Church Planting Questions From a Science Nerd

Wow! It's hard to believe, but a few months ago we planted our 500th church! For an organization that is celebrating our 15th anniversary this year, this was a HUGE milestone.BY BOB CARLTONSTADIAAs you can imagine, after planting 500 churches in 15 years we’ve learned a few things along the way. We’ve learned a lot about what to do (and even more about what not to do). One thing that people often ask is what we are looking for in a potential church planter. What is the right profile or the “special sauce” for a great future planter? Our response is often simple… “We are looking for a catalytic leader.”Now, some of you know this about me, but in case you don’t, I am a bit of a science nerd. When I hear words like “catalytic” my ears actually perk up. I also recognize that for some of you, terms like that can cause a spontaneous and/or uncontrollable eye roll – especially if used in the same sentence as “synergy.”Let’s take a look at the actual definition of a catalyst and see what we can learn. (Ok, so this is where I begin to geek out.)

CATALYST: /kad(ə)ləst/ (noun)

A substance, relative to its reactants that modifies or increases the rate of reaction without being consumed in the process.Let me “unpack” that a bit… (See what I did there?)relative to its reactants: Great church planters relate well to those around them and are great communicators – on the stage and across the table. They have an innate ability to connect with people at a heart level and leverage it in order to share the good news about Jesus. They tell great stories and are fun to be around.that modifies or increases the rate of reaction: Great church planters get things done and lead others to get things done for the Kingdom. Church planting is hard work and it requires the kind of discipline, leadership and drive that inspires and challenges all those around them to jump into the vision and join in the mission of the church.without being consumed in the process: Great church planters are in love with Jesus and although they are in the world, they are not of it. They are passionate about seeing those far from Christ drawing near to Him and being transformed by His grace, love and mercy. Their relationship with God impacts their lifestyle and rubs off on those around them.Those are the kinds of “catalytic leaders” we are trying to identify, equip, and connect with multiplying churches around the country. We help these “catalytic leaders” plant healthy, vibrant, multiplying churches. And we won’t stop doing so … until every child has a church!Did I just describe you? Click HERE and hit us up. We would love to connect and talk about your next steps in church planting and help you through our Discovery process.Did I just describe someone you know? Click HERE and refer a friend. We would love to reach out to them and see if we can help them on their journey of church planting.Bob Carlton is the Director of Recruitment at Stadia. After becoming a fearless follower of Jesus in his 20’s at a church plant, Bob knew he was called to help catalyze a church planting movement. Since then he has been recruiting, assessing, training, and coaching planters and pastors around the world. He has helped develop and lead numerous church planting networks, operating systems, and pipelines for planter cultivation. Bob is now leveraging his experience and relationships to identify emerging leaders around the nation that are considering a call to plant healthy multiplying churches. When not out helping others connect with Stadia, he and his wife Kristina can be found working hard to be the hands and feet of Jesus in their neighborhood.

Stadia: Every Child To Experience Love of Jesus Through a Local Church

Stadia, a national church planting organization that places children as a priority, is working on its tenth collaborative church plant in the Los Angeles area, said executive Nathan Hawkins."I get to visit a lot of great cities and there's something unique about Los Angeles," said Hawkins during a recent Together LA Facebook Live video stream (below). "I do believe it's an epicenter of culture. It's a place where people come to make things happen and it's a space where church is needed. There's a lot of great churches already here in Los Angeles and there's a need for more."In a previous interview with TLA, a Stadia representative said that simply discussing the problems and issues facing America today, even from a Christian perspective, is not enough.“We really don’t have to look much farther than social media and news outlets [to see] everything going on in our culture — the racism, the injustice…,” said Jeff Bennett, who is a Stadia executive for its U.S. Church Planting and South Region divisions. “We can talk about the injustices, we can talk about the discouragement we feel, or we could do something.”Leaders said the organization has had the honor of helping hundreds of great leaders start new churches. "With these leaders, we share a passionate desire to see a world where every child will experience the love of Jesus Christ through the local church," Stadia said on its website. "Are you ready to invest in the next generation by partnering and/or planting with Stadia? Do you know someone who is? Stadia is ready to help! Because we won’t stop … until Every Child Has a Church."Hawkins was asked about the Los Angeles Church Planting Movement that Stadia has been a part of since its inception several years ago. He pointed to LACPM as another way for churches to come together, network, and see the gospel advance.

