Sacred Journey Church | Providence, RI

• Todd Murphy
• Apr 8, 2010
• Series: Church Profiles
• Categories: Church Planting Articles

Briefly describe your story of your call to plant a church 

I graduated from Seminary in 2000, and was not sure what direction to take, whether a pastoral or church planting route, or pursuing an academic teaching career in Hebrew BIble studies through getting my Ph.D. After some time of reflection I just went into the business world for about 5 years and during that time wondred if God would call me to lead a church. A little more than two years ago now, I began to feel God's gentle nudge and so before making any major plans, I decided to go be assessed at the Bootcamp in Raleigh where I was give a full pass with the only condition to find a good coach. Then as I prayed about what the details would look like, I was invited by Tyler and Scott into their first (and last) class of the Mars Hill Pastoral Training Program. During this one year of intense study, I would fly out to Seattle for long weekends, duscuss all things church planting, and then return to work part time at a job and developing my core team and organizing the effort. During this time, I went through some ups and downs of people coming to me with big agenda's but they in the end weeded themselves out. Through it all, God sent me a a fantastic core group of people who understand learning the Gospel together in community.

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

We began meeting for evening services twice per month in Oct 2009 alternating weekly with home groups and formed into almost 40 core people. Then just before our April 4th 2010 launch, we had another local solo church planter who is like-minded come join us as a staff member with his team of 15 people. Our launch went great with over 100 people present, but that just means it is time to roll up our sleeves and busy reaching Providence, RI with the Gospel of Jesus.

Advice: Gathering a core team is full of complex variables. Some of the things that help (not silver bullets) is being very theologically knowledgable, yet with humility. This is because you will attract people at the beginning who are in many ways like you. If you are not doctrinally and practically oriented, you will not attract those mind of people. Another major player is age. The younger you are, the harder it is grab mature and fniancially established families. The fact that I am turning 40 and have two teenage sons was actually important in getting those people who are in their 40's and 50's that can make sustainable congregation. Probably the most important thing is emotional maturity. This is your comfort level with yourself, ability to handle stress and not transfer it directly to your wife and kids, and to make executive decisions such as being ok with, or even asking unhealthy participants to leave.

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

I constantly face a lot of evangelicals who come in want the full menu of programs and if they do not get it, they wont come back. It is tempting to try to appease them, but it is unhealthy. We are facing the need for starting a children's ministry because of the demand, but we are not doing so much because we are letting immature people have their way, but that we recognize that spiritually immature people need to be brought along, and sometimes letting them learn without their children at their feet is more conducive to their own disciplship experience.

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

I went to the Raleigh Bootcamp and was assessed. The greatest thing A29 did for me was demonstrate and encoruage me that God wanted to use me just the way I am , and not trying to fit a narrow traditional pastoral image.

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

1. planting is not the highest and best use of everyone's gifts, especially if God has not called you. A powerful desire for the advance of the Gospel and seeing people come to Christ is not indicative of a call to plant, so take it slow. If you are a new Christian, you have no business planting or pastoring for a while.

2. Even if God is calling a young man to plant, there is still the "when" question. I personally don't think someone should be discussing being a lead church planter until they hit about 30. Jesus waited till 30 as did all the OT preists, and very seldom has a man done enough fathering to meet the credentials of a pastor having demonstrated the ability to shephered his household before his 30's. The Rick Warren's and Mark Driscolls of the world are anomolies, and most of us will not be ready for that kind of leadership before wll into our 30's. You will avoid a great deal of sorrow and stress for you and your wife this way.

3. Have some business background. It is really helpful because starting a church is like starting a business. Seminary does not prepare you for church planting.

How do you pastor your family? 

Time, time, and time. I try very hard to come up with sports and activities that I can take my sons out to do that get us out of the house, away from my computer, email and books so I can focus on them, sometimes as a group, and sometimes individually. Same with my wife. We try to have good conversation time very night and go out on dates.

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

Journey to Jesus, but robert Webber was provocative.

How can we pray for you? 

