Donnie and Christy Slade were more than kind to let us stay at their house last night, but Ty was the one who had to give up his room for two total strangers - thanks Ty!!! We left early this morning (around 6:30AM) and made the 2 1/2 hour trek to Manchester, TN to see Tony Buchanan, senior pastor of Christian Life Church. Did you know the average Sunday morning attendance for churches across America is less than 100 people? This is a chance for you to hear from a man who is walking the leadership journey so many pastors face every day. As we talked with Tony about his experience as a "small church pastor" we touched on the issue of authentic community. The question question was posed, "How do you move your congregation from 'sharing space' to 'experiencing authentic community?'" Hear his response inspired by the "Fellowship of the Ring"... The Evolution of the Church Planter
If you're a church planter, or if you are passsionate about seeing new churches planted and cultivated, read this article by guest blogger David Putman, co-founder of ChurchPlanters.com. For more information about the ChurchPlanters.com conference in February, visit their website.
Church Planters evolve. They really do. Sure, church planting is evolving. Our methods are changing. We are getting better at creating buzz, organizing, launching and assimilating people into our churches. More importantly church planters evolve. Evolve simply means "to develop or achieve gradually: evolve a style of one's own." Evolving a style of one's own is essential to leading a healthy missional church. While the best leaders are constantly learning, and even borrowing from each other, at the end of the day they are coming into their own. There is an ease about how they connect and relate to others. It shows up in their spiritual, emotional, relational, financial and even physical lives. There is something disciplined about them. It is obvious that they are on a mission, but not just any mission; a mission from God.
When it comes to church planting you can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, have the coolest name, the best meeting place, the slickest marketing, all the bells and whistles, but if you are not evolving as a leader, the church can tank. On the other hand it is amazing to hear how some of these guys got started. At Mountain Lake Church where I serve as one of the pastors we just turned eight years old. I must confess, we are not the same church we were when we started. You talk about humble beginnings. I was reminded of how important it is for us to evolve as leaders as I listened to our Founding and Lead Pastor, Shawn Lovejoy, talk about our journey as a church. There was nothing slick or extraordinary about it. We couldn't help but laugh and then smile at God's great work. There are two things apparent to me; God was in the middle of it and our leader evolved. Shawn allowed God to do something in him in order that he might do something through him. There are no shortcuts to evolving into a godly leader. It takes time, hard work, endurance, and discipline, to name a few. Be encouraged, you may not have all the resources in world, but remember you too can evolve.
This is exactly what we are talking about at our February 18-19, 2008, ChurchPlanters.com Evolve Conference. Here are a few things we are most fired up about:
1. Our main sessions and the guys who are talking about it. These guys are really evolving. I know them and watch them. They are serious about taking care of themselves. They understand that if they are going to lead others, they have got to first lead themselves. In my opinion these guys model the way. So don't miss Steven Furtick, Bil Cornelius, Mark Batterson, Darrin Patrick and Shawn Lovejoy. It is going to be awesome to connect with and hear from these guys.
2. Our breakouts and the guys who are leading them. Each year we offer a variety of breakouts that focus on blocking and tackling when it comes to planting and growing new churches. Here is a list of some of the guys who are leading breakouts and what they are talking about:
3. Our partners. All of our partners are awesome. Frankly we couldn't do it without guys like Details Communication, Catalyst, ISS, Equip, Portable Church, Leadership Network, Strong Tower Financial, and Church Law Group just to name a few.
4. Our host church. Mountain Lake Church is an awesome place to serve. We have the best volunteers and the ministry team in the world and during Evolve they will converge on this event and serve their socks off.
5. Our church planters. One of the things that give us the greatest hope is the hundreds of young church planters, who have a vision for changing our world. They will show up at Evolve. They will come from all over the country. Some will be blowing and going, while others will be struggling to survive. Some will be up, others will be down. Most importantly they all will leave encouraged, revived and better equipped for the future. Did I say Evolving?
For more information on Evolve go to www.churchplanters.com.
