New Churches Podcast | Season 1 | Episode 728

What Clint Clifton Would Want You to Know About Church Planting

Ed Stetzer, Colby Garman & Trevin Wax

Episode 728

Clint Clifton believed our love of the Lord compels us to evangelize and multiply churches. Host Ed Stetzer, Colby Garman and Trevin Wax honor Clint by talking about what mattered to him.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

  • What wrong questions we ask about church planting
  • The right question to ask about church planting
  • How Clint multiplied himself and his passion
  • What it looks like for smaller congregations to plant churches
  • The kind of person needed to plant churches

Helpful Resources:

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Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Such a tragic loss. You could see the tidal wave of grief and loss spread. It’s been difficult, but we’ve also seen God’s grace give strength. @Colby Garman

Clint wrote: “If you’re going to plant a new church or lead your church to plant a new church, you will have to maintain a deep resolve to endure the difficulties ahead.” @EdStetzer

Clint’s planting legacy comes back to the assumption that every church should be involved in church planting, not “Should we? Could we?” but “Why would we not? How could we not be involved?” @TrevinWax

At the core of Clint was that life is an act of worship. Church planting for him was an act of worship, more than a strategy. @Colby Garman

Clint was continually willing to get up again, do it again, start something again. This is the kind of church planter that really makes a gospel difference.  @EdStetzer

Clint’s heart was to trust the good heart of the Father. @TrevinWax

Clint would want you to know that it doesn’t take you being the most brilliant or the most articulate. It just takes showing up, doing it again, making much of Jesus and not making it about you. @EdStetzer

Published on January 24, 2023

About the Podcast

New Churches Podcast

The New Churches podcast offers practical answers to your real ministry questions. We aren’t going to provide lofty pie-in-the-sky theories. Instead, we are going to help you in your real ministry context, with your real thoughts, questions, and issues.

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Meet the Authors

Ed Stetzer

Ed Stetzer, Ph.D., is a professor and dean at Wheaton College where he also serves as Executive Director of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center.  He is the incoming Dean of Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches; trained pastors and church planters on six continents; earned two master’s degrees and two doctorates; and he has written hundreds of articles and a dozen books. He is Regional Director for Lausanne North America, is the Editor-in-Chief of Outreach Magazine, and regularly writes for news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. His national radio show, Ed Stetzer Live, airs Saturdays on Moody Radio and affiliates. He serves at his local church, Mariners Church, as a Scholar in Residence and Teaching Pastor.

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Colby Garman

Colby Garman oversees the teaching ministries of Pillar Church of Dumfries and has co-founded several church planting organizations, including the Praetorian Project and the Iceland Project. Before coming to Pillar, Colby served as an associate pastor at Stafford (Va.) Baptist Church (the church that planted Pillar Church). In 2008, the Garmans served for two years in Iceland with the International Mission Board. Colby is a graduate of Liberty University, where he earned a B.A. in Biblical Studies, and Biola University, where he earned an M.A. in Christian Apologetics.

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Trevin Wax

Vice President, Resources & Marketing NAMB

Trevin Wax is Vice President of Resources and Marketing at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Cedarville University. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, Religion News Service, World, and Christianity Today. He has taught courses on mission and ministry at Wheaton College and has lectured on Christianity and culture at Oxford University. He is a founding editor of The Gospel Project, has served as publisher for the Christian Standard Bible, and is the author of multiple books, including The Thrill of Orthodoxy, The Multi-Directional Leader, Rethink Your Self, This Is Our Time, and Gospel Centered Teaching. His podcast is Reconstructing Faith. He and his wife, Corina, have three children.

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