Hitting the 5 Year Mark of Church Planting
From the perspective of a church planter’s wife
It’s surreal to think it’s been 5 years since my husband, Chris, and I began the journey of planting Hope Church. That’s 5 years of:
Seeing prayers answered
Serving our community
Seeing lives changed
Experiencing growth and waves of grace
Watching Jesus take our weaknesses and inadequacies and doing immeasurably more
Serving side by side with a village of people
It brings me to tears to think of all the Lord has done through steps of faith, some of which were only slightly bigger than the fears that crept in. God has done a lot, but He’s also taught me a lot.
1. The small things are the big things
I love a God-sized goal. The kind of goal that you think “Only the Lord can do this!” Before we ever planted Hope Church, our family would go on walks to dream, pray, and think about strategic ways to reach this community we live in; a community that is one of the most ethnically diverse suburbs of the Atlanta metropolitan area. During our first core team gathering, we made a list of very specific things we were praying for and reaching spiritually lost people was at the top of the list, followed by specific needs we had like a meeting space, team members, worship leaders, instruments, opportunities to serve our community and funds to carry out these ideas. Only God can do that!
I remember the day someone provided a keyboard for Hope Church before we even had someone who could play keys. It was a small thing that was a big thing. We prayed for that!
I’ll never forget the Sunday someone came to Hope Church after seeing our website. We were so pumped! It was a small thing that was actually a big thing. We prayed for that!
Chris and I were the oldest people on our core team, and we spent so much time praying for the Lord to somehow, someway bring people who were older and much wiser to be part of the journey. A few weeks into gathering, some friends met a couple in their 70s and 80s at a local breakfast place, invited them to church, and they were the first of many who would be a vital part of Hope Church. It was a small thing that was actually a big thing. We prayed for that!
The tendency in church planting is to want to see big things happen, and that’s good. What I’ve learned, though, is that the daily small things are the big things because they are God things. God-Sized goals are reached through the accumulation of God’s work in the small things.
“God-sized goals are reached through the accumulation of God’s work in the small things.”
2. The journey requires dependence and determination
There’s something special about putting your yes on the table and being part of a new work through church planting. It’s exciting, nerve-wracking, humbling, and mind-blowing all at the same time. For Hope Church to have any Kingdom impact in our community, it wouldn’t be because of our family, our team, or any other person. It would be because God does a work that only He can do. In church planting, there have often been more questions than answers. This journey keeps us deeply dependent on the Lord and it’s a beautiful thing. If people show up, it’s because He brings them. If lives are changed, it’s because the power of the Holy Spirit is at work in them. If we get more opportunities to plant churches, it’s because He is paving the way.
We talk a lot about depending on the Lord in the context of church planting, and we should. But one thing we don’t talk about is the determination it takes. Dependence and determination go hand in hand. There’s a dependence on King Jesus every step of the way. There’s also a determination to do whatever He calls us to do along the way. Is it always easy? No. Is it always worth it? Absolutely.
“There’s a dependence on King Jesus every step of the way. There’s also a determination to do whatever He calls us to do along the way.”
When God called us to plant Hope Church, we said, “We’re all in” and five years later, we still are. With a determination to follow King Jesus and dependence on Him to lead the way; we press on as the Church to make and send disciples of Jesus Christ, together.
3. It’s a shared mission
When Chris put his yes on the table to plant a church, so did our family. When our family put our yes on the table, so did a core team of people. When the core team put their yes on the table, so did other churches, ministry leaders and friends who supported, prayed, and gave to be part of the mission together.
God never intended for us to be on this journey alone. Just as the early church gathered, grew and served together, we get to do the same. The body of Christ is made up of different people with different skills, gifts, and passions that, collectively, we get to use to make much of Jesus.
God never intended for us to be on this journey alone.
The sweetest moments of Hope Church has been watching our kids, as young as 3 and 5 years old when we started, step in and play a role in leading and serving; seeing mission teams come and serve alongside us; and having people believe in, pray for, and support what God is doing in our community and beyond.
Every person can play a part in church planting from praying, supporting, sending, and going. It’s a shared mission.
4. Giving, losing, and gaining are all to be expected
Church planting is an all-hands-on-deck adventure. There can be limited resources and people and unlimited needs to meet, places to serve, and things to do. ‘Whatever it takes’ becomes the motto as church planting teams seek to see people, meet needs, invest in others and ultimately share the hope of the gospel. This was true in the early days of Hope Church, and it’s still true today.
Over the last 5 years, we’ve all learned so much about serving and giving, not just of our time, gifts, and resources but of our lives. After all, isn’t that what Jesus did? “For even the Son of Man didn’t come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) There’s such a joy in doing whatever it takes to point people to Jesus, but there will always be loss in the process. Planting a church means leaving a place you love to begin a new work. It means investing in people who may step away. It means raising people up and sending them out to continue the mission in other places. Loss isn’t bad, but it can be hard and that’s okay. It’s to be expected.
Amid giving and losing, there’s the incredible blessing of gaining. I don’t mean gaining in a materialistic way, but in an eternal way. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing prayers answered, needs met, people living on mission, and lives changed. This is what planting Hope Church has been about. We may gather as a church, worship as a church, study God’s Word as a church, but we get to then go and be the Church in our community. What an honor and privilege to pour out our lives for the sake of the gospel. It’s worth it.
Amid giving and losing, there’s the incredible blessing of gaining.
5. It’s the most fun to watch Jesus do what only He can do
Since day one of church planting, we have watched Jesus show up in the details. Earlier I mentioned our family walks where Chris and I dreamed, prayed, and strategically thought of ways to reach our diverse community. Well, at the same time God had people across the world praying, and we didn’t even know it. Two years into planting Hope Church the Lord provided a permanent location to meet. As we moved our things into the building, a gentleman from India walked in, sat in the back pew of the sanctuary and began to pray. We introduced ourselves and found out that he and his wife helped move his adult daughter and granddaughter to the area. He had located the church building online from India, knowing it would be walking distance from their apartment. Once they arrived in the community, he walked to the church but didn’t find anyone there. He then began sitting on the front steps and praying every day that the Lord would start a new work in this building and community. The Lord then opened the doors for Hope Church to gather there. What an answer to his prayers and ours! Only Jesus can do that!
“Only Jesus can do that!”
This is one story of hundreds I could share with you. From the beginning of Hope Church to today, we’ve been hanging tightly onto the coattails of Jesus as He paves the way and it’s the most fun adventure.
As I reflect on these lessons I’ve learned from being part of planting Hope Church, I can’t help but to be in awe. I also can’t help but to think these same lessons are true outside the church planting context. They are true for any of you leading or serving in a local church; more importantly, they are true for any follower of Jesus who puts their yes on the table to leverage their life for the gospel.
“As I reflect on these lessons I’ve learned from being part of planting Hope Church, I can’t help but to be in awe. I also can’t help but to think these same lessons are true outside the church planting context.”
As we walk closely with Him, the little things are the big things; the journey requires dependence and determination; it’s a shared mission; you will give, lose and gain along the way; and it’s the most fun to watch Jesus do what only He can do.
I’m so thankful that God doesn’t need any of us and yet He chooses to use us. Wherever He has placed you, be ready and willing to know Jesus and to do whatever it takes to make Him known.