learned about Acts29 and started connecting with Acts29 guys (including an old college buddy of mine) and learning more about the network. The biggest benefit is enjoying and learning from the brotherhood of like-minded men who are doing the same thing.

Also, I think one of the greatest strengths of Acts29 is that it's a church planting network that's heavily weighted towards setting entrepreneurial, ambitious men free to charge forward and do what God has called them to do. I feel at home in this culture. Acts29 still provides accountability, but this network doesn't try to control a church planter, it sets church planters loose.

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

1) Wrestle with God over whether he's called you to plant. Determine if you have a God-given passion and call in this direction, and if your strengths fit church planting.
2) Ask tons of different types of people who know you what they think--do they think you have a calling and gifting towards church planting? Get assessed. Your wife must be all in. Does she think you're called to plant? Does she think she's called to be a church planters wife?
3) See what opportunities God puts in front of you. Timing is big. Right now, practice doing the things you will do if you do in fact plant: preach, evangelize, disciple others, train leaders, design systems, pray your guts out.

What’s the most important thing you’d want to share with a new church planter?   

My new theory is that God completely wrecks a man either the year before he plants a church or during the first year of the church plant. Know that God is going to wreck you and it will hurt and it will feel so good--God is setting you free to more deeply find your identity in Jesus. He is doing this to make you a better, freer, man of God and church planter.

How do you pastor your family?

I just do it. It comes naturally for me. I really like being with and leading my wife and my three sons. Growing up my dad was a great provider for our family, but not strong at pastoring our family. So, from early on I've always wanted to be good at this.

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

Most significant for me has been a movie, not a book. Chariots of Fire shows two different ways of ambitously pursuing church planting: Harold Abrams' burdened pursuit of glory, or Eric Liddel's free and rested pursuit of doing what God called him to do.

Church Profile: Garden City Church
Launch Date: September 11, 2011
Location: San Jose, CA

Mission, Vision, Values of Church 

Mission:
Making disciples to impact the city for Jesus.

Values:
Gospel (Disciples of Jesus)
Community (Disciples Together)
Vocation (Disciples on Mission)

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

60 days ago I moved my family to San Jose with just 4 adults committed to the church plant and a 3,000 dollars in the church bank account. 60 days later both of those numbers have grown more than ten-fold.

How can we pray for you?

Pray that we baptize 50 people during our first year of the church. Pray that every person in our church feels the weight of the mission, that God uses our people to lead many other people to Jesus, to baptize them, and to make disciples out of them.