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Two Things Planters Can’t Overlook

Mason Ballard

When I started the church planting journey, I had something of an awkward relationship with baptism and the Lord’s Supper. (I’ll use Lord’s Supper, communion, and the Supper interchangeably.) I knew they were important, but other things always felt more pressing. I felt pressure to baptize more people, and I knew we needed to figure out...
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Relationship + Shared Mission = Unity

Ben Barfield

“So then, my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters, my joy and crown, in this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I also...
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Cultivating a Quiet Soul

Ronnie Martin

I’m just going to say it: Psalm 131 is one of the shortest, but most important chapters in the Bible for pastoral ministry.   Why, you ask?  Because it gives us a picture of what needs to be forming inside of us...
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Leading Men to Hunger for Depth

Barnabas Piper

Anyone who has raised kids has had the experience of trying to introduce them to new foods.   “I don’t like it!” they exclaim.   “You haven’t even tried it!” you respond.   You try to get them to take just one bite. “I promise, you’ll like it,” you...
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5 Reflections on 5 Years from a Church Planter’s Wife

Catherine Renfro

It’s surreal to think it’s been five years since Hope Church was planted. That’s five years of:  Seeing prayers answered  Serving our community  Seeing lives changed  Experiencing growth and waves of grace  Watching Jesus take our weaknesses and inadequacies and doing immeasurably more  Serving...
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3 Shifts to Help Students Get Unstuck

Paul Worcester

If your church plant is located near a college campus, you’ve probably noticed that, more than ever, the average student steps onto campus wrestling with identity issues, anxiety, compromise with sin, shame, isolation, doubt, distraction, and burnout. These issues keep this generation of students stuck in the mud and...
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5 Areas to Preach Grace to Yourself

Jon Kelly

This year marks 10 years since we planted Chicago West Bible Church on the West Side of Chicago. Over the past decade, there have been many lessons learned, many things I’d do differently, and many ways that we’ve grown. But if there is one truth that I wish I could...
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Men’s Ministry and Leadership Development

Barnabas Piper

One of the priorities of every church, and especially every church plant, that wants to maintain long-term health should be developing leaders.   Church plants often launch with a lead pastor and a core team but without elders or mature leaders, so it is particularly...
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4 Challenges for New Churches to Navigate

Noah Oldham

A recent survey asked more than 700 church planters in years one through four to identify their greatest ministry challenge.  Four needs rose to the top:  Finding and affording adequate meeting space  Developing committed leaders  Achieving financial sustainability  Reaching the community through...
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Why You Shouldn’t Be a Covocational Pastor

Phil Thompson

Pastoring is full of thrilling highs and depressing lows. One of those lows came as my phone vibrated one evening.   Looking into the glow of my device, I read the email of a member who was stepping away from our church at...
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3 Ways to Be an Upside-Down Leader

Ronnie Martin

We rightly make much of the “upside-down” nature of God’s kingdom. Based on the Sermon on the Mount, this speaks to the self-glorifying power and pride that characterize the kingdom of the world, as opposed to the humble, servant-oriented ways...
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3 Principles for Meaningful Men’s Ministry

Barnabas Piper

Men’s ministry, especially when starting out in a church plant, needs a clear trajectory and culture.   It needs to have an objective: what is this ministry for? If the objective is to draw men nearer to Jesus and closer to one another (as...
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Church Branding Isn’t Church Planting

Mason Ballard

When we started church planting, we were taught to differentiate ourselves from other churches. Every church has the Great Commandment and the Great Commission—why does your church need to exist? We were taught to craft a vision statement to highlight the uniqueness of the church we were planting.   I’m going...
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Mid-Life Planting: Staying Faithful When the Honeymoon Is Over

Dan Steel

Over the last decade, I’ve wrestled a few times with what it means to serve faithfully in our midlife. I turn fifty (fifty!?) next year, and I’ve been in paid ministry for over twenty years—long enough to have watched people...
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7 Organizational Leadership Questions for Church Planters

Jon Kelly

As a church grows numerically, more organizational leadership skills are required. Most church planters think like missionaries and love the flock as faithful pastors. But beyond preaching and shepherding, there is a need for the planter to think more broadly, strategically, and organizationally.  In the early...
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The Gospel vs. Legalism in Men’s Ministry

Barnabas Piper

Every good pastor and church planter wants to see men grow–grow in their faith, grow in character, grow in discipline, grow in maturity. We want to see them grow as husbands, or in readiness to be husbands. We want to...
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How to Design a Sunday Morning Service

Mason Ballard

When we started planting our church, I intuitively knew what the worship service would look like. We’ll sing, we’ll preach, and we’ll pray. What else would we do? We just had to figure out how many songs, what type of songs, when to do an offering, and how to transition from one thing to...
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Planter, Get Low Before the Lord

Noah Oldham

There are several things in life that have a way of exposing what is really in you. Church planting might be at the top of that list.   Even if you’re really good at masking the truth, striking out on the path to plant a...