Wouldn’t it be easier not set up and tear down as a portable church every weekend? The short answer is yes, it would be easier. But…being portable means your church is no longer a place you go, it’s a place you create together. -Andy Vomsteeg
Archive for the ‘Church Planting’ Category
Quote on Portable Church
Posted: April 15, 2010 in Church PlantingTags: Church Planting, portablity
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- At the end of the day, God will write His story.
- God could use the initial start to put you somewhere else.
- I tell guys to be ready to plant a church regardless of the results. (Rob Bell)
- We lose our lives to find them.
- If the worst case happened, none of it was in vain.
- Nobody is better than another, regardless if your church is small or large.
-Jeff Murphy
Origin Church is RELOCATING to the HAMILTON MALL YMCA. This will happen sometime in April and until then, we will continue to meet at the Ringgold Depot. We will keep you posted every step of the way.
The “vision” continues to be enlarged and we are excited to influence more lives for the Kingdom of God! It has been an amazing journey as we have seen God use Origin to reach people who are hurting, disconnected, and dis-interested in church. We have seen God bring people who are struggling with addictions, struggling with their marriages, and people who have not been in church in years. We have seen God radically save people from their sins.
With that said we are seeing God open up doors for Origin to reach more people in a greater populated growing area of Chattanooga. We must continue to be sensitive to God’s leading every step of the way.
Here are some cool talking points about the move:
- This is a phenomenal Y facility from start to finish.
- The relocation gives us all the space that we need to grow our family ministry (0-18) which is one of our core values; indoor double-decker playground for the kids and an amazing built-in nursery. We have been out of space since we launched Origin.
- There are approximately 3500 family units (3.2 in a family) which means we have an instant 10,000 people to influence at this particular YMCA.
- 300,000 unchurched people are within driving distance of the Y.
- This new location gives us the best opportunity to sustain the church for the future.
- Chattanooga is listed in USA today as the one of the top places to retire and one of the top places to live. Every day Chattanooga sees new families moving to Chattanooga for a better overall quality of life. Origin Church can be a major part of influencing this growth for Jesus Christ.
- With the addition of Volkswagen coming to East Chattanooga, and the potential of 15,000 new jobs, strategists are predicting that Chattanooga, over the next 10 years, will become the next Charlotte, North Carolina.
- If you have already been driving to Origin Church, from exit 348 (Ringgold exit) to the Shallowford Rd. exit at the mall, is ONLY 10 minutes more for your drive.
Here’s the question: What would you do and how far would you go, to be a part of something bigger than yourself? Remember, church should be attended out of conviction, and never convenience! We’ve got a lot of work to do to design an incredible experience for people to enjoy from the moment they arrive……….come use your gifts and talents and help us do this!
80% do not make it……70% are not self-supporting even after four years. The odds are so against us as in any secular business, simply because of it being a start-up. It takes time, energy, and money to get to critical mass and most just do not have the time, energy, or money to wait out critical mass. Two things make it work: Funding and Leaders. If you have no funding, you can’t make it. If you only have followers, you can’t make it. We need both; We have to do a better job of training leaders and God has to also choose to send us capable and desirous people who want to lead.
My thoughts:
- Give it all you have….it can work…embrace God’s promises.
- Accept the worst case scenario. Great churches led by great leaders have closed. The start of your church was not in vain.
- God may have other plans for your plans. Be ok with being kingdom-minded.
- Your dream may not have been His dream for this plant.
- Merge if need be- you may find you have developed a different gift-mix or passion as time has elapsed.
- Pass the ball off to a new leader if God leads.
- If you added value to one person, it has already been worth it.
- You are not a failure.
- Press on………Fight on…….you are still called to His service!
Encouragement to Church Planters
Posted: November 9, 2009 in Church PlantingTags: anthem church, chad clemons, Church Planting
Sometimes it may feel like all you do week in and week out is “block and tackle.” My good friend Chad Clemons, pastor at Anthem Church, Gainesville, FL, describes what has happened at Anthem over the last few weeks as such. “We were just doing blocking and tackling drills and all of a sudden we are now over 200.” It does often feel like that in a new church…same old thing, same old result UNTIL, something mysterious appears into the mix, and bumps your church up to the next level. Often times you don’t even know what you did or didn’t do or God did or didn’t do to make that happne….Now that gets fun! So, keep doing what you do, make it better each week, keep fundraising, keep loving people even with 30 and 40 and 50, keep trusting, “when you’re going through hell, keep on going” (as the song says), and stay with it. Hey, I like that for myself…I needed that, what about you?
“Right now, there are a lot of disgruntled people trying to reinvent the church. It will never work. The church has never been birthed from frustrated people trying to reinvent something that’s lost its punch. Instead, it will be created by those who are passionately in love with Jesus–obeying Him and following Him at all cost–connecting with the big picture of the world and operating in the context of the Kingdom of God.”
Growing Healthy Churches (GHC)
Posted: August 21, 2009 in Church Planting, UncategorizedTags: Church Planting, GHC
Jeff and I are just returning from a monthly cluster of church planters who are all associated with GHC, San Francisco, CA. What a real and authentic organization! Planters, they are first class! They care about you, the planter. Here’s an idea of how they work:
1. Monthly clusters all over the country
2. They cover your expenses to come to California
3. Normally, we meet in one of the NFL stadiums or MLB stadiums; we fellowship, eat, hear each others’ stories, and encourage. Then, we all go to the game together…all, compliments of GHC. They even provide spending money for you!
Personally, I’ve not evern been a part of an organization like this! Not sure what others do, but I remember that Kim and I were completely and totally impressed the first day we were with them in assessment over a year ago. THEY TRULY CARED ABOUT US! We had a great couple days at the Oakland/Alameda Coliseum in California…..we all need each other! Thank God for GHC!
If you are thinking about planting a church, you need to look very seriously at partnering with GHC! JD, love you man! You’re the best!
Church Plants:
1. When you are small, people dismiss you!
2. When you grow, people discredit you!
3. When you are larger, people dislike you!
4. When you get big, people defame you!
LOVE THEM!
- Prayer
- Preparation
- Perspiration- God honors hard work. There’s nothing easy about what we’re doing.
I’ve always heard that FEAR is false evidence that appears real…..good definition for sure. However, it doesn’t mean fear won’t jump up on you. The mind can default to fear at any moment. Fear is never eradicated from our minds. Again, our greatest weapon is controlling our minds, snapping out of a thought process and into another, and “thinking on these things.” It happens to me in church planting……sometimes I really feel the confidence that God is building His church; other times this overwhelming fear overtakes me as I ponder the large percentages of new church plants that experts say do not make it, for whatever reason. I heard this week of two planters that worked hard, relocated, got ready to launch, and pulled the plug before they ever got going because they could not get anyone to come back. Somebody put it this way: Church planting is just one of the tools God is using to add to His Kingdom. It’s not the only tool. So, if that tool does not work in your area, pick up another tool and never flinch, because, the dream God has for you is still the same- to add people into the Kingdom of God, using whatever tool necessary. Origin, let’s defy the odds, work hard, add value to lives, shoe up early, stay late, and pray hard, that God will choose to advance His Kingdom through the medium of Origin Church. We’re off to a great start, nine Sundays in. Let’s make this Sunday the best yet!
