25 Groundbreaking Church Planters - AG Web Services

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Welcome The most effective way to evangelize and disciple young converts is to plant new churches. The Church Multiplication Network was created to effectively equip, strategically fund, and innovatively network church planters. The best way to see what God is doing is to read the stories of the lives that have been changed because someone like you listened to the call of God on their lives to start a church. In the pages that follow, I hope that you will be inspired by these groundbreaking leaders as you discover the different methods, models, and styles of new church plants and the communities that God is reaching through them. I pray that as you read these stories that you will search your heart and ask God what He is calling you to do to reach the lost. Whether it’s through partnering with a church plant, starting a site from your church or stepping out to start a new church, the Assemblies of God is here to help. The Church Multiplication Network, led by Steve Pike will help guide you through the church multiplying process.

George O. Wood General Superintendent Assemblies Of God

25 Groundbreaking Church Planters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Tory Farina Carlos Irizarry Duke Edwards Mark Batterson Jim Ladd Joel Hunter John Van Pay Jim Wilkes Paul Stewart Trinity Jordan

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Andy Fernandez Brian Bolt Chris McCool Jay Covert Janie Boulware-Wead Todd Bishop Tommy Sparger Herbert Cooper Eric Akin Jeff Leake

Contributing Writers: Jerilyn Osborn and Josh Wellborn

21 22 23 24 25

Rick DuBose Jon & Angie Hamp John Lindell Scott Meador Denny Curran

1 Tory Farina

Young pastors often search for an associate position at a church with a vision and style of ministry similar to their own. Many times when this cannot be found, it is the Lord’s way of preparing the minister for a church plant. This is where Pastors Tory and Elizabeth Farina found themselves at the age of 23. “We were sharing our vision with the district superintendent when he suggested we plant a church,” Farina explains. “His only questions for us were: ‘do you love people, and do you know how to throw a party?’” After two years of praying, studying, dreaming and listening to God, the party began as High Point Church launched in a movie theater in the St. Paul, Minnesota, suburb of Inver Grove Heights. High Point is filled with singles and young families who have been challenged by the focus Farina places on reaching the lost. Even older congregants who have attended church all their lives claim they have never been more focused on fulfilling the Great Commission.

Tory Farina: High Point Church

“His only questions for us were: ‘do you love people, and do you know how to throw a party?’.”

One young couple, “D” and “J” were in trouble. She was suicidal, and he was a local pimp. Recognizing their need for a savior, they literally asked God to give them a sign. Just then, they both noticed a sign posting the time and location of services at High Point. The following Sunday they were both in attendance. Their world-weary lives abandoned, they now help lead small groups and accountability ministries.

www.highpointchurch.tv


2 Carlos Irizarry

Carlos Irizarry: Wholesome Community Ministries As the first church plant in the Southeastern Spanish District to qualify for Matching Funds, Wholesome Community Ministries (WCM) and Pastor Carlos Irizarry of Riverview, Florida, have made it their mission to teach evangelism and discipleship as a lifestyle. “We are taking the church to the people,” says Irizarry. A registered nurse, Pastor Carlos has successfully partnered with county health officials and pharmaceutical and health professionals to conduct a Community Health Fair, two years running. Along with vaccinations, physicals and cholesterol checks, WCM provides shoes, clothing, haircuts, school supplies and other gifts to promote ‘Health in Spirit, Mind, and Body’. At one outreach, a young woman named Wendy was invited to church. She gave her life to the Lord on her first visit. She brought her sister the following week to participate in an evangelistic outreach, through which a family of five was saved. Today Wendy’s family is active in the church. Pastor Carlos describes this as a perfect example of his evangelism strategy in action: to make disciples who know how to make disciples.

www.wcmag.org

Getting kicked out of their original meeting location turned out to be a defining moment for National Community Church (NCC). After launching at Giddings School in January of 1996, Pastor Mark Batterson was told nine months later that the building was being closed due to code violations. Two months later, NCC made the move to the movie theaters in D.C.’s Union Station, a train station, metro hub, and home to nearly 150 retail shops and restaurants. It was one of the best things that could have happened. “Our goal is to be a church for the

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of how this congregation is sharing God’s love in a tangible way.

Duke Edwards

Pastor Duke Edwards had never heard the terms “church planting” or “church multiplication” when he found himself leading a group of ranchers and farmers in the Northeastern Colorado town of Wray. In 2006, Duke was asked to lead a Bible study. Six months later the group had grown to 85 and was relocating for the third time. Today the Wray Cowboy Church meets in the local Livestock Sale Barn and was recently voted “Best Church” by 800 of the town’s 2,000 residents.

One person whose life was changed as a result of the ministry of Wray Cowboy Church is Max. Max has been a community

Duke Edwards: Wray Cowboy Church

It became a church by accident, but the Cowboy Church is quite purposeful about reaching its community through a variety of ways. “Our people love to give themselves to our outreach efforts,” says Pastor Duke. Remodeling houses, refurbishing parks, filling refrigerators with food, mowing every lawn in town and even butchering a cow and distributing the beef are just a few examples

business leader and rancher for years. He had some bad business dealings with Christians and was of the opinion that they were all hypocrites until a friend took him to the Cowboy Church. After experiencing the authenticity and the unique servant-hearted approach to evangelism, Max was convinced and became a believer.

www.wraycowboychurch.com

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unchurched, so I can’t imagine a more strategic spiritual location than Union Station,” says Batterson. “Doing church in the middle of the marketplace is part of our spiritual DNA.” NCC’s approach to church multiplication has been to have one church in multiple locations. Weekly services take place in Ballston Common Mall (Spanish), Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse (Saturday nights),

Georgetown and Kingstowne.

www.theaterchurch.com

Batterson does not get overly concerned with numerical growth. “I’m not concerned about church growth. I’m concerned about personal growth. And if you’re experiencing personal growth, church growth will take care of itself,” he explains. Approximately 70 percent of NCCers come from an unchurched or dechurched background. churchmultiplication.net

Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson: National Community Church

5 Jim Ladd

Jim Ladd: Grace Community Church

Pastoring a church plant through most of the nineties may have been Pastor Jim Ladd’s way of obeying God’s call, but planting new churches has become a passion for him and his congregation at Grace Community Church in Centennial, Colorado. In the four-and-a-half years since he took the lead pastorate at Grace, they have planted five churches—four in Colorado and one in Texas. “Our goal is that each church will plant one church every three years,” says Ladd. The result will be 120 new churches by 2025. “We want to reproduce in whatever way is most effective,” he says. Grace has adopted a philosophy of ministering to specific community needs and wants its church plants to do the same. “In my opinion, 10 churches of 500 are better

than one church of 5000,” he adds, placing an emphasis on community ministry over regional ministry. A living example of Grace Community’s contagious passion to reach the world, Andy at first wanted nothing more than to retire from his successful career as a salesman and enjoy his golden years. But a zeal for church planting redirected his plans toward ministry. Now one of Grace Community’s board members, he is currently on a missions trip to Africa and is a vital part of inner-city church planting at home.

www.weallneedgrace.com

6 Joel Hunter

At the age of 24, Pastor Joel Hunter describes the call to plant a church as something he “could not get away from.” So in February of 2004 he met with his district superintendent and, just four days later, started Northwood Church in the Houston suburb of Spring, Texas. Today Northwood has a satellite campus, an onsite Spanish-speaking church and another church plant it is coaching. Pastor Joel says he had a breakthrough when he received the advice: “Give yourself permission to be yourself.” That wisdom has led to a variety of ministry efforts ranging from bull riding, to subsidizing the price of gas for the entire community, and even to specific ministries for those suffering from the pain of substance abuse and divorce. Perhaps the most defining outreach is a strategic plan to reach out to neighbors. “We have trained our laypeople to build relationships with every household in the church vicinity,” Hunter explains. “By being intentional and repetitive, we are in relationship with 210 households.”