Stadia, World Impact Leaders Answer the ‘What Can I Do?’ Question

On the Web

https://stadiachurchplanting.org/

Urban Ministry, Church Planting Leaders Answer the ‘What Can I Do?’ Question

Simply discussing the problems and issues facing America today, even from a Christian perspective, is not enough, said the leaders of two national organizations that recently announced a partnership to plant churches in Los Angeles, New York, and everywhere in between.“We really don’t have to look much farther than social media and news outlets [to see] everything going on in our culture — the racism, the injustice…,” said Jeff Bennett, who is a Stadia executive for its U.S. Church Planting and South Region divisions. “We can talk about the injustices, we can talk about the discouragement we feel, or we could do something.”Stadia, a church planting resource that has helped “hundreds of great leaders start new churches,” and World Impact, a ministry that “empowers the urban poor and incarcerated” recently held a “vision trip” in Los Angeles where Bennett along with World Impact National Director Bob Engel spoke to TogetherLA.net about the partnership.They said that church planting, urban outreach and discipleship are action steps and answers to the questions many people in America are now asking in a tension filled, politically charged country. Prayer is an essential part, but not the only part, they said.Bennett said he believes that currently many people are often asking, “What can I do? How can we impact culture? How can we change some of the things that just disgust us that are going on today? Is there something our churches can do?”He followed the list of questions by saying that almost every American church is within 20 minutes of an urban, under-resourced community.“There are people living in those communities who maybe your church isn’t going to reach, but that doesn’t take away the responsibility off of you to get the gospel out there,” Bennett said. “You’ve got great organizations like World Impact who are training up leaders who live in these communities, to go go back to these communities and reach their neighbors but they need our help. There are very practical things we can do, the church can do to make an impact in these communities. When we start to do that, that’s when we see culture change and communities change.”When asked about the significance of the partnership, Engel said, “Souls. That’s always the first thing I think about. Souls are eternal, and yes, there are a lot of needs in the city. We do believe, first of all, that the church of the living God comes together and they’ve been given a steward of the gospel.“The gospel becomes a power to transform someone from the inside,” he explained. “That transformation then brings them into community — we plant churches — that community then has been given the keys of the kingdom of God. Then, ultimately I believe, Stadia believes [that] true transformation is going to come when people are changed from the inside, gathered together as God’s people and then begin to use their gifts to transform their community around them.”Engel said the partnership between Stadia and World Impact is “very critical if you just think about the kingdom of God.”“The kingdom is churches, God’s people coming together to advance and expand His kingdom — can’t do it separately, you need to do it together — and so Stadia is so committed to God’s kingdom, planting churches, people coming to Christ, being discipled…,” he said. “That’s who we are amongst the urban poor and under-resourced communities and so it’s a beautiful marriage.“When we think of LA together we also think of Stadia and World Impact together. We need to come together to move God’s kingdom forward.”

Stadia and World Impact Offer Urban Church Planting Vision Trips To LA, NYC

The national and global church-planting group, Stadia, wants to give Christian leaders and potential leaders "a front row view of urban church planting in action" at vision trips planned for Los Angeles (Aug. 15-17) and New York City (Sept. 19-21)."Come spend time with us and World Impact as we experience what God is doing through new urban churches," Stadia's Urban Church Planting Vision Trips organizers said. "Get an up-close perspective of how the partnership works and how you can join us."Stadia and World Impact said they are making the trips as accessible as possible by offering two options, one on each coast."We’ll cover your food and accommodations; you’ll just need to get yourself there," they said."During these Urban Church Planting Vision Trips you will get to know World Impact church planters as well as Bob Engel, National Director of Church Planting for World Impact" and "spend time learning how God is using Stadia and World Impact to reach under-resourced cities."Organizers plan for those attending to walk the communities where Stadia and World Impact will be planting future urban churches."From One World Trade Center (NYC) and Griffith Observatory (LA), you’ll hear World Impact and Stadia’s vision to transform urban poor communities for Christ,'" they said.

Every Child Has a Church

Stadia states that it has had "the honor of helping hundreds of great leaders start new churches.""With these leaders, we share a passionate desire to see a world where every child will experience the love of Jesus Christ through local church," the organization states on its website.In the trips announcements, Stadia asks, "Are you a leader who is ready to invest in the next generation through church planting? Do you know someone who is?"Stadia is ready to help! Because we won’t stop … until Every Child Has a Church."To learn more about the vision trips and to register click here.

