Personal Reasons to Plant a Church—Journey into Church Planting (part 5)
This is the fifth post explaining our journey into church planting (if you missed the early parts, they can be found here: 1,2,3,4). In my last post I considered the biblical, theological, and cultural reasons for planting a new church. In this post I will list some of the personal reasons why I am entering into church planting:
1. I sensed God calling me into church planting. As I looked deep into my heart, I saw an authentic desire to undertake this task and a conviction that if I did not step out in faith, then I would have been disobedient to the Spirit’s leading. This occurred as I read Scripture, prayed, and sought counsel from godly Christian mentors. The more I did these things, the more I became burdened and convinced that church-planting was where God was leading Rach and me.
2. My wife is on board with church planting. A further confirmation came as Rach, who was not initially interested in church-planting either, came to the point where she also believed this was where God was leading us. This was a process for both of us that required a lot of prayer, long discussions, patience, and outside counsel from others. At the end of this, Rach and I were united in our desires and were on the same page.
3. God has given me spiritual gifts beneficial for church planting. In His grace, God has given me the gifts of preaching, teaching, shepherding, and has made me an evangelist. These traits are greatly beneficial for church planting.
4. God has given me experience, skills, and passions useful for church planting:
1. Pioneering experience and desire. I love starting new projects and find it very enjoyable:
a. I created a guitar program at Cadwallader Middle School (2007-9)
b. Started a music ministry in Las Vegas, which played in secular venues around the city
c. Oversaw the creation of two successful residential communities in college as an RA
2. Experience in full-time ministry. In 2004-5 I was a missionary in Scotland with CRU.
3. People-skills. I enjoy working with people (even though I am an introvert).
4. Ability to handle large amounts of work.
5. Enjoy communicating and vision-casting
5. Our church, Redeemer Fellowship, is eager to plant more churches and I am an excellent fit theologically and ministry-wise. In God’s providence, I am at church which is passionate about church planting, filled with mature believers, evangelistic, Calvinistic, Baptist, and elder-led. Thus the opportunity is right in front of me.
These are some of the most important personal reasons for me to pursue the task of church planting. In my next post, I’ll share what happened next, and how we moved forward with our decision.
Photo Credit: kevin dooley via Compfight cc
