Acts 29

Replanting Missional Churches is a ministry inspired by Acts 29 Network and equipped by 24 years of experience in turn around ministries.  I set out to serve God through the local church and every ministry I found myself, another thread was woven into the same pattern of replanting.  I acceded to that calling of God for my life and as a result wrote my life mission to reflect that undertaking: “To glorify God by bringing renewal to the body of Christ”.

I have always wanted to plant a church but have never had peace about it.  Ten years ago I set out to plant a church north of Denver in a growing city but felt it was not God’s will, only mine.  Eight years ago I felt again stirred to start a church in a particular city, but had no peace about it.  Three months later I received a call to come and restart a struggling church in that same city.  It confirmed the uniqueness of my calling.  After ten years of restarting student ministries in three different churches, I felt a strong call to lead as senior pastor with the same passion and semi-irreverent approach.  My irreverence was toward the established mores of fundamentalism (more emphasis on “mentalism” than “fun”) not irreverent toward God.
I was called to lead a church in southern Idaho with an attendance of 35 adults and three children.  The youth ministry I left behind to go to spud country was over 250.    Everything at this new venture had to be restarted, trashed or exploded.  After five years and many scars later in this small farming community, the church was running 225 with a ministry for all ages.

I felt called to go to Pueblo, Colorado to start a church.  It was like I was jumping up and down in front of the coach begging him to put me into the game and he (God) said, sit down on the bench and take your helmet off.  Three months later I was called to go to this same city by another struggling church of 119 people in a church established sometimes in the 1800’s before Jesse James died (that was on their promotional material!).  After a couple years of systematic deconstruction, the church exploded with spiritual, numerical and financial growth.  It averaged over 700 in attendance with a high day of 1,511 and had over $300,000 in the bank.

Again I received a call to go to a struggling church in Denver, my present ministry.  It had over $2 million of debt, a money-sucking Christian school and a fundamentalist mentality that had branded the church with a negative label, especially with the seven confirmed staff members who have committed adultery in the last 30 years.  We closed the school, changed the name of the church and have a contract to sell the property.  We are relocated to a densely populated area of Denver without a significant missional church in sight.

After interacting with Mark Driscoll and the Acts 29 Network, a replanting ministry was born out of dire need.  This summer three churches were assisted.  The first in St. Louis was assisted to help identify pastoral leadership and to help the search team to be affirmed in their vision.  Two churches in New England were ministered.  One was given a complete evaluation of their ministries with recommendations on how to become a missional church.  The other church in New England was assisted by a financial plan to place their current pastor (a young, enthusiastic man with a heart for God) on full-time status with the church.

The vision for replanting is found in Jesus’ words in John 12:20-26.  Christ said that a grain of wheat (or any seed) will not produce fruit unless it dies.  A church body can struggle along to remain alive (without any significant fruit bearing) or it can intentionally die to its former glory, its resources, its denominational ties, its programs, its style and its own embodiment.  It can be a status quo for thirty more years or it can invest its budget, buildings and body sacrificially into the hands of God who alone can bring reproduction to its natural fruition.