Joel Hunter: Northwood Church

When a New Orleans family displaced by Hurricane Katrina came to Northwood, their drug-abusing son, Tree, gave his life to Christ. But the damage had already been done to Tree’s body, and shortly thereafter he passed away. The family invited Pastor Joel to speak at the funeral in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. Eventually, the entire extended family committed their lives to Christ. This led to an expansion of the ministry reach of Northwood, and a satellite campus was established in New Orleans.

www.northwoodag.com


7 John Van Pay

As a third-generation church planter, Pastor John Van Pay was able to transition quite naturally from associate pastor to church multiplier in 2007 when the Lord led him to his hometown of San Antonio, Texas, to start Gateway Fellowship Church in the suburb of Helotes. Van Pay made relational discipleship a

One new relationship is with Emily. She was invited by a launch team member when they met at the zoo. Today she is not only serving the Lord, but she also serves as the church’s early childhood ministry coordinator. In addition, many members of the community were introduced to Gateway when the church subsidized the cost of gas for one afternoon, lowering the cost to one dollar a gallon, up to 10 gallons.

John Van Pay: Gateway Fellowship Church priority for his launch team of 35 by setting the goal of building new relationships with 1,200 unchurched individuals. Sixty-two baptisms and 130 professions of faith later, the leadership team at Gateway is busy following up with 1,300 people.

8 Jim Wilkes

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Jim Wilkes: Journey Community Church

Next, Pastor John and Gateway will be starting an internship for church planters in Fall of 2009. Two students are enrolled, and preparations are being made for church plants in inner-city San Antonio, Texas, and Barcelona, Spain.

www.gatewayfellowship.tv

After spending two years in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina, Jim Wilkes and his wife Jennifer felt God call them to plant a church. Traveling to his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, for business, Jim felt the Lord stir his heart to plant there. In June of 2008, Jim and his family moved to Cleveland, trusting God to guide their efforts as they started a weekly Bible study in their home with only three other couples. Six months later, Jim and Jennifer realized their group was quickly outgrowing its space. “Our Bible study grew from three couples to 45 people,” says Jim. “Once we started growing and filled the house, we knew we had to look for a new location. We couldn’t afford it, but we took steps of faith to do that.” The Wilkes found

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It was on a visit to his hometown of Des Moines that Pastor Paul found himself sharing what was to become the vision for Gateway. Today a launch team of 40 people is meeting in homes and preparing to start services in September of 2009 at The Temple for Performing Arts in downtown Des Moines. The strategy is to become woven into the fabric of urban renewal taking place in the city. Aiding existing charities and downtown ministries and

Paul Stewart

The call to be a church planter came in the form of a “call to missions” for Pastor Paul Stewart of The Gateway Church in Des Moines, Iowa. While preparing for foreign missions, an instructor of Stewart’s pointed out that the United States is the third largest mission field in the world. From that time on, Stewart knew his destiny was to plant churches. Reading every book, blog and article he could find on the subject, he came to realize the local church is the hope of the world. “There is no ‘plan B,’” he says.

sitting on the board of the 80/35 Music Festival (an event which draws over 30,000 people) are ways Gateway is connecting to the culture. Weekly launch meetings have become an evangelistic tool for team members. Amber is a single mom and childhood friend of Pastor Paul’s who was carrying the baggage of past pain, including physical abuse, when she was invited to join a weekly launch meeting. After being embraced by the group of believers, she has learned to rely on God’s grace and has a new perspective on life. She is now passionately pursuing Christ as she helps prepare for the September launch date.

www.thegatewaychurch.com

Paul Stewart: The Gateway Church

a 30,000 square foot building for sale. “It was an old church that had declined in size,” Jim says. “We asked if we could rent it, and they said we could.” On March 29, 2009, 386 people attended the launch service for Journey Community Church. “[When I got up to preach] I was excited and numb at the same time,” Jim says. “I was really amazed at how many people had come out from the community excited to see the beginnings of fulfillment of what God had whispered to us a year ago.” That day, four people gave their hearts to God. Over the next two weeks, an additional 14 people got saved, the majority of which were firsttime converts. Looking back on his church multiplication experience, Jim can see God’s hand at work. “The money issue was our biggest challenge. We took great steps of faith and risk. Whether we had the resources or not, we planned as if we had them,” says Jim. “Each time God asked us to risk something or do something beyond ourselves, He has always come through. He has always met us right where we needed Him.”

www.journeycleveland.com churchmultiplication.net

The Church Multiplication Story On average, the Assemblies of God (AG) starts 275 churches a year. Over the last 20 years, the AG has been the largest international church planting movement, with more than 312,000 churches worldwide to date. According to recent reports, the AG is actually one of the few movements to see any growth over the last few years, averaging about one percent each year. So the question is, why do we need a new office, staff, and finances to support the Church Multiplication Network (CMN)? Statistics tell us that only 17 percent of America actually attends church. Between 1990 and 2006 overall church attendance flat-lined while the population had a net growth of over 52 million people. Statistics also tell us that to break even or simply maintain, a movement needs to plant three percent of its total churches to survive. But survival is not the heart of this movement. Thriving and winning the lost is at its very core. From the day the AG was formed, we have been passionate about fulfilling the Great Commission. This conviction is practically represented in Superintendent Dr. George Wood’s third core value for

the AG—“we must vigorously plant new churches”. It was this reason that Steve Pike, then Administrator of U.S. Missions and Director of the Department of Church Planting and Development, set out to develop a longterm, sustainable plan in the early months of 2008 at the request of the AG’s executive leadership. Steve, along with nine teams made up of 51 individuals across the nation, began to ask the question, “If there were no limits, what would we need to do to optimize the support we offer to those who are planting churches?” This led to four months of research and development of a 162-page ministry and business plan that outlined the systems and resources necessary for reaching the lost through church planting. This plan was presented and adopted by the Executive Presbytery in June of 2008. It was the recommendation of this group to align the organizational structure and assets with the values set forth by Dr. Wood and reposition the Church Multiplication Network directly under the supervision of the General Superintendent’s office.