World Impact’s Urban Church Assoc Develops Trust and Unity

Church Planting: The 4 C's of Connection

Collaboration is a buzz word. Cooperation is all the rage, especially among millennials. Collaboraton can be fun. Cooperation is necessary to get certain things done, especially in the church planting world.Here are what I believe to be the four "C’s" of “Connection in Church Planting.” They also apply in every collaborative effort. I’ve certainly adapted and adopted these ideas from many other sources. The fact that I cannot correctly attribute them is one of the issues with collaboration.Each "C" is a step on a scale towards complexity, with corresponding potential greater risk and reward. Communication and coordination must increase for progression.1. CompetitionAre we working toward the same end? Does blowing out your candle cause mine to burn brighter? Is it a zero-sum game where for me to win you must lose? Some things are rightfully competitive. Kingdom Expansion and Church Multiplication are not about competition. Our friends at New Thing Network talk about the four "A’s" of Movement: Awareness, Agreement, Alignment, and Accountability. New churches are not competition for one another or existing churches. We need to agree on this before we can align any further.2. ComplementEvery person and organization has a mission, a purpose or objective that drives them. Our missions are like fires we’ve been entrusted to tend. We can add fuel to another’s fire based on our expertise, abundance, and Kingdom-mindedness. Complementing another mission may not cost much and it does not mean integration. In fact, complementary efforts involve strategic alignment versus redundancy where we recognize the value of another person’s work and where we help them do what they do best. To complement is to add value without any reciprocation; it is a gift.3. CooperateThoughtfully and intentionally aligning two or more fires can mean situating them closer together so they collectively are more visible, or spacing them out so they can light a longer path. Strategic proximity requires increased communication and coordination, but it still does not necessitate integration. For example, when Stadia helps churches host Church Planting Residencies, we encourage them to cooperate by bringing residents together for strategically shared learning but not to collaborate by sharing or swapping residents. Cooperation is alignment in the same direction without intersection, like rails. It does not even require alignment on distance (where) or speed (when), cooperation is about the way (how).4. CollaborateThe high point of connection involves at least some integration of effort and it often requires resources. This is painfully difficult and often why collaboration breaks down early on. Progressing from the relatively low bar of recognizing we are not in competition to the high bar of integration is facilitated by complementary and cooperative intermediary steps. Collaboration involves continual and mutual re-prioritization of the mission. Integration reduces redundancy. It is about stewardship, yet it is often initially inefficient. Time and continual realignment prove collaboration is most effective for long-term initiatives. Ego is the enemy of collaboration.Trust is the foundation collaboration is built upon. It is developed as we endeavor and experiment openhandedly, as we make adjustments and are graciously moving through stages together. This process can only be expedited through shared liminal experiences. More often it takes time, and in either case, it can be painful. I am convinced collaboration is worth the cost. Nothing is more God-honoring or Kingdom-minded than believers working together. Jesus prayed for collaboration in John 17, asking his Father that his followers would be unified so that the world would know God’s love. What else is worth collaborating for?Are you ready to start your church planting journey? Stadia is ready to help. START HERE.Nathan “Chivo” HawkinsStadia’s West Regional ExecutiveAs West Regional Executive, Nathan implements Stadia’s overall strategy in the western U.S., focusing on partner development, U.S. church planting, global church planting and Stadia advancement. Before coming to Stadia, Nathan played a key role in our Global Church Planting strategy as a Compassion International Church Relations Director. He also has first-hand U.S. church planting experience, having led in a church plant re-launch in post-Katrina New Orleans . As an adoptee and adoptive father, Nathan is passionate about children who come from difficult backgrounds. Originally from inner-city Minneapolis, Nathan grew up in a Christian home in a culturally diverse environment. After completing his bachelor’s degree in Minnesota, working in sports broadcasting and spending all his free time rock climbing, he hungered for greater purpose. He served a church in Juarez, Mexico for a year and a half, which led him to seminary, where he caught the church planting bug. Nathan and his wife Joy have three young children: Benicio, Taegen and Grace. The Hawkins are a family that welcomes foster children and love connecting with the local church.