Inside the Mind of a Church Planter: Chris Edmondson - One Church

It's been great hearing from such great guys this week as we looked Inside the Mind of a Church Planter. We heard from Ron here in Clarksville, Jason in Spartanburg, SC, and Nate out in Missoula, MT. We're going to wrap it up this week with another Clarksville local.

Chris is a guy that I met a few weeks before we started Awaken. I attended a service at his church right after we moved into town and we loved the worship. I'm serious. LOVED it! We also went to a worship night that they had about a week later. Incredible night. I knew right away that I was really looking forward to partnering with such a great church in reaching the city. I ended up grabbing a drink with Chris a few weeks before Awaken's first service and he was a huge encouragement to me. He's helped me scout out for a sound system, offered to help us with things at the church, and always been just a phone call and email away. He's a super cool guy with a great heart who's doing a great thing here in the city.

Here are a couple important facts about Chris:

- He is related to Ron - they're cousins. Edmondsons are taking over Clarksville, apparently! I love it.

- I drove Chris' son to school the other day on a bus that I was subbing on. I don't think he saw me.


Check out One Church's website HERE.

Check out my interview with Chris here:

1. Who are you?
My name is Chris Edmondson, and I am the lead pastor of oneChurch.

2. What is your church & what's the vision behind it?
Our vision is to reach the unchurched (those who have never been to church before) and the dechurched (those who have been to church and said, "I ain't never going back!") in North Clarksville. Our goal is to create an environment where unchurched people like to attend.

3. How long have you been meeting and where did you start?
I was born here in Clarksville but left to go to seminary back in 1993. In 2006, my wife and our children moved back to Clarksville to start a church. We both got jobs to help pay the bills and started casting the vision and talking a lot about the 'what if's' to anyone who would listen: What if there was a church that was more interested in people than buildings, programs, and keeping the insiders happy? What if we created a church unchurched people could actually engage with their heavenly Father? What if we followed Jesus' example and left the 1 for the 99? We started meeting in a coffee house downtown every Wednesday nights starting in January 2007. We had two preview services that summer, and then started meeting in a movie theatre.

4. Why plant a church in your city?
Clarksville-Montgomery County is in the midst of tremendous growth. Clarksville was named the 17th fastest growing city in the United States and Montgomery County is one of the fastest growing counties in the United States. Clarksville-Montgomery County is expected to continue outpacing even the impressive 29% population growth rate that Tennessee is expected to post through 2030. All conservative census reports predict Montgomery County is projected to swell to a population of 227,300 by the year 2025, which would be a 117% increase from the 2000 Census. More than 5,000 families a year relocate to the Clarksville area.

Even though Clarksville-Montgomery County in the midst of a vast growth boom, a recent study has found that 86% of the people already in Clarksville are unchurched (never been to church before) or dechurched (have attended church and decided not to go back). That figure is astounding: almost 9 out of 10 people in Clarksville don’t go to church anywhere! Every Sunday in Clarksville, 115,663 people stay at home and do not attend church. God has given us a burden for people who aren’t being reached by the typical church.

To put that 86% in perspective, here is the broader picture: 70% of Americans are not connected to any local church in any significant way. To put it another way, there are 210 million people who don’t go to church in America. That figure is staggering. If you combined all of the people who don’t go to church in a people group, they would make the 11th largest people group in the World. That, coupled with the fact that 80-85% of the churches in America have either plateaued or declining, and the need is HUGE!!
God also gave us a specific area. Just at exit #1 off of I-24, house construction is expected to increase by 137% in the next two years. Between exit #1 and exit #8, there are 4,395 approved residential lots that either have houses on them or will have houses on them in the near future. Since the average home has 2.5 residents, this means that north Clarksville has almost 11,000 residents! 80% of that growth comes from those under the age of 45, with the median age being 30.1 years. If we are going to reach the next generation, we must act now by taking the Gospel to them and planting a church where they live.

5. How can people get plugged into your church?
Our strategy doesn't revolve around programs that don't lead anywhere. Our strategy involves intentional steps. Borrowing from North Point Community Church, We have created three environments that will help people take steps toward a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Our ministry environments are designed to function like the rooms in a home. We invite guests to the foyer, develop friendships in the living room and grow as a family around the kitchen table.

Our Sunday morning worship services are foyer environments. We want our guests to come back, so we do everything with them in mind.

Living room environments are  medium-sized environments designed to change people’s minds about connecting. Getting involved in serving, our membership class, and our Essentials open small group on Tuesdays are designed to move people from the foyer and ultimately to...
The kitchen table. Our kitchen table environments are small group environments designed to change people’s minds about their priorities. We believe at oneChurch that lifechange takes place best in small groups.

6. What advice do you give to others wanting to plant a church?
Pray, pray, pray. If you don't have a burden for the people you're trying to reach--if their faces don't keep you up at night--then don't plant. As many of you know, it's a lot of hard work. Many people plant a church because they can't get along with people, have authority issues, or plant a church as a reaction to the traditional church (you can always spot these folks--they can tell you all day what they're not, but can't tell you what they're for).

