Systems For Movement
As an engineer, I’ve been trained in the discipline of thinking systematically. I think about how everything works together – those interdependencies in a plan. I’m wired as a planner and in my experience, good systems help plans become reality.
Why? Because God is a God of order and systems promote order. Just consider the ordered interdependent systems of the human body. In order to type this sentence, various systems needed to work together to put words on paper (nervous, muscular, skeletal). God designed our bodies to function properly guided by these systems.
God’s designed his church to function in a similar manner. Healthy churches have healthy systems which help them reach lost people. One system we recommend for every church is a leadership development system. Every church can be a greenhouse for future church leaders, some of whom God wants you to release and send out to make disciples and that start new churches.
To help your church do this, we’ve designed a church planting distance residency (9 month cohort) which helps churches like yours reproduce. In this newsletter you’ll read more about this dynamic training opportunity and other resources to help your church develop systems for multiplying disciples.
Bottom Line: Systems and tools add value as they help us do repeatable processes in excellence, but ultimately our ministry hedges on teaching our people how to hear God’s voice and obey. As that timeless hymn written by John H. Sammis in 1887 says, “Trust and obey for there’s no other way”.
-Dale Spaulding, Director
May 2019 – Contents
- Church Planter Residency Cohort
- New Movement Resource
- Systems & Movements
Church Planter Residency Cohort
God has embedded into every church the capacity to reproduce. Yes, churches have a reproduction system. Like every other living organism, God has designed churches to reproduce by identifying, developing and sending out leaders to start new churches.
That’s why we’ve designed a distance church planting residency! This program allows prospective planters to remain in their local context (anywhere in the world) while receiving training from our staff and many national church planting leaders. We’re excited to help your church equip leaders with systems, tools, knowledge, and strategies for starting multiplying churches, while fostering life-long friendships with their fellow cohort members.
To learn more about this program and see if it’s a good fit for you (or a leader you know), visit: Distance Church Planter Residency or contact us if you have any questions. We are currently accepting applications for the Fall 2019 Cohort!
New Movement Resource
There’s a lot of talk these days in church leadership circles about movements. We hear about church planting movements and disciple-making movements, but what exactly are these movements? How can your church be a part of one?
In The Rise and Falls of Movements, Steve Addison explains what these movements are and how we can take part in them. Whether you’re a church planter, a local church pastor, or just someone who wants to help more people trust and follow Jesus, this new book will inform, encourage, and inspire you to play your role in multiplying disciples of Jesus.
Systems & Movements
Systems help churches, teams and businesses accomplish their mission. If you’re wondering what systems your church has or should have, consider the eight Nelson Searcy highlights in his blogpost Maximize Your 8 Church Systems for a Healthier Church This Year.
Jesus trained his disciples on a system for making disciples. Jeff and Angie Sundell have analyzed Jesus’ disciple-making systems and have created some tools to help everyday believers replicate that same system in our efforts to make disciples. Check out their valuable resources here: Four Fields Strategy. Another amazing global resource is No Place Left. No Place Left is a movement of movements aimed at getting to no place left where Christ is not made known in our generation. That’s a goal we all should rally behind!
You’ll also want to read more about our friends at The Timothy Initiative who are making a huge global impact with the gospel. They exist to advance Christ’s Kingdom by multiplying disciples and disciple-making churches around the world.
Study and learn from these disciple-making and church planting movement leaders and start YOUR movement today!