It was over three years ago that I initially felt the internal tug to become a church planter. At the time I had been serving as a youth pastor for close to seven years. Prior to this point I had never considered serving in any capacity outside of youth ministry, certainly not as a pastor – let alone a church planter. So I shrugged off the idea and tried to go about my business as usual. However, the idea would never leave. Worse yet, I found myself sitting and dreaming of what it would be like to plant a church. Something drastic was happening.
These new desires coupled with an increasing discontentment with where I was currently serving led myself, as well as others serving along side of me, to conclude that this was indeed where God was calling me to serve. These developments, along with some other shifts in my theology, led to some much needed time away from ministry for the purpose of both healing and preparation.
So, where does that bring me now? Over the past few years I have focused on three important elements of my life in preparation for the call God has placed upon me and my family. First and foremost, I have concentrated on my wife, marriage and family.
My lovely wife endured through seven years of difficulties while being married to an immature young minister. I now have the opportunity to love, protect, and simply enjoy spending time with my bride away from the pressures of ministry. At this point in our life we have both come to realize the tension that results from being pulled in different directions by many responsibilities; as well as the stress that a family undergoes as they serve in full-time ministry. We also know that it is back into that environment that God has called us. Now we can prepare and set boundaries and protect not only our marriage, but our time together as a family as well. Rachel and I love the local church. We want to see our children share the same love for the whole body of Christ. We don’t want to see them begrudge the church for what it did to their parents and family.
Secondly, I have sought to make the most of this time by doing all that I can to study in preparation for both seminary and pastoral preaching and teaching responsibilities. In other words, I am a student. I am grateful for that. I love to learn and I have now only just begun to penetrate into the depth of material that we have inherited. From modern authors, scholars, theologians, and pastors, to the great reformed confessions and works of the reformers themselves; I fully intend to glean from these great men for the duration of my life. I am grateful for the grace of God which has brought me to this season in my life. I do not want to waist it or rush this process for the sake of my foolish pride.
Finally, there was a much needed time of personal growth, reflection, and discernment following my departure from my previous post. At the time that I stepped away from serving in a full-time capacity, I knew enough to grasp some of the hardships that can and will be faced planting a church. I understood the importance of making the most of the time available to allow myself to be molded and prepared to take on such a great responsibility.
After taking in a steady diet of sermons and session audio from the likes of Mark Driscoll and Timothy Keller, and others, church planting naturally begins to take on this hip and sexy appeal. Even though both men, on numerous occasions, strongly cautioned any man who would think to themselves that church planting seemed like a mere good idea. Let there be no doubt, being a church planter is a difficult calling. I at least discerned that much. I took every one of their caveats to heart, allowing for a period of reflection and prayer, even to the point of setting the idea aside, with the hope and intention to discern whether my desire to plant a church was born of a Spirit lead calling or the flavor of the week.
When the time came that I needed to decide between moving forward with the idea of a church plant verses pursuing a pastorate in an already established congregation, I began to have some concerns that I had allowed myself to become enamored with the concept of church planting before taking time to discern whether or not it was indeed where I had been called.
Finally, after a few years of waiting patiently, I have come to the prayerful conclusion that it is time to begin the initial planning stages for a future church plant within Central Michigan. In addition to feeling the initial excitement that naturally corresponds with such an undertaking, I am also very humbled and, to be bluntly honest, extremely fearful.
It is within this tension that I would like to begin the process of sharing not only my journey as a church planter, but some of my personal reflections and experiences of being a husband, father, and student working through the joys and struggles of associated being a very young, green, first-time church planter – by God’s grace and for his glory.
