Confucius said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”  Dr. Leo Marvin (“What About Bob” fame) said, “Baby steps, baby steps…”

On a cold weekend in January eighty-plus people took many steps from around the country braving threats of snow and ice to participate in our inaugural Coaching Forum in Nashville, TN. The evaluations we received from attendees were encouraging and educational. We did many things right and many right things! Overall 99% of participants said the event “exceeded their expectations.” That’s pretty amazing.  Baby steps…

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It’s been one of the most frequently quoted scriptures, “Without a vision the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:19) As church planters we have been well schooled in the virtues of casting a compelling vision. Wise planters do this well…and often! But there’s another side of this that requires equal diligence. I phrase it like this, “Without adequate funding the vision perishes.” Many a church plant has shriveled up and withered away because of a severe case of financial dehydration. Casting vision is easy. Gathering folks around that vision is exciting. Asking for money to support that vision is neither easy nor exciting (for many of us).

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On the first day of autumn it seems appropriate to talk about new beginnings. Today marks a new beginning for me as I enter the world of blogging. Journaling, I’ve done – regularly – for about twenty years. Blogging? Now, that’s another story. Sharing my private thoughts on the web for anyone to see? Are you kidding?!?! That’s why I have a journal - it’s just between me and God. But here goes… GULP.

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If Hamlet had been a 21st century American pastor, perhaps this would have been a big question on his mind, and on his lips.

In 1997, the church I served began a concerted effort toward planting a second campus. I was chosen to become the campus pastor. By the time I left that congregation in 2002, we were three years past worship launch on that campus, and in the midst of launching a third site. Those two campuses now exceed 1000 worshippers a week, in addition to the people gathered at the original campus. Over the years I have worked with numerous churches developing multi-site ministry – and also worked alongside churches who were simply planting a new church that would be independent of them. Both of these are excellent models for expanding faith community.

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I had the privilege of facilitating one of the ministry tracks at our recent School of Congregational Development in Evanston, IL.  The Advance Strategy Questions track welcomed thirty annual conference leaders across the connection including bishops, superintendents, and development directors. For six hours we presented and debated critical issues facing those responsible for new church development.

One of the nearly dozen topics we tackled over two days was identifying the qualities and characteristics of effective second pastors of new church starts. We agreed we have not focused enough on this topic.

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The reasons are obvious to me and everyone who knows me! It certainly doesn’t take much explaining. I know the reasons I am not God—gross deficiency in things like omniscience, transcendence, omnipotence and such. Like every other human being who has touched terra firma I want to be God, I really do—to control my life, the circumstances around me, other people (especially in traffic) and even the One who is the Alpha and Omega. This is the very root of sin isn’t it? The desire and the intention to be God or at least control God.

There are moments where I am made more keenly aware that I am not God—not even close. Sunday morning was one of those epiphanies for me. I was dragged to visit a little church that was thought (by the denominational powers that be) to be dead. My wife, who works for our district, was asked to pay a surprise visit to this tiny outpost and report back any signs of life. I was an unwilling accomplice; but because I love my wife I was obedient.

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Sometimes people ask us what new church starts is really all about. We have many answers, but all of them lead to the fact that healthy new churches make more disciples, more young disciples and more diverse disciples who transform the world. Recently we heard that one of our newer church starts got the attention of their community by challenging all local churches to a food drive smack down (our words, not theirs).

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