If you could start all over again…

Someone asked me recently that if I had to do a church plant all over again, how would I go about it? If was an intriguing question. After some fumbling around, my kind of sheepish answer at the time was that I would try to follow the ideas in The Forgotten Ways. But the question (and my somewhat sheepish reply) bugged me, and so I returned to it as a reflection the following morning. Pondering it again, I came to the conclusion that my reply was exactly what I would do. My duh! moment turned to a kind of eureka! moment. I should have boldly said is the following…….

• I would focus the whole deal on Jesus and make sure it stays focused there,

• I would ensure that we actually make disciples who make disciples all the way down the line,

• I would practice incarnational forms of mission—always seeking to contextualize both gospel and church,

• I would seek to minister as part of a dynamically equipped APEST team and church,

• I would work to build a low control, high accountability, multiplication movement that empowers as many as possible,

• I would seek to create a culture that takes godly risks and has adventures together in community.

• And I would seek to do all this in the name of Jesus, for the glory of the Father, and in the power of the Spirit, guided by the Word of God, and informed by the best thinking in our history.

Yes, I think I would do exactly that! 🙂

[A side thought: While respecting the role of various denominations, I personally would probably not likely follow any of the prevailing denominational templates and ecclesial formulas that I am aware of.]