7. What/who have been some of your most important resources so far?
Reading books. Listening to people's stories. Talking to people. And I know this may not be what you're looking for, but the most important resource/help has been my wife. Without Kim, I would have been a clock tower sniper through this entire process.

8. Have you learned any lessons the hard way? What was one?
I'll give you two. I heard so many church planters talk about the people of the launch team/core group may start with you, but they probably won't stay with you. I would say 80% of our launch team (around 35 people) are still with us today. But the 15% who are no longer with us, I grieved over their leaving and tried not to take it personal (one of the cons about my personality!). We have always said that we're not about keeping people but reaching people, and God made me put my money where my mouth is with a few couples I loved a lot but could not compromise the vision in order for them to stay.

The second mistake was after we launched. We are firm believers in a closed-group small group system. We has trained 4 to 5 small group leaders during the pre-launch phase. But when we launched publicly,  we didn't have enough small group leaders for all the people. We should have went to a turbo-group phase and shortened the closed time frame to around 4 to 6 months.

9. If you did it all again, what is one thing would you do differently?
Not to worry. I know preachers shouldn't worry and should always have faith, but God is still teaching this preacher to have faith in Him. To live the results in His hands. A verse that took me through pre to post launch was Psalms 127:1...

Inside the Mind of a Church Planter: Nathan Wise - Remedy Church

We've already heard from a couple great guys in our blog series, Inside the Mind of a Church Planter, this week: Ron Edmondson and Jason Mills.

For today's interview, we head almost 2,000 miles west to Missoula, Montana to meet up with Nate Wise. He and I go back a ways in ministry. Our wives knew each other for quite a few years before Nate & Lindsey moved to Albuquerque so that Nate could attend the School of Ministry at our church. He served as a volunteer in the middle school youth group that I pastored and also ended up going to Shepherd School (a church-planting, pastor-training school that our church offered). Within a week or 2 of Shepherd School graduation, Nate headed back to the town he'd grown up in to start Remedy Church. It's been a journey and it's been cool to watch the fellowship grow out there.

Check out Remedy's website HERE.

Here's my interview with Nate:

1. Who are you?
Nathan Wise

2. What is your church & what's the vision behind it?
Remedy Church Missoula. Our vision is to create a community of believers being used by God to bring Him glory.

3. How long have you been meeting and where did you start?
May 30th 2009 official launch. We started in a downstairs office building.

4. Why plant a church in your city?
Because God told me to. Missoula has over 10 church plants going on right now and the area already has a ton of churches. But still 9 out of 10 are unsaved. The church at large has missed the mission in my mind and needs to get out of the four walls and get involved in the community. We want to bring Jesus to the community. We don't expect non-Christians to want to come to church on their own.

5. How can people get plugged into your church?
Our website has great resources for staying up to date with what's going on at Remedy. We are continually growing and looking for ways to involve those who desire to serve. Greeting, church clean up, event set up/tear down are all ways to be involved. We look forward to launching community groups in the future.

6. What advice do you give to others wanting to plant a church?
Pray hard, let your gifts become evident over time. Don't rush based upon emotion. Become socially connected to other church planters (facebook, Twitter, blogs, relationships). Don't compare yourself and your church plant to anybody else. God is doing something very specific with you unlike any other.

7. What/who have been some of your most important resources so far?
Fellow church planters are good to network with. Ed Stetzer's material (books, Twitter, blog) - He is the leading missiologist. Blogs: Church planting for the Rest of Us (cp4us.org). And having close friends to share burdens and victories with. If you try to do it all alone, you will kill yourself.

8. Have you learned any lessons the hard way? What was one?
God doesn't want you to plant someone else's church, or be like any other pastor. He is forming you into the pastor that He has designed you to be in a church that He is building. Don't stick yourself into a mold that isn't you and your city. God has called you to a certain city to reach a specific people. Find that and you are on your way to seeing God do amazing things.

9. If you did it all again, what is one thing would you do differently?
Taken more time to grow in my giftings and working knowledge of how to "run" a church. And built a team and trained them up prior to an actual launch.

Inside the Mind of a Church Planter: Jason Mills - Calvary Spartanburg

As we continue our series about peeking Inside the Mind of a Church Planter this week, we head 400 miles east to Spartanburg, South Carolina to hear from a buddy of mine, Jason Mills. He's a super cool guy that I've known for years from Calvary Albuquerque. He served in many ways there then headed out to Montreal, Canada where he helped with a church plant out there. He started services at his new church right around the same time that our services started. It's been really cool to be able to bounce ideas off of each other and pray for each other as we go through some of the same things 400 miles apart!

Check out Calvary Spartanburg's website HERE.

Check out Jason's blog HERE.

And of course here's my interview with him:

1. Who are you?

I’m Jason Mills. I’m from Campobello, a town of about 400 people near Spartanburg, in the upstate of South Carolina. My wife, Andrea, and I have been married for over 6 years and we have 2 kids Jake (3 ½) and Sophie (2). Also, I’ve always secretly wanted to be a super hero and I am left handed.



2. What is your church & what's the vision behind it?

Calvary Spartanburg. Our vision is three-fold;




Know.

Our vision is for people to Know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.


Grow.