CMN Story

Top 10 Multiplying Districts of 2007/2008 Spanish Eastern (39) Southeastern Spanish (35) North Carolina (29) Southern Pacific Latin (27) Tennessee (25)

So who is the Church Multiplication Network? CMN is driven by a missional focus to effectively equip, through assessing, training and coaching, and strategically fund and resource church multipliers. As a part of the Assemblies of God we provide the connection point for church planters to networks of multipliers at the local, district and national levels. Led by National Director, Steve Pike, the Church Multiplication Network collaborates with multipliers through seven different systems as outlined in the ministry and business plan: Discovery System—The Discovery System is a set of intentional activities that will help us discover those God has called and connect them with opportunities that will help them clarify and confirm their calling. CMN Director Joel Hunter leads this system. Development System—Once a pool of potential planters is identified, the Development System will provide pathways for potential planters to work directly with one of hundreds of new Assemblies of God churches being planted each year. This

Gulf Latin (23) New Jersey (23) Korean (19) Northern California - Nevada (19) North Texas (17)

system is led by CMN Director Joel Hunter and team leader Dr. Daniel McNaughton. Assessment System—As the call of God toward planting becomes clearer, it is important for a potential planter to discern where they belong in the church planting process, whether as the lead pastor, team member or administrative support. CMN Director Dave McNaughton leads this system. Training System—The Training System will gather what former church planters have learned and pass this along to the next generation of planters through programs and events like CMN’s BootCamp. CMN Director Dave McNaughton leads this system. Coaching System—The Church Multiplication Network works with districts and parent churches to develop a pool of coaches who can assist potential planters as they journey through all aspects of starting a new church. CMN Director Dave McNaughton and team leader Sam Farina lead this system. Resources Development System— The Resource Development

System leverages the scale of the Assemblies of God to explore both traditional and alternative funding opportunities that support new churches and church planting efforts. CMN Director David Auterson leads this system. Marketing and Communications System—The Marketing and Communications System tells the stories of what God is doing through new churches by providing inspiration, training, and information. This System also assists planters by creating peer-to-peer networks that facilitate collaboration. CMN Director Leo Crosby leads this system. Working together and crossdenominationally with key partners and other church planting movements, it is CMN’s belief that the Assemblies of God can lead the way in reaching this nation through supporting the efforts of our local churches and district offices.


Trinity Jordan: Elevation Church After getting saved as the result of a church plant in Ogden, Utah, Trinity Jordan realized the importance of church planting. “Steve Pike [my pastor at the time] communicated often that church planting was important, especially in Utah,” Trinity says. “They planted a church in Park City and were constantly thinking about new church plants for Utah. Needless to say, church planting just seemed part of Christian leadership to me. I felt called to be a leader within the Jesus communities I was part of and knew that Utah needed more churches. It was just second nature in some ways.” With one full-time youth pastor, no fulltime kids’ pastors and no college ministries, Trinity saw that the young families and young adults of Layton, Utah, were not being reached. “Layton is the big city of Davis County. Within a seven-mile radius of downtown Layton, there are over 200,000 people, and 50 percent of them are Mormon,” says Trinity. “I personally had lived in that specific community my senior year of high school. I knew the community and knew so many great people that I wanted to share Jesus with. It was the perfect place to launch a hub of church planting in Utah.”

10 In 2004, Trinity and his wife, along with three other families, launched a house church and later that year planted Elevation Church. A year after that, they launched Sunday gatherings in Layton and began another house church. On Easter Sunday in 2009, Trinity and his team launched a second church plant – Elevation in Kaysville. “We have two campuses and each has a different demographic,” says Trinity. “Our Layton location attracts and really speaks to young adults between the ages of 18 and 35, with families or those who are single. They normally fall into two categories as well military or disenfranchised from church. Our Kaysville location attracts a crowd of 30- to 60-year-olds. They have a church background or a Mormon background and are looking for a church that really speaks to their style, life and community.” Today, between nine house churches, two large gathering locations, and four services, roughly 350 people are involved and connected. “[Our approach to planting churches is unique] because we merged the house church approach with attractive Sunday services,” says Trinity. “We are not an either/or with these two methods of getting Jesus followers together but really have embraced both.”

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Looking back on the years since their first house church began in 2004, Trinity has seen countless lives changed. “If I really had to nail it down, I’d say right around 300 personal connections,” Trinity says. “But with our podcast we have no clue really. A church in London, England, once called us when our podcast went down. They were following our sermons and re-preaching everything, and they needed the next sermon for an evangelism night they were doing.”

walls to see what was going on.” Sometimes they saw him sneak in for whole services. “We later found out that he would take his lunch break early so he could come into the services and listen,” Trinity says. One Sunday they noticed Ty was not around. “Service time came and Ty came walking in not wearing

Layton services, but a house church as well,” Trinity says. “Ty brings his Mormon family and friends to Elevation on a regular basis. This happened over a year ago, and Ty is still going strong with Jesus.” Trinity attributes much of the success of Elevation Church to maintaining a steady vision. Because of the unique vision God gives each

“Whatever you do, be mean about the vision.”

One person in particular whose life was impacted is a guy named Ty. “Our Layton location meets in a movie theater,” says Trinity. “Ty is 24 years old, Mormon and has cerebral palsy. He worked for the theater and would work at the ticket counter taking tickets as you walked into the theater. He would talk to us on Sunday mornings as we set up. I would be preaching and see Ty sneak into the theater and peek his head over the edge of the hallway

his uniform,” says Trinity. “He had taken the day off of work so he could attend. He sat on the front row, and after the service, one of our team leaders came up to Ty to pray with him. They developed a friendship at that moment that led Ty to ask some major questions about his beliefs.” “I get a call on my cell phone as I’m about to walk into a staff meeting,” Trinity says. “‘Trinity, this is Ty. I’m ready to give my life to Jesus. I know what you guys are teaching is the truth. I feel the Spirit every time I am with you guys. So how do I give my life to Jesus?’” That conversation led Trinity to teach Ty about prayer. “He doesn’t work Sundays anymore and is now an active member of not only our

church planter, Trinity stresses that the most important thing you can do as the lead planter is to cast vision and protect that vision. “You will attract a lot of people with so many different visions,” he says. “Even the church leadership around you will expect you to do things a certain way. If your vision wavers or takes on something that is not you and not given to you from Jesus, it will fail. Be mean about it. Don’t let it get hijacked. You might have to ask people to leave, you might have to fire people, and you might have to slap hands that touch the vision. Whatever you do, be mean about the vision.”

www.elevation.cc


Trinity Jordan

Elevation’s ministry doesn’t stop there. With podcasts and blogs, they have a growing online presence as well. “Our podcast was featured by the local news radio in Utah, and our listenership went through the roof,” says Trinity. “We have roughly 3,200 subscribers that download our podcast each week.”