Pray that God will keep me humble and that people will meet Jesus at SJC of Providence.

Church Profile: Sacred Journey Church
Launch: April, 2010
Location: Providence, RI 

Mission, Vision, Values of Church 

Sacred Journey Church is a place for people who have given up on religion but not one God.

We have 5 core practices that define us.

JESUS FIRST – Jesus is the reason for what we do. While there are many good things that we can be involved in, we believe that anything that distracts us from the simplicity of the truth “Jesus loves me” can take us in the wrong direction. The Church has for too long concerned itself with institutionalism, control, religious ritual, greed and seemingly irrelevant arguments. Therefore we are committed to reaching people with the simple but life-changing message that Jesus came to remove our sin, reconnect us to God and give us new life and eternal hope. Listen to the Sermon

INSPIRING WORSHIP – By “inspiring worship” we actually mean two things: that our gatherings would both be “inspiring” to personal faith and also “inspire” worship in our lives. We believe the good news about Jesus is a cause for joy and celebration. Because of this, we are committed to creating a bright and exciting worship experience through inspiring culturally sensitive music and stimulating messages that speak as much to Monday through Friday as they do to Sunday. It is our passion to see people reconnect with God during our worship services in ways that make a difference in every area of their life. In close connection, we are also committed to providing the traditional Christian sacraments of baptism and the Lords’ Supper in a way that offers the worshipper a deeper experience of worship and opportunity to respond to God.

CELEBRATION OF COMMUNITY – We see the Church as a spiritual family, what we call the family of God. We do not think coming together to sit in a room with a bunch of strangers who do not seem like they care about us was God’s plan for the Church. We are God’s people and with this, he has commanded us, above all, to love one another. Therefore while our Sunday worship is a highpoint of our worship week, we are dedicated to helping people learn to love, serve and care for one another through various other opportunities such as small groups, discipleship classes, and other social events. 

BIBLICALLY FOCUSED – Jesus told the Church to go make disciples. But what does it mean to be a disciple? It means taking a journey to connect with God by following the life and teaching of Jesus. Unfortunately, the Church has often lost this focus. At times this got so bad, that the Church even discouraged people from reading the bible, which is God’s collection of love letters to us. We believe that teaching the bible is a non-negotiable for the Church to be faithful to God and it is God’s pathway on the sacred journey of faith. Because of this, we are dedicated to not only excellent bible based messages, but also other learning opportunities to help individuals to study and understand the bible more fully in a way that offers life-transformation. Besides Bible rich Sunday messages, some of these opportunities will include home-based bible studies and discussion and formal discipleship classes on the spiritual life.

EVERY MEMBER ON MISSION – God has a divine and spiritual purpose for every person. But sometimes the church has become consumed with clericalism where “the ministry” was only done by professionals and everyone else became spectators sitting on the sidelines. We believe this is a fundamental misunderstanding of God’s plan for both individuals and the church. For this reason we are committed to every member of the Church being an active participant in the advance of the God’s Kingdom. Since the New Testament treats all members as “called” and “in ministry,” we want to empower every person live out their God-given calling to personally be a part of the advance of God’s Kingdom of Peace on Earth. In keeping with Ephesians 4, the pastors of the church do not merely do ministry for the Church, but are called to lead and equip God’s people in their mission to the world. We believe a healthy church is an empowered one where each and every person is encouraged to make a difference in this world for God by being a representative for Jesus in her or his sphere of influence.

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

We focus on doing life together. Our Sunday mornings are the meaty bible study time followed by fellowship. Our home groups are not bible studies per se, but time of enjoying ech other and reflecting on the Gospel together. through this, we forge friendships that lead to our members doing things outside of our public meetings together. We are careful not to make our people "busy" doing "church stuff" that does not build community and mission.

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

God reminding me over and over again, that in spite of my efforts, it is him planting this church, and its success has much more to do with answering the call when he called and not barging ahead when I would have liked to. So many times I have put a great deal of lbor into something to only see it wither and then see God give triple the increase, but with a clear demonstration that it was not the result of my efforts.