Church Planters evolve. They really do. Sure, church planting is evolving. Our methods are changing. We are getting better at creating buzz, organizing, launching and assimilating people into our churches. More importantly church planters evolve. Evolve simply means "to develop or achieve gradually: evolve a style of one's own." Evolving a style of one's own is essential to leading a healthy missional church. While the best leaders are constantly learning, and even borrowing from each other, at the end of the day they are coming into their own. There is an ease about how they connect and relate to others. It shows up in their spiritual, emotional, relational, financial and even physical lives. There is something disciplined about them. It is obvious that they are on a mission, but not just any mission; a mission from God.
When it comes to church planting you can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, have the coolest name, the best meeting place, the slickest marketing, all the bells and whistles, but if you are not evolving as a leader, the church can tank. On the other hand it is amazing to hear how some of these guys got started. At Mountain Lake Church where I serve as one of the pastors we just turned eight years old. I must confess, we are not the same church we were when we started. You talk about humble beginnings. I was reminded of how important it is for us to evolve as leaders as I listened to our Founding and Lead Pastor, Shawn Lovejoy, talk about our journey as a church. There was nothing slick or extraordinary about it. We couldn't help but laugh and then smile at God's great work. There are two things apparent to me; God was in the middle of it and our leader evolved. Shawn allowed God to do something in him in order that he might do something through him. There are no shortcuts to evolving into a godly leader. It takes time, hard work, endurance, and discipline, to name a few. Be encouraged, you may not have all the resources in world, but remember you too can evolve.
This is exactly what we are talking about at our February 18-19, 2008, ChurchPlanters.com Evolve Conference. Here are a few things we are most fired up about:
1. Our main sessions and the guys who are talking about it. These guys are really evolving. I know them and watch them. They are serious about taking care of themselves. They understand that if they are going to lead others, they have got to first lead themselves. In my opinion these guys model the way. So don't miss Steven Furtick, Bil Cornelius, Mark Batterson, Darrin Patrick and Shawn Lovejoy. It is going to be awesome to connect with and hear from these guys.
2. Our breakouts and the guys who are leading them. Each year we offer a variety of breakouts that focus on blocking and tackling when it comes to planting and growing new churches. Here is a list of some of the guys who are leading breakouts and what they are talking about:
- Gabe Lyons - unChristian: What Young People Really Think About Church
- Devin Hudson - Doing Ministry in a Modern Corinth: Taking the Gospel to a post-Christian Culture
- Gary Lamb - Eliminating Portability as an Excuse
- Mel McGowan - Tearing Down Walls to Disconnected through Church Design
- Casey Graham and Louie Lovoy - Small Group Ministry from the Ground Up
- Chad and Autumn Ward - Changing the Way Children Think About Church
- Eric Bramlett - Implementing the Big Idea
3. Our partners. All of our partners are awesome. Frankly we couldn't do it without guys like Details Communication, Catalyst, ISS, Equip, Portable Church, Leadership Network, Strong Tower Financial, and Church Law Group just to name a few.
4. Our host church. Mountain Lake Church is an awesome place to serve. We have the best volunteers and the ministry team in the world and during Evolve they will converge on this event and serve their socks off.
5. Our church planters. One of the things that give us the greatest hope is the hundreds of young church planters, who have a vision for changing our world. They will show up at Evolve. They will come from all over the country. Some will be blowing and going, while others will be struggling to survive. Some will be up, others will be down. Most importantly they all will leave encouraged, revived and better equipped for the future. Did I say Evolving?
For more information on Evolve go to www.churchplanters.com.
10:15PM (Last Night) - The night is still young with Donnie and Christy Slade and their three rugrats - Trip (15), Ty (12), and Taylor (11). We had diner at Jefferson's in downtown Rome, GA (Monday night is Burger Night!). As we were talking with Donnie and Christy shortly after finishing our food, we looked out the window to see Ty laying on his back on his skateboard flying down the sidewalk with Trip and Taylor looking on... Christy's response, "well, at least the hospital is only a block away!" They are a fun family and we had a great time hearing their story. Donnie Slade grew up here in Rome, GA and never thought he would come back to live here, but now he finds himself back home with a vision to reach his community. As we have heard from many people on this road trip Catalyst has been a place where Donnie finds permission to go after his dreams, and he is... 
