arieljvan.com

I’ve been holding out, trying to persuade myself not to post this, but what the heck, I can’t resist.

HT: Dan Kimball.

If you live in or near downtown Kansas City, you know that there’s a ton of development going on. But you may not realize the full extent… Constructor Magazine:

“Kansas City is experiencing a construction boom the relative scope of which we have not seen since the pioneer days,” says Don Greenwell, executive director of AGC Kansas City. In the core city area bounded on the north by the Missouri River, approximately $4.5 billion of construction has been completed or is in various stages of development.

See also Constructor’s piece on the Sprint Center (which I’m hoping will draw NCAA Tourney games in the near future):

At the center of the rebirth sits the bedazzling new Sprint Center, an eye-popping jewel in Kansas City’s newly polished crown. Designed as a see-through building, the $276-million sports and entertainment venue is intended to be viewed from the inside out.

The article states that the Sprint Center “will” host an NBA team. However, to my knowledge that’s not true at this point. Unless the Constructor folks are privy to behind-closed-doors talks with NBA owners…here’s hoping.

Anyway, seems like the ball is rolling as far as downtown Kansas City goes, and may keep rolling for awhile.

HT: Kevin Cawley.

Here’s the 8th and last installment in the Church Planting with Small Groups posts. This one’s longer, since I’m putting the wrap on the series. If you’ve made it this far, congrats! Feel free to add your own suggestions re: small groups as well–I’d love to hear from you.

_See also Intro, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 & Part 7_

Find training, support networks and financial resources for the church planter.

Planters who try to start a church without the encouragement and advice of other planters and leaders face a greater chance of failure and burnout. But add a solid support network and the picture changes dramatically: “The church planter who meets with a group of church planting peers at least monthly increases the odds of survivability by 135 percent.”[1]

A leader who pioneers a new church plant starting with small groups might fool himself into believing that, “It’s only a dozen people-when we start growing, I’ll look for some counsel and support.” In reality, the task of church planting starts long before the initial core group begins to expand. Challenges and obstacles will not wait to appear until the church hits a certain numerical goal, so the planter should not wait to find people who are willing to invest in him.

This could take the form of a peer group that meets for prayer, fellowship and accountability. Ideally, coaching (focusing on skills and strategy) and mentoring (focusing on character and personal health) would be involved as well-services that are often provided by a church planting network. Additionally, when a lead planter receives continued training in the form of “boot camps” and seminars, the likelihood that his church will flourish increases.[2]

Within the small group structures, the lead planter should recruit or identify mature believers who can assist him with leadership, men who would make excellent staff members when resources become available. Not only are multiple leaders able to support each other and compensate for each other’s weaknesses, but the sooner multiple qualified staff members are present in a new plant, the better its chances of survival.[3]

In addition, the lead planter should make every effort to secure financial backing for his family. As the apostle Paul noted, “The Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ^‘The laborer deserves his wages’” (1 Timothy 5:18). The biblical wisdom in this statement is apparent, as a planter with adequate funding will be freed up to know his community and grow his church rather than deal with basic needs. While there is a rise in bivocational church planters, churches that survive and grow quickly are more frequently are led by a full-time planter.[4]

Today, planters discover funding through a combination of denominational support, relational networks, partnering churches, and church planting networks. Wherever the money comes from, several things are certain: The planter will need to major in vision and relationships: “People give to vision. Resources always follow vision,” and, “More than anything else, fund-raising is about relationships. Whether the source is the denomination, a network or organization, a mother church, a partner church, bi-vocational work, the early launch team or other individuals, the key to soliciting support is through authentic relationships.”[5]

Raising money is not a highlight for many planters, but, like peer groups, training, and mentoring relationships, financial backing is a significant factor that will empower the planter to focus on multiplying the church’s small groups to the point where larger services are possible.

Conclusion

These seven practices are by no means comprehensive, but in terms of big-picture vision and strategy, they will help a prospective church planter keep the planting dream alive while he is in the trenches, building the first small groups. A motivating thought for planters who adopt this “launch small” approach is that God is certainly not prejudiced against small beginnings. In fact, many of the kingdom metaphors deliberately employed by Jesus-yeast, a mustard seed, a pearl-are remarkable for their smallness, but also for their latent power as God employs them in the shaping of his kingdom.

[2] State of Church Planting USA: Improving the Health and Survivability of New Churches, 6.