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Andy Fernandez: Firewall Ministries It’s a common challenge among youth leaders – find ways to get unsaved students plugged in to the local church. But for Andy Fernandez of Firewall Ministries, the challenge was slightly different – bring the church to unsaved students. In March of 2001, Andy heard the story of a 13-year-old from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who had overdosed on several drugs and died as a result. In the weeks following the teen’s death, Andy, a businessman for 13 years, felt he needed to go out and do something. Eventually God directed him to a mobile home park in the heart of Fort Lauderdale. Filled with drugs, this neighborhood of nearly 5,000 people was responsible for 33 percent of the crime in the area. Knowing only that God was pulling him in a new direction, Andy stepped

out in faith and soon developed plans for a youthfocused outreach in the community. On July 10, 2003, Andy, along with his wife, held their first outreach for 60 teens, including several that were high or drunk. Pizzas, games, life illustrations, dramas and object lessons filled the evening. But the most important message that night was, “We were there to stay,” says Andy. “Once you make a commitment to be there on a regular basis, stick with it and God will make it happen. Don’t get hung up on not having the ideal facility. Don’t get caught up on the money.” The outreaches continued to be successful, but soon Andy realized an even greater opportunity to impact the students. One evening, nearly six months after

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Immediately the wheels in Andy’s brain began turning. He approached the owner of the mobile home park about creating an after-school program and a Tuesday night Bible study. The owner offered to let Andy use a modular building and gave him $25,000 worth of equipment.

coming into their neighborhood. They let our group in more.” By 2006, Firewall Ministries had grown out of the building. Between April and September of that year, they were able to raise $180,000 towards the future purchase of a new modular building. In a 1,000 square foot room, an average of 60 to 80 students attended each youth service. “The best part of it was that those students were there because they wanted to be there. There were no parents involved

the challenge, Andy put together a proposal that outlined plans to open three new centers by August of 2009. At a local planning and zoning meeting, Andy communicated the vision to a community curious about the future of Firewall Ministries. In January of 2009, Broward County, Florida’s most liberal county, granted a two-year lease to Firewall Ministries for an unused community center. The lease, renewable at the end of the two-year agreement, required Firewall Ministries to pay only $1 per year for rent.

“Once you make a commitment to be there, stick with it.”

Despite the fact that Firewall Ministries had almost no financial support, Andy and his wife continued to move forward. He took a leap of faith and sold his business in order to devote all of his time to student ministry. “If God has given you the vision, step out in faith and let things flow,” Andy says. “Money follows ministry. Show your commitment and people will get on board.” Soon Firewall Ministries had students coming four days and two nights per week. “We turned into a disciple-making machine,” says Andy. “We were there to listen to their problems, counsel and mentor them and just help in all areas of their life. Because we came to them, we earned the right to be heard. There are people who have never been to church, and they see us

[making them go to church],” Andy says. “There is a Boys & Girls Club [in the same neighborhood] that opened a year and a half ago. It has all the amenities – it’s a multimillion dollar building. But we’ll have almost double the attendance because students recognize Firewall Ministries as a safe place and a positive place. It’s all about the relationships.” Despite the success of their ministry, Andy and his group of volunteers still faced obstacles. Three weeks into the 2008 school year, the owner of the mobile home park closed the building that housed Firewall Ministries. Ready to face

According to Andy, the success of Firewall Ministries is not measured by the number of students who attend each week or how many facilities they open. It is measured by the relationships that are built and the students who graduate from the program and return to work on staff. “It’s the integration factor,” says Andy. “It’s all one message. The tutoring and mentoring program, the youth services, the life skills – it all includes a God component. That’s what makes it successful.”

www.firewallministries.org


Andy Fernandez

the weekly outreaches began, the students were playing a game where teams created lyrics and then one student from each team would rap. A 12-year-old got up to rap for his team, but it quickly became clear that he could not read the lyrics.

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Brian Bolt: Pittsburgh City Outreach Church

“I was so happy I was going to die” By the time Brian Bolt reached his teens, he was already dabbling in drugs. “Most of my family was messed up and were in and out of prison. I thought it was the natural thing,” says Brian. He moved across the country to California where his drug habit got worse. “I needed heroin every day to live. It consumed me,” he says. “I didn’t have a career plan and was living on the streets. I was worthless.”

At 23 years old, after a botched theft attempt, Brian found himself riding in the back of an ambulance with a life-threatening gunshot wound. “I was so happy I was going to die,” says Brian. Then the EMT said something Brian never expected. “The EMT driver put me in the ambulance and said, ‘Son, you’re gonna die. Do you know Jesus?’” Brian says. “And something just tugged at my heart, so I said a prayer.” Brian spent the next 75 days in the hospital recovering from his gunshot wound. “When I got out of the hospital, the first thing I did was go back to drugs,” says Brian. “A year later I was in San Diego and these men came

12 Brian Bolt

up to me and said God had a plan for my life. They took me off the street and put me in a recovery home. They loved me, discipled me and showed me I could be a pastor. I caught a vision and God put a hunger in me.” God called Brian to further his education, so he enrolled in Master’s Commission in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was there that he became credentialed, met his future wife and felt God put Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on their hearts. In August of 2006, Brian and his wife opened a men’s recovery home and planted Pittsburgh City Outreach Church. “I knew it could be selfsustaining [like the program I came out of in California],” Brian says. “In the inner city, drugs in urban areas are an epidemic. So we attack a problem. Families are messed up. We come into the community to see lives changed through the [recovery] home partnered with the church. When these guys come through the home, this is their family,” Brian says. “It’s a self-sustaining model that can be reproduced all over the country. It allows us to dig in and see lives changed and souls saved.” During the first year that Pittsburgh City Outreach Church was open, Brian and his staff saw close to 40 people get saved and baptized in water. “Since then, we’ve seen

hundreds of people impacted.”

going to community college.”

The recovery home reaches many drug addicts in the area as well as hardened people. “There was a man who had been in a fight and came in to our church covered in dried blood. He was so bad on drugs that he was selling his body to other men,” Brian says. “He gave his life to Jesus that day and said, ‘Pastor, I’m gonna die. I have Hepatitis C, and I only have a few months to live.’” Brian took him to the doctor and the following week got the results – the Hepatitis C was gone. “We’ve seen miracle after miracle,” Brian says. “We’re taking guys off the street and discipling them and pouring into them. Those guys became our core team [when we planted our church].”

Looking for options to expand their ministry, Brian discovered a church in the city that had opened up. “It seats about 350 people, and just a few months ago they gave it to us for free,” says Brian. “Now we’re in the process of planting one church every other year in the inner city.”

Last year Brian began looking for a bigger facility. “We found that there was a need to see women discipled, so we started a women’s recovery home and opened it up to prostitutes.” A woman who had been severely beaten showed up at the church, her whole face black and blue. After talking with Brian, she prayed for salvation. “Her child was [in the state’s care] for seven years. The next thing you know, she graduated from our recovery program, got a job and an apartment, and the state gave her son back. Now she works in our nursery and is

Despite the success of their church and recovery homes, Brian is not content to simply maintain their current ministry locations. “Our heart when we planted our church was to always plant a movement of churches. That was instilled in me and has always been our vision.” In January of 2010, Pittsburgh City Outreach Church will be opening another men’s recovery home as well as another church in September of 2010. “I want to be fruitful with what I do. I want to see lives changed and people delivered,” says Brian. “That experience [of nearly dying] shaped who I am, and the model I got saved under became my burden. I want to reproduce this. I believe it’s the most effective way in the inner city. It gives people hope.” www.pittsburghcityoutreach.com


Chris McCool: Graceland Church

13 After planting every style and philosophy of modern church for eight years, we found ourselves back to step one – the Book of Acts. Sounds too simple, right? We had become skeptical that any technique or approach would attract new people to Christ. Square one was returning to the directive Jesus made clear: Go and make disciples. Naturally, the lingering question was: How do you make disciples with people unconvinced by Christianity but deeply spiritual? We began by asking our friends who attended no church or claimed no affiliation with Christianity. Their response was simple. They wanted “Cheers,” or what reminded them of the 80’s sitcom. They wanted a small gathering place where everybody knew their name and was always glad they came. A place where you could see everyone’s troubles were all the same. So we began meeting casually with friends over food in June of 2008, exploring the deeper questions of God – Why suffering? Do all roads lead to God? Can salvation come outside of Jesus? What is “church”?

