My journey into the scary world of church planting was an interesting one. When my friend Cliff first called me and asked me to plant a church with him my answer was a quick but courteous “no.” Several months later I was in a Uhaul driving my pregnant wife and 1 yr old son to Richmond to join him. We’re almost four years into it now and it’s been four years filled with fun and frustration, learning and loving, confusions and questions. But the one question that seemed to surface the most was – “What on earth am I doing?”
I remember starting with 6 people in a living room, with nothing but a vision and a healthy dose of ignorance. I remember when those 6 had grown to 20 and we were talking about launching our public gathering … and I remember when those 20 dropped to 15 right when we needed momentum the most. I remember telling them our heart and our vision and wondering if any of it was getting through. I remember telling some of our core that we really needed a miracle to make this vision a reality … and then realizing “I don’t think some of these people even believe in miracles.” The one thing I wanted to see was changed lives and people living on mission, but the one thing I kept asking was “what on earth am I doing?”
We wanted to plant a church that was simple, and focused on life transformation and living on mission. So we started simply … we felt like our energy was best spent pouring into the people that were with us, and expanding that network along relational lines. So there wasn’t a lot of publicity or plans for a big launch, but I remember when we decided to go ahead with a public worship gathering. We had a place lined up that fell through at the last minute, so we went back to a school we had talked to but they were booked. Suddenly a local park was looking pretty attractive. So that’s where we gathered. It was an interesting mix of people … the core team, friends, some neighbors, some people from another local church that had agreed to join us for six months, and some squirrels.
Nothing super special or amazing happened at that first gathering, at least not that was immediately apparent. But talking to my neighbor a couple weeks later I found out that she had decided that morning that she wanted to be a Christian! I was so excited that we were starting something with a heart for unbelievers instead of putting up barriers for them. I was so excited to be part of something that reached the lost. So you can imagine how heartbroken I was a couple months later when her boyfriend moved back in with her and she pulled back.
She wasn’t the only heartbreaking story. All the love that we could give Bobby wasn’t enough. We helped him find work, paid off debts, encouraged him, taught him truth … in the end it wasn’t enough to keep him out of jail due to his heroine addiction. Is this not what we had moved here for? Were we doing something wrong? In those tough times, times when we scratched out head and said “what on earth are we doing?” … we tried to remember that our job was to love, teach truth, make disciples … not grow a church. We knew when we encountered these people that the chances were slim they were going to be a solid piece of foundation in the growth of a church. But they were people God sent our way, and they were worth our time, and worth our love.
There were great stories of transformation as well. One girl in particular got connected in community and started to really thrive as she was consistently heard about and experienced God’s grace through our church. We were thrilled to find out that one night after being with us for several months everything came together in her heart and she put her trust in Christ. A few months later at her baptism, you could hear her soft voice through the sniffles, explaining to the whole church how Christ had changed her life forever.
As we continued to love people, stay focused on making disciples, and fight the urge to find a silver bullet, we started to see more people get connected. After two years in the same place with the same amount of people, we moved from an evening service in an old-school fellowship hall of a dying church, to a time and location that we believed would pose less cultural barriers for people. In the past six months, we’ve seen the most growth since we started. We continue to see heart transformation, and we are seeing more and more new faces show up to see what God is doing. I still have those moments when I wonder what I’m doing and if it’s making any difference at all. But I feel like our simple approach has helped build a foundation on which we can build, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.
The silver bullet of church planting. Are you ready for this? Are you sitting down? Here it is – The silver bullet of church planting … There is NO silver bullet.
Robby Christmas,
Robby serves as Community Pastor at Movement Church in Richmond, VA. At the foundation for Robby is an understanding how deeply and thoroughly God’s grace has transformed him. His desire is for this transformation to be made evident and lived out in his family, his church, his city, his hobbies. Robby and his wife Joanna were married in 2005, and moved here in 2009 to help start Movement Church. Two kids Trey and Mary Grace, keep them laughing, busy, and dependent on God’s strength and wisdom.
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