[3] Ed Stetzer and Phillip Connor, Research Reflection: 10 Factors For Higher Attendance in Church Plants (Alpharetta, GA: North American Mission Board, SBC: 2007), 3.

[4] State of Church Planting USA: Improving the Health and Survivability of New Churches, 3, 5.

[5] Ed Stetzer and Dave Travis, State of Church Planting USA: Funding New Churches (Leadership Network, 2007), 6.

We’re hoping to hit up one or both of these…

This Planting w/ Small Groups “series” has kinda faltered, due mostly to a preaching class that drained my time and energy like a Christian vampire. The class is over (and I’m officially a graduate now, ha!), so my plan is to wrap up this series in short order. Look for Part 8 in the next day or so–that’ll be the final installment.

_See also Intro, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 & Part 6_

Keep small groups relationally connected so that corporate services can happen.

When fast growth is concerned, small groups (35 percent) are a better strategy for planting churches than preview services (10 percent)-but when both are used together, the likelihood of growing fast rises to 55 percent.[1] Healthy small groups multiply, and three or four groups (roughly 50 people) will likely be necessary before the church plant has the personnel to develop a preview service.

However, such services wnot be possible unless the groups are convinced of the legitimacy of the “church gathered,” aware of each other, and prepared to pool time and resources to make the service a reality. Such cooperation would be aided by steady visioneering by the planter and regular “mixer” events where cross-pollination between groups would occur.

If the various independent small groups will eventually act as a united corporate body, the expectation will need to be built in while they are meeting separately. When the church grows, this strategy will also pay dividends in the relational health of members, as the stage will be set for the plant to become healthy, networked, “church of small groups” rather than a “church with small groups.”[2]

[2] Donald D. Owens, “Building a Church of Small Groups,” Missiology 32, no. 1 (January 2004): 106-107.

“As big as you think” is the official slogan of the state of Kansas. (Debate the suitability all you like.) Now it looks like Kansas City, Missouri could up the ante a little. Apparently the US Census underestimated the population of the Kansas City metro area by about 80,000 people.

The US Census has significantly under counted KCMO’s population and that we actually have 533,117 people living here, not  the 450,000 or so previously thought. Besides the big boost in population, the study also shows that household incomes and purchasing power are much higher than conventional wisdom says, especially in supposedly poor East Side neighborhoods.

Overall, the study shows an urban economy in better shape than usually believed.  The population figure alone could be critical in getting more federal and state support for things like housing, transportation, health care, etc.

So Kansas City tops the half million mark, and the urban renaissance I want to see is a little bit closer to reality.

HT: Blog KC

Here’s the next installment in the Church Planting w/ Small Groups series.

________See also Intro, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & Part 4, & Part 5_______

Multiply leaders and small groups regularly.

If a weakness of small groups is their tendency to become inward-focused, the contrasting strength is the potential to give participants numerous opportunities for discipleship and growth. Nowhere is this more true than in the case of leadership development, where the very nature of multiplying small groups promotes the rapid development of new church leaders.

Not everyone can effectively lead a small group, but believers with leadership gifts should be identified and empowered, intentionally given authority within specified boundaries while an established leader maintains responsibility for the ministry.[1] Small groups provide an ideal workshop for the development of emerging leaders-which has been identified as a vital contributing element in the survival of church plants. A study conducted by the North American Mission Board discovered that, “Of those church planters that provided leadership training to church members, 79 percent of their churches survived compared to only 59 percent of church plants survived among those who did not provide leadership.”[2]

While this factor isn’t exclusive to the small group context, small groups certainly do provide opportunities for hands-on involvement in an array of leadership roles: Teaching, mentoring, facilitation, discipleship, prayer–there are few aspects of ministry that don’t surface in the small group microcosm.

[2] Research Reflection: How Many Church Plants Really Survive-and Why?, 3.

Between my teething, insomniac son and my seething, ergomaniac preaching lab (wink, wink), I haven’t had time to post much in the last week. Coming up are the last couple pieces in the Church Planting with Small Groups series… But for the moment, here’s a favorite G.K. Chesterton quote:

It is always simple to fall; there are an infinity of angles at which one falls, only one at which one stands… In my vision, the heavenly chariot flies thundering through the ages, the dull heresies sprawling and prostrate, the wild truth reeling but erect. - G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Gist: The gospel advances faster when we avoid even the “little” heresies.