Our vision is for Christians to Grow through verse by verse teaching of the Bible and through one-on-one discipleship.


Go.

Our vision is for disciples to Go into the whole world to tell others of Christ’s redeeming love.


3. How long have you been meeting and where did you start?

We started November 8, 2009 at the YMCA in Spartanburg, South Carolina (so we started about month ago.)  My wife and I started praying about God’s vision for this church plant in March of 2008.


4. Why plant a church in your city?

I’ve had a heart for my people, Southerners, for a long time. But it wasn’t until 2008 that I realized God wanted to use me to reach the people of the South. As I prayed for God to give me vision for the South, He made two things clear, plant a church and do it in Spartanburg.

I’m thrilled that I get to minister to the community I grew up in and understand, but I’m also acutely aware of the problems I face. Cultural Christianity, mistrust of non-denominational churches, and church burnout are prevalent. Familiarity cuts both ways, I guess.


5. How can people get plugged into your church?

In our current space we only get 15 minutes to setup before our service starts. Anyone is welcome to come early to set up chairs, the coffee table, or the sound system. We are also looking for volunteers to be accountability assistants in our children’s ministry. 


6. What advice do you give to others wanting to plant a church?

Don’t strive and don’t stress. The church you are planting is God’s church; let Him build it. That doesn’t mean you won’t be very busy or have to do the hard work of planting a church. Rather, don’t try to build it in your strength or by your own clever plans, and don’t freak out when things are not going the way you had envisioned.  The problems that arise are His, and so are the successes, not yours. Do the work and trust God.


7. What/who have been some of your most important resources so far?

Kevin Miller of course! No really, but I’ve also gotten a lot out of the blog posts at The Calvary Church Planting Network. A good place to start is the article Ten Things I Wish Someone Told Me. The CCP Network also has a website www.calvarychurchplanting.org with some more resources that aren’t on the blog.

However, the best resource I’ve had so far has been experience. For the last 5 years I was a part of a church planting team in Montreal, Quebec. Those 5 years were absolutely the best training ground I could have asked for. If you have a chance to come alongside someone to help them plant, before you take the plunge, do it.


8. Have you learned any lessons the hard way? What was one?

Oh Yeah, wait for the Lord’s leading. Every time a have disobeyed, finessed, or nudged the line with this lesson I have regretted it. I’ve planned ill-fated ministries, looked the fool, and cause pain in the lives of others as a result of ignoring this simple principle. My advise, is don’t get in a hurry to get into new things or ministry because you feel like nothing is happening, be patient and wait for the Lord. Waiting for a God sparked ministry will always produce more fruit than one that is born sooner but out of a feeling of urgency. Like the old saying goes “A fool in a hurry drinks tea with a fork”.


9. If you did it all again, what is one thing would you do differently?

Calvary Spartanburg is so new that I don’t think enough time has elapsed to see some of the more long-term mistakes I’ve already made or will make. However, I will say this, there are 2 things I could always do more of: pray more and study more.

Inside the Mind of a Church Planter: Ron Edmondson - Grace Community Church

As I mentioned in a previous blog, this week I'll be letting you peek inside the mind of a few church planter friends of mine.


We're going to start local for this first one. Ron Edmondson is a guy I met when I was out here back in February scouting the place out. He planted Grace Community Church here in Clarksville just a few years ago and it exploded with growth! God is using Grace to reach this city and it's a privilege to partner with him and with such a great church as we attempt to reach this city for Christ.

Check out Grace Community Church's website HERE.

Check out Ron's blog HERE.

Check out my interview with him here:

1. Who are you?
Ron Edmondson

2. What is your church & what's the vision behind it?
Grace Community Church, Clarksville, TN....we exist to encourage growing followers of Jesus Christ.  Our motto is “Everyone needs a place to start over...that place is Grace.” 

3. How long have you been meeting and where did you start?
We are 4 years and 2 months old.  We started meeting at St Mary’s Catholic School and now meet at Rossview High School in Clarksville

4. Why plant a church in your city?
Our city has over 80% unchurched.  We launched to reach those no one else was reaching. 

5. How can people get plugged into your church?
We plug people in quickly. The easiest way is to know people is by joining a small group that meets in the homes during the week.  We allow people to serve as soon as they are ready.  It takes over 150 volunteers each week, so there is always a need. 

6. What advice do you give to others wanting to plant a church?
It’s harder than it looks. Seek wisdom, surround yourself with an awesome core, be willing to grow slowly at first, and don’t be afraid to say “no, we aren’t ready to do that yet.”

7. What/who have been some of your most important resources so far?
Other planters have helped us tremendously.  Our original core and the people who started with Grace from the beginning are still involved today and brought their friends with them.  People are definitely our greatest resource. 

8. Have you learned any lessons the hard way? What was one?
Time of services is important.  We tried  an early service after we went to two services, but it didn’t work until we made it later.  We weren’t mature enough yet to have an early morning service.  To build an early service takes very committed people.  We have one now and it’s working. 

9. If you did it all again, what is one thing would you do differently?
We would not shy away from churched people who are looking for something that better meets their needs for spiritual growth. We did at first and that made us tremendously lacking in leadership as we grew.