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groups possess a high degree of accountability to one another in how they walk with the Lord each week, which involves mutual confession of sins as well as reading Scripture repetitively. LIFE Groups are also missional as they actively pray for the souls of lost friends, family, associates, and neighbors.

blessings, teach each other in ‘real life’ situations how to obey God’s Word, pray with each other, baptize, and ‘lose face’ and ego by confessing sins and somehow regaining a new corporate identity by experiencing love, acceptance and forgiveness. Our story is that of becoming disciples.

In addition, we regularly serve our community by working with organizations like Habitat for

Ultimately, the way we practice Christianity is very simple. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said He would

Humanity and Micah 6, a homeless food pantry. This summer we will choose one local neighborhood and rally the residents to give nonperishable food to Capital Area Food Bank. Our church community will also serve those who depend on Mobile Loaves and Fishes.

build His Church. Later, he told his disciples to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). Our focus is explicit: As we go, we make disciples. We allow Jesus to do the building of the Church in the most common places.

“They wanted ‘Cheers,’ or what reminded us of the 80’s sitcom.”

Since the beginning, we have seen people come to salvation in Jesus for the first time in their lives, multiple couples return to God since being absent from Christianity for a decade, and others experience a much deeper walk with God. More than half our attendees are involved in LIFE Groups. These groups are made up of two or three people of the same gender who meet weekly to challenge one another to live an authentic spiritual life. These

What does one experience in our church community? We share our lives, eat meals together, share material goods and spiritual

www.chrismccool.org


Chris McCool

We decided in January of 2009 that we are the Church. We choose to practice, like the New Testament believers, church as something you are, not where you go. Because of this belief, homes work; but so do cafes, parks or virtually anywhere else. We gather in homes and other everyday places, not to be anti-establishment, but because it allows us a simple structure all followers of Christ can participate in cultivating. We hope to simplify church and programs so we are freed to actually live the kind of 24/7 missional life we are meant to live. It permits us to think of church as more than Sunday morning and move us away from being consumers.

14 Jay Covert: Urban Outreach Church “Look at me, Pastor,” said 44-year-old James. “I am homeless, dirty, I stink and I’m a crack addict. Your church doesn’t want a man like me.” But what James didn’t realize was that he was just the kind of person Pastor Jay Covert had a heart to reach. “No, James, we do,” said Jay. “I’ll come over to your building tomorrow and be your wake-up call.” The next day Pastor Jay kept his promise and went to the abandoned building James was living in just 500 feet from the Urban Outreach Center. That morning James came to church. Two months later, James got right with God and went to Peoria Teen Challenge. During a conversation one day, Pastor Jay explained

to him that this is why Urban Outreach came to East Saint Louis, Illinois - to raise up apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists, teachers and indigenous pastors to change urban America. “I have always had a heart for the urban complexes of America,” says Jay. “Where hurting, desperate, hopeless people live is where God’s heart can be found. And that’s where all Christians’ hearts should be, too.” Coming to a new city, Pastor Jay realized he would be starting from scratch. “When I came to East Saint Louis in July of 2004, I did not know anyone. I planted this work by faith, trust and obedience to Jesus,” says Jay. “I also prayed for indigenous pastoral staffing. Today the Urban Outreach Church has two pastors born and raised in East Saint

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away, we are going to see a revival break out in East Saint Louis.” In July of 2006, Pastor Jay launched his first church. In 2008, a second church was planted. “We started our church in a one-room store front with 59 chairs,” says Jay. “We had 46

change and are giving the credit to the Urban Outreach Church. But we know only Jesus can change a neighborhood like ours.” In just four short years, Urban Outreach Center in East Saint Louis has evolved from a vision and dream

“Our neighborhood looks literally like a war zone.” working on their credentials right now. Having indigenous staffing has been huge to the success of this inner city church planting model.”

in attendance that first service.” On a typical Sunday morning, they now average 80-100 people between the two locations.

While East Saint Louis might not be the obvious choice for someone looking to plant a church, Pastor Jay recognized a need in that community. “I was drawn to East Saint Louis for a couple of reasons,” says Jay. “First and foremost, our city has 31,000 folks but has not had an Assemblies of God church in East Saint Louis for many years. Second, several attempts have been made to start a work in this city for years with no results. I was up for the task and challenge. This city is a mission field ready for God to move by his Spirit. I believe if we just keep plugging

Through the years, Pastor Jay has seen countless lives changed in the Urban Outreach Center ministry in East Saint Louis. “In this type of ministry model, once Jesus gets hold of a person’s life or a family, we often see them transition out of the city,” says Jay. “Our neighborhood looks literally like a war zone. If you do a 360-degree spin around our church property, every building is burned up, boarded up or barred up. We are in the most blighted part of the East Saint Louis community. Business owners and folks in the city are seeing this neighborhood

to two church plants, six buildings, four full-time pastors, five staff members and a third church plant scheduled to launch in October of 2009. In addition, they have a Center in Washington, D.C., which has grown to include two commercial buildings, six staff members and one church plant. But according to Jay, it doesn’t stop there. “We have a vision to launch and plant more Urban Outreach Centers in other cities as the workers, resources and doors open in the future.”

www.uoesl.org


Jay Covert

Louis, and our daughter church is pastored by another indigenous pastor who was on staff with me for four years. In a city that is 100 percent African-American, we have two pastors licensed to preach, three more pastors that will be certified to preach and two other staffers

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Janie Boulware-Wead In Barcelona in the 1970s, Janie Boulware-Wead was a brand new missionary. “We were told to plant a church, and that’s exactly what we did,” says Janie. “I learned to love church planting there and the thrill of seeing something brand new come into a community where there was no witness of any kind.” Through a series of events, Janie found herself and her three children in Mexico working with students in church planting and teaching at a Bible institute. “While I was there, I had an invitation for a weekend event in Arkansas,” she says. “It was there that the pastor of First Assembly said they had planted seven churches in

Mexico, but now they were passing all these Mexican families in Arkansas on their way to the mission field. He told me there were five cities in a 30-mile radius [in Arkansas] that had been inundated with immigration.” Janie and the pastor continued their conversation, trying to determine what should happen. “I told him I would go to the Bible institute and try to get somebody to come,” Janie says. But when she presented the idea, nobody felt a burden for that ministry. “The longer I thought about it, I felt the Lord calling me to take it.”

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in the first Iraq war, felt they should help me in Arkansas.” Today their church has 1,000 people. “They are in one of the most beautiful buildings you’ll ever be in,” says Janie. “They have purchased 10 acres and have already planted four churches.”