Last week I got to spend some time with a group of church planters, who provided opportunities to talk shop, learn about vision casting and play a few holes of disc golf. Let me preface this by saying that I haven’t reached championship caliber in disc golf yet. OK, I suck. But I did come up with a few lessons that pertain to church planting. Ready?

1. Effectiveness–not sexiness–is the objective.

“Nice disc purse, dude.”

It was no accident that the best player on the course, Jason Allen, carried his arsenal of diamond-etched, graphite coated, pro-model discs in a bag that looked like a large canvas purse. He even slung it over his shoulder between holes. And he didn’t blink when we gave him a hard time about it, because Jason knew that his disc purse was helping him reach his objective: kicking our butts. In a lot of circles, church planting is the hot item. I always thought of it as the extreme sport of Christianity–and everyone knows that the main allure of extreme sports is the chance to look good while rakishly risking your life. But winners realize that style falls by the wayside when you tackle something as difficult as church planting…or disc golf.

2. Humility is your ticket onto the course.

“I just missed a six foot putt. There goes the only strength of my game.”

Anyone can talk a good game. But a newbie can’t hide on the course. The only way to survive in a pastime with a learning curve as steep as disc golf or church planting is to admit what you know: practically nothing. And then set out to learn as fast and as well as you can.

3. Going long is half the game.

“I think that one disappeared over the curve of the earth.”

My best throws rounded out at around 60 feet. Jason’s best throws measured in at about 300. This made Jason a long distance thrower, and me a sprinter. I always had to use four or five tosses just to get near the hole, while he was usually putting within one or two. In a similar way, stats reveal that a lot of church planters burn out when they should just be settling into their marathon rhythm. Short-term precision is good. But going the distance is better. If you have endurance, you’ll have time to correct your mistakes.

4. Velocity overcomes bad marksmanship.

“You just shaved a branch off that tree.”

While us second-tier dudes routinely watched our discs get hung up on spiderwebs and blades of grass, we watched in disgust as Jason’s throws ripped right through low hanging branches like a circular saw blade. It wasn’t that our throws were worse (every once in awhile). It was just that they didn’t have the mustard to sail through a little resistance. Every guy who wants to plant a church knows he won’t get everything right the first time. The deciding factor is the spiritual velocity behind the vision. If the church planter is hearing from Jesus, getting his vision fed by God, then he’ll be able to razor right through some of those obstacles.

5. Seeing the course is non-negotiable.

“Now we’re throwing in that direction, maybe, I think.”

We spent a lot of time walking around the grassy course, sweating profusely, to figure out in what direction we should heave our discs next. Personally, I never really figured out the layout of the course, or how to read the arcane directional signs–which no doubt contributed to my mediocrity. When the next hole wasn’t directly in my line of vision, I usually opted for the right-angle approach: Throw straight ahead until I could see the flag, then throw straight ahead again. Grasping the layout of the course, the big picture, lets a golfer or planter play with strategy. That’s the advantage of wise, nuanced vision. Alternatively, you can just flail away and hope you’re going in the right direction.

Time for a quick review of N.T. Wright’s Acts for Everyone (Part One):

Awesome.

Now, let me elaborate. What impressed me deeply about Wright’s commentary on Acts is his magisterial command of biblical narrative threads. He views the events of Pentecost and the apostolic journeys without ever losing sight of the Old Testament backdrop of prophecy and accumulated Jewish history. As a result, the reader gets a much deeper appreciation for the timing and gigantic significance of God’s actions.

In addition, N.T. Wright’s style is scholarly and warm at the same time. He shares brief anecdotes with each passage that transition into his focused commentary. It’s amazing that Wright can generate scores of these spot-on illustrations, most of them from his own life, but all the more so when his anecdotal approach is paired with the kind of sweeping analysis and wise commentary he supplies.

If you’re looking for a commentary on Acts that’s extremely informed, “provocative” in the scriptural kingdom sense, and devotional as well, this is it. N.T. Wright is accessible (in a C.S. Lewisian way), but without softening the impact of his remarkable theology jones. I’m very appreciative, as reading Acts for Everyone, Part 1 proved to be both inspiring and theology-shaping experience, sending me back to the book of Acts with new eyes. (I expect no drop-off in Part 2.)

*** N.T. Wright’s Acts for Everyone gets three of three stars–don’t miss it.