Janie’s planting efforts were blessed once again as she received a vital link to the Hispanic district of that area - the Gulf Latin district. “They began to open their hearts and the resources of their young people. It was a huge catalyst and still is today,” Janie says. “What

Over the years, thousands of people have been impacted and now gather in churches across Arkansas as a result of the work God did through Janie’s ministry. “I remember a woman who was standing in a laundromat who looked sad to a group of believers who were washing

was interesting in this whole thing is that you had the Anglo district of Arkansas coming alongside the strategic partner of the Gulf Latin District. They were totally unselfish. It was basically promotion of the kingdom of God.”

their clothes there,” says Janie. “This group of several women went up to the lady and talked to her. Out of the conversation, they realized her home was gravely in need - her children, her marriage. They basically led her to the Lord in that laundromat. That woman has gone through the Bible institute. And not only is she a graduate, but also her daughter is now a graduate.”

“It was a huge catalyst and still is today,” With opportunities opening up for Janie to speak at district councils and women’s camps, she realized that was the perfect time to start a second church. “At a district council I made a plea [for people to help plant this church]. A woman and her husband, who was an Army chaplain

But the ministry impact of these church plants extends far beyond the Arkansas borders. “A Hispanic man was walking barefooted in

Wal-Mart, and the pastor of our Rogers church saw him and began to engage him in conversation,” Janie says. “He was desperately lost. He was away from his family, and his life was devastated with alcohol and life-controlling problems. He ended up as an immigrant in Rogers, Arkansas.” The man ended up going through the Bible institute and returned to his family in Mexico a totally changed person. “He felt God call him to return and share the gospel with the people of his town.” With several church plants under her belt and hopefully many more to come as she focuses her planting efforts on Europe, Janie stresses the importance of supporting planters who are just starting out. “I do believe that investing in young people with a vision is so important. Somebody early on encouraged me in that way,” Janie says. “I stood alongside young people coming for the first time into ministry not knowing what to do and feeling that they couldn’t do it. I came alongside and said ‘God called you and will enable you.’ The most thrilling part of those years was to see the development of that vision. To plant churches and to multiply them and have them go way beyond what you could imagine is really thrilling.”

http://web.mac.com/jbwead/ iWeb/Site/Welcome.html


Janie Boulware-Wead

Working in Home Missions [now US Missions], Janie planted the first church in 1999 in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. “It was a thrilling journey. It was just God timing the whole thing. He really blessed that ministry,” she says.

During his senior year of Bible college, Todd Bishop felt the desire to plant a church in his hometown of Buffalo, New York. He formed a plan, got his credentials, graduated and presented his dream only to be dismissed with a simple statement - there were enough churches in Buffalo. So instead, Todd ended up taking the traditional pathway of church ministry. “I served in a few churches; then something changed my family’s perspective,” says Todd. “My wife and I were in a devastating car accident that demolished our vehicle. We started to ask ourselves the question, ‘What matters most?’” Todd, along with his wife Mary, began to look at their future and think about where God wanted them to be. During this time, they discovered statistics indicating that Nassau County, Long Island, is the least Christian county in the United States. A few months later, Todd was sitting in a church service where God was moving. “I watched a few guests as they poked fun and mocked the experience,” says Todd. “My heart broke as I saw several people leave seemingly unchanged. That was the final straw. That was when I really made the decision that this had to be done, and it had to

Todd Bishop: The Point at Westbury

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be done in one of the toughest places in the United States - Long Island.” Before doing anything, Todd consulted with his top advisor - his wife. “She knew my heart’s desire, and it became her heart. If I didn’t get her consent and support, I could not have done it,” he says. “She told me, ‘Let’s do it now’.” Targeting college students, young families and professionals, they picked a high-traffic area to plant a church. With two major malls and 42,000

16 Todd Bishop

“Our mission: a movement of church planting in Long Island.” college students within four and a half miles, Westbury is the hub of Long Island. “We chose our location based on influence,” he says. “Everybody knows where Westbury is. In 2007, the year we started, there were four other churches that tried to start but they all failed. We’re the only one that is still there.” With the support of their home church, The Point at Westbury got its start. “Our home church, Bethlehem Assembly of God in Valley Stream, New York, helped us out,” says Todd. “They sent us with about 40 people who made a sixmonth commitment to help us start.” Today, roughly 175 people call The Point their home church. Todd sees The Point having the type of impact he hoped for. “We have had 135 professions of faith since we started. This is a drive, our mission, our passion. I would hope everyone who comes to The Point would find significant changes that are taking place in their journey with Jesus,” says Todd. “We had a young

man named Nick who was already a Christian, and his wife was a newer Christian. They wanted to come to church, so we had dinner with them and really connected. They’ve been [at our church] since the beginning.” As a result of Nick and his wife coming to help the Westbury church plant, Todd has watched 22 members of their family decide to follow Christ. “The way we see it is if we had never started The Point, they may have never come to know God. The Point was the catalyst,” says Todd. “It goes to show the power of two people sharing their faith with their family.” Looking to the future, Todd envisions big things for Long Island. “Our vision is larger than one church plant,” Todd says. “Our mission is to create a movement of church planting throughout Long Island. Our goal is to plant 10 churches in the next 10 years.”

Matching Fund Note Within 18 months of launching The Point at Westbury, Todd Bishop and his church replenished the $30,000 they received from the Church Multiplication Network Matching Fund and AG Trust. Todd recently turned in his second application for the Matching Fund as he and The Point at Westbury prepare to plant another church this fall.

www.pointwestbury.com churchmultiplication.net

Tommy Sparger: North Point Church

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Working in Springfield, Missouri, Tommy Sparger always knew he wanted to start a church. “I had a heart for the people on the north side of Springfield,” says Tommy. “I felt like everybody’s gotta be somewhere, and that was my spot. With my gifts, talents, and abilities I felt that’s who I was called to reach. In this area everything was streaming down south. The north was still viable, but there wasn’t anything up there. Everybody was fighting over Nixa and Ozark, so I went up north.”

the north side of Springfield],” says Tommy. “The news stations came and covered it and showed us working and painting to get the church ready.”

Before the church plant even started, Pastor Tommy and North Point Church gained some unexpected publicity. “I leased the old Town and Country movie theater [on

With a target audience of people in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, North Point Church reaches young families and those who are just starting out. But they also reach out to

On September 7, 2003, through an initial partnership with James River Assembly, North Point Church held its first service with over 600 people in attendance. By the end of its first year, North Point had really begun to grow. After only a year and a half, they outgrew the movie theater and moved into a brand new building.

17 Tommy Sparger

very specific groups - unchurched or dechurched people or those who are simply burned out on church. “Our church is unique because we’re very focused, not complicated. We have systems in place that are very conducive to reaching people in the real world who weren’t raised in church or aren’t religion-friendly,” says Tommy. “Everybody talks

people who just made a decision or have yet to make one.” Pastor Tommy has watched many people come to know God through the ministry of North Point, but one man in particular stands out in his mind. “There was a guy named Ray who, six months ago, was an atheist. One day he got one of our direct

the box and are on the cutting edge.” But even with following the examples of these leaders, Pastor Tommy still found one piece of advice most helpful. “The best advice that I’ve received is that all of our systems ought to match up to our mission,” he says. Today North Point Church continues

“Our church is unique because we’re very focused, not complicated.” about reaching those people, but to really set up your services to do it is another story. I think church plants do the best job of connecting and reaching the world.” As of Spring 2009, North Point Church has 3,400 people come through their doors to attend any of five weekly services. “We see at least 20 conversions a week,” Tommy says. “The number one way that we connect them is by using a small group called ‘Starting Point’ that walks them through a discipleship process, and then we move them to other small groups. It’s designed for

mailers,” says Tommy. “He knew he was missing something in his life, and he kept getting the mailers. He decided to come to church and hasn’t missed a Sunday since. He got saved, and now he helps us on our technical team. It was a complete life change - the whole nine yards: baptizing, serving, tithing.”

to grow, and Pastor Tommy is open to future possibilities for his church’s ministry, whether the next stage of growth is an additional campus or another avenue of church multiplication.

www.northpointnow.org

When he was first structuring North Point Church, Pastor Tommy sought examples from other innovative pastors. “I started to look into great leaders that were getting it done, like Andy Stanley,” says Tommy. “I looked at the ones who think outside churchmultiplication.net

18 Herbert Cooper

As he traveled the world preaching, evangelist Herbert Cooper’s ministry focus shifted after a youth revival service. “I had no intentions of planting a church,” Herbert says, “but the Lord told me to plant a multicultural church.”

Today 2,000 people call People’s Church their home church. This can be attributed to the DNA of their church - people getting saved. “That’s the nature of this church,” says Herbert. “It’s what drives us.”

Herbert Cooper: People’s Church Unsure of where to plant, Herbert and his wife Tiffany began researching potential cities. Going through the list, one finally felt right. “This is it!” said Tiffany, when they visited Oklahoma City. Herbert knew she was right because he felt exactly the same way. In 1998, People’s Church held its first service. “We wanted a church that was for everyone. That’s why we called it People’s Church,” says Herbert. It has been said that hindsight is always 20/20, and Herbert would have to agree. “The day after we launched I went to BootCamp. I learned a lot of things there I wished I had known before starting the church. It would’ve made the first few months a lot easier.”

www.peopleschurch.tv

Eric Akin: Freedom Chapel

On April 5, 2009, seven months after arriving in Rockwall/Heath, Texas, 47 people met for Freedom Chapel’s launch service. “There was excitement in the room,” Eric says. “It was so positive. We picked up three families from the initial launch, and the community is excited.” Getting up to preach, Eric admits that he was slightly nervous, but soon excitement took over and he hit his preaching stride. “The atmosphere was set,” says Eric. “Our worship leader did a great job [setting the tone for the service]. We had six people come down for the altar call and had one rededication.”

Eric Akin

Halfway through those 40 days, the Lord told Eric to start a church. “I called the North Texas District and told them that God was calling [my wife and I] to plant a church. So I asked where they needed one,” says Eric. “We went to three different cities, but when we got to Rockwall/Heath, Angie and I knew that was it.”

community as fast as possible, whether it’s coaching, volunteering or substitute teaching,” says Eric. “You need to meet people.”

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“Give me 40 days, and I’ll do something you’ve never seen before and take you places you’ve never been.” That’s the promise God gave to Eric Akin during a 21-day fast in 2008.

Looking back on their launch, one thing really stands out. “After the service when we were tearing down, there were people who were there for the first time, and they were getting involved cleaning up,” Eric says. “We must have done something right that sparked an interest in their hearts, and they were able to feel an instant connection.”

www.freedomchapel.net

“Give me 40 days and I’ll do something you’ve never seen before.”

With Freedom Chapel’s launch under his belt, Eric has words of advice to other multipliers. “Get involved in your


20 Jeff Leake

Jeff Leake: Allison Park Church Each week Allison Park Church was stuffed to capacity, but Pastor Jeff Leake knew that the church’s location wouldn’t allow for expansion. Wanting to make the right move, Jeff prayed and waited for God to give him direction. “During the middle of that time of prayer, I felt God speak to me and say ‘If I grow your church, it won’t solve the problem of the region,’” Jeff says. What the area needed was not a bigger building, but a good familyoriented church. God asked him to focus on Kingdom growth in the entire Pittsburgh area, not just his own church. In November 1996, Jeff and his team launched their first daughter church — Crossway Church in Mars, Pennsylvania. Over the next decade, Jeff and his team planted six more churches in the surrounding areas of Sharpsburg, Ambridge, Bloomfield, Westview, inner city Pittsburgh and Tarentum. In August of 2009, Allison Park will launch its eighth daughter church, and churches nine and ten are slated for 2010. “Allison Park is in the middle of an upper middle class suburban community, but we’re surrounded by a lot of communities that are ethnically diverse and are middle to lower middle class,” says Jeff. “We basically planted in a circle around Allison Park Church.” As they looked for areas to plant in, Jeff and his team wanted to find a community that appeared to be ripe. “We looked at places where we had been doing outreaches for a long time and were

drawing a crowd,” Jeff says. “We had a list of those areas and traced the progress.” Once a location was determined, they searched for a pastor and began a small outreach group in that community. “They would meet for six months, build a presence, and once the group got up to 25 or 30 people, we would move into the launch phase,” says Jeff. The unique thing about the churches that Allison Park plants is that they are not sites, they are sovereign. Each site has a unique personality and leadership group. “They’re all connected together, and we cooperate, encourage one another and share ideas,” says Jeff. “We’re a group of independent congregations but are very close in our relationship together. Once a new plant launches, the relationship [between them and Allison Park] hasn’t ended, it continues on.” Now on a typical weekend, about 2,500 people are in attendance between Allison Park and its seven daughter churches. “Our goal is to grow the churches we’ve planted and for Allison Park to grow as well,” says Jeff. “When you decide to be Kingdom-oriented, God is big enough to take care of you. He will cause you to grow and will cause your church plants to grow. Realize that God is big enough, and if He asks you to do it, He’ll back you up on it.”

www.allisonparkchurch.com

21 Rick DuBose

They say everything in Texas is big, and the vision of the North Texas District Council for church multiplication is no different. Superintendent Rick DuBose has a vision of 1,000 healthy churches in his district—presently there are 530. “Having healthy, multiplying churches is our reason for being,” explains DuBose. “I take personal responsibility for reaching the people in my district, and the perfect evangelism and discipleship package for doing so is the local church.” Superintendent DuBose does not talk about church multiplication without talking about church health. It is a healthy church that can be a multiplying church. He personally went on a leadership development tour of his district to promote church health and continues to make it a priority. He also points out there are nearly as many Assemblies of God churches closing as are being launched. Church multiplication has become a priority for the North Texas District on all levels, from teenagers being challenged at youth camp to respond to the call to plant churches, to a full-time church multiplication position in the district office. “District leadership has to decide that church planting is the most important thing they do,” says DuBose. “As leaders, we must cast the vision even if we are unsure of the details.” He describes the following steps as a way for any district to make church multiplication a priority:

Rick DuBose: North Texas District

1) Make it the number one priority of the district. 2) Be willing to restructure everything so the vision can be fulfilled. This includes redistribution of assets like human and budgetary resources. 3) Place responsibility for follow-up under the highest position possible. If a fulltime position cannot be devoted to church multiplication, the district superintendent must take responsibility, even if that means putting other priorities aside. 4) Be Passionate. “When we understand what the local church is capable of, how can we not be passionate about it?” – District Superintendent Rick DuBose, North Texas

www.northtexas.org


22 Jon & Angie Hamp

While on staff at a church in Parker, Colorado, Jon and Angie Hamp knew it was time to leave but wanted to stay in town. “We fell in love with our city,” says Angie. “We started to see our neighbors and those around us as more than people we wave at. They’re people God called us to pastor.”

parents are both on their second marriage and have kids so they decided to come to church. They came to our Easter pre-launch service but then went and tried other

Jon & Angie Hamp: Discovery Church As the Hamps got more involved in the lives of their neighbors, they began to feel a burden for their community, where only 18 percent of residents attend church. In January of 2009, they began launch team meetings. “There were eight adults, but with kids we were at 20 people,” says Jon. “Now we have 85 people.”

churches and eventually came back to ours. Every week, she tells us her husband used to hate going to church, but now he’s the one saying ‘let’s go to church.’ He accepted God, and now their whole family is like a bunch of sponges soaking everything up.”

www.discoveryparker.com

In their community, 70 percent of marriages are first marriages, and 75 percent of households have kids at home. Because of this, Discovery Church stresses the importance of strong families. When selecting a location to hold services, Jon and Angie chose one that was family friendly and would help strengthen family bonds The Wildlife Experience. “It’s the premier venue in all of Denver,” Jon says. As they negotiated the rental agreement, the owners made an offer Jon and Angie could not refuse. “Everyone who comes to the service gets free admission to The Wildlife Experience for the day,” says Angie. “That’s a $60 value every single week.” Even though Discovery Church does not officially launch until September of 2009, there are already several families that have been impacted. “One family in particular was completely unchurched,” says Angie. “The

What do you do when God calls you to plant a church in a place you have never heard of? “I did what a lot of people do,” says Scott Meador, pastor of Journey Church in Denton, Texas. “I Googled it.” Scott’s Google search led him to the Golden Triangle Mall in Denton. “It’s a growing community and just the place to reach a young generation,” he says. In August 2008, Journey Church started with six people, including Scott and his wife. “We

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“As long as there are lost people, there is room for more churches,” says Pastor John. “Springfield, Missouri, has tens of thousands of people to reach, and we feel compelled to do our part to lift up the kingdom of God in our area.” Currently, James River Assembly is preparing to launch Wilson’s Creek. “We intend to have a multisite,” Pastor John says. “With the infrastructure of the roads around us, we will soon peak at what we can do at our current James River location. By opening the Wilson’s Creek site,

we can take pressure off of the Ozark site and put a church in an area where a lot of James River attendees are coming from.” Having planted four churches already, Pastor John has some words of advice for potential church multipliers. “Planting is hard. It’s not for the faint of heart,” he says.

John Lindell

Springfield, Missouri, and its surrounding communities have over 20 Assemblies of God churches. Then why, in an area with so many churches, does Pastor John Lindell of James River Assembly feel the need to plant even more?

John Lindell: James River Assembly

Pastor John admits you will not always have a clear vision from the outset of what God intends you to do. “You have to start with prayer and wait on God for the right timing,” he says. “Sometimes, He puts things on our heart for the future. When He works on our heart, then it’s time to step out. That’s when a life of faith

kicks in—when we know just enough of what to do next. But whatever we do for the Lord’s glory, He’s gonna bless it.” In the end, Pastor John says your efforts will be worth it. “What you sow you’re going to reap.”

www.jamesriver.org

Even though Journey Church targets a younger generation, it has a wide variety of people, reaching all ages and all ethnicities. “We’ve got 84-year-old people alongside young couples and young families with no children,” says Scott. “People came not just because it was cool but to find truth and real passion for what God was doing in their life. It wasn’t

a fog and light show.” Today, 130 people call Journey Church their home church, but Scott finds that his ministry still expands beyond the walls of the church and into the heart of the community. “I was involved early on with families, helping in youth sports leagues in town,” Scott says. “One night after practice, I ended up at the same gas station as another family from the team. We were pumping gas, and the dad saw me and said ‘Hey Coach, how ya doing?’” Eventually the

conversation came around to what Scott does for a living. “I told him that we were starting a new church. The man dug deeper and before it was all over, he, his wife and son were at the tailgate of my pickup crying and giving their hearts to the Lord,” says Scott. “We have seen a total transformation in the family’s life, and now they’re a vital part of our church team.”

www.onmyjourney.com


Scott Meador

developed a Bible study in our home and began to pastor our community,” says Scott. “On February 8, 2009, we launched.”

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Scott Meador: High Point Church

25 Denny Curran

Denny Curran: River of Life Assembly Working in a comfortable church, Denny Curran always had a desire to build something himself. At the beginning of the Decade of Harvest, the pastors and presbyters of his section decided to become more proactive in planting new churches, and the group appointed Denny as their church planting representative. Going one step further, the committee then tried to determine where they should focus the planting efforts. After taking a vote, the results were clear: Four out of five committee members agreed that Cold Spring, Minnesota, needed a church. After three days of prayer and fasting, Denny began to sense God calling him to do what he had always prayed about – his desire to build something new and not on the foundation of preceding pastors. Denny left his home church and took six people with him to start River of Life Assembly in Cold Spring. “It was discouraging [that only a few people came with us], but it was just one of God’s ways,” says Denny. “We didn’t really have a lot of resources to depend on as pastors, but we had strong support from

our superintendent and the district office.” In about six months’ time, River of Life Assembly had between 60 and 80 people who regularly attended. On July 11, 1993, River of Life held its first official service. “It wasn’t a glamorous start,” says Denny. “It was a little struggle, but we tried to keep positive and saw some pretty good success.” Today, roughly 800 people call River of Life Assembly their church home. “We target young to middle-aged families,” says Denny. Over its first ten years, River of Life Assembly saw 6,000 people make commitments to God. One man’s story in particular stands out. “About a year and a half ago we had an evangelist speaking,” Denny says. “A man came walking into the church, and when the evangelist gave the altar call, this man went forward and they prayed with him.” But it wasn’t until after talking with him for a while that they got the full story. “Very unexpectedly, his wife walked out and took their kids,”

says Denny. As a result, the man fell so deeply into depression that one night he loaded a gun, put it to his head and pulled the trigger. But nothing happened. The gun did not go off. “He figured God had something for him,” says Denny. “[He was looking for help] but his home church said they couldn’t help him. He went to another church, but they said they couldn’t help him since he wasn’t a member. After two weeks of looking for help, he went home, loaded the gun again and once again it didn’t go off. Eventually, he met someone from our church and got the help he needed. Now he’s been attending our church and has regained the affection of his kids.” Recognizing the huge need still present, Denny encourages potential planters to embrace their calling and run with it. “The hardest step is the first one,” he says. “I’d encourage anyone who has in their heart the ambition and desire to plant to take the first step, and God will part the waters.”

www.riveroflifeag.org
