Nov. Newsletter 2011

The Future of Church PlantingJOEL NORDTVEDT

M y wife, Marybeth, and I recently moved into an old brownstone apartment building in South

Minneapolis (a part-time move). There are ten units in the building – a ready-made community that has at least one thing in common – we all live in the same secured building. Obviously, we will not automatically become friends with all of them, but it is more natural to develop relationships with those whom we share some part of our lives, than with complete strangers. This is a start. As Regional Pastors we are looking

Another viable way to plant churches can be done with little up-front cost, but with high commitment from those who intend to be involved, be they laity or clergy. Regional Pastor, Warren Geraghty, mentioned a group of three lay couples that moved to a targeted community with the intention of starting a new church. They supported themselves through their own jobs and together went about gathering a group of people that would eventually be formed into a congregation. This is much more “organic.” In fact, this may be similar to how many congregations were

at the future of church planting. What does it look like? How does it work? Most Lutheran Brethren congregations were started by nearby congregations “birthing” them as daughter churches. In some cases a substantial core group of people moved from the mother church to start the daughter church, they called a pastor, and were able to gain momentum with little outside support. Triumph Lutheran Brethren Church in Moorhead, MN, developed a successful “multi-site congregation,” with two separate locations, but sharing leadership.

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formed in the early Church, which we read about in Acts: Christians gathering people together which would become a congregation with elders appointed after they were formed. A method of church planting that has worked well in many of today’s post-Christian communities, where people are not as apt to be attracted to church, is that of growing missional communities. These begin with small groups of people who intentionally develop a culture of discipleship, and are committed to reach out beyond themselves with the gospel. In the context of these relationships, disciples join together to intentionally develop friendships with non-Christians, either in a certain location or demographic. Evangelism takes place over time in the context of relationships and simply being around groups of Christians. The focus of this is to gather people into groups where they feel accepted and are free to hear and experience the gospel – even before they

Wanted – Alive, individuals and couples with God’s call to start churches! This won’t be easy work and the pay will be lousy, but the excitement of watching God work through you to change lives and establish His church will be greatly rewarding. As you likely know the landscape of church planting has changed over the last couple of decades. It is much harder to plant churches now than it ever has been in North America and the cost of a traditional type of church plant has risen drastically. The result is a renewed emphasis on lay-led or bi-vocational church planting. This type of church planting is not new at all. Paul was a bi-vocational church planter and it is his ministry that coined the term “Tent Maker.” The Apostle Paul would go into a new area and use his skill of making tents to make enough money to be able to live and then he would engage

come to faith in Jesus. Several of these missional communities can join together and worship as a congregation. These missional communities may form with or without a seminary-trained pastor. In fact, our hope is that intentional disciple-makers from one or more churches will work together to develop these missional communities, patiently and lovingly beginning the process of planting a church. This, by-the-way, is similar to how a lot of missionary work is done overseas where people are not naturally attracted to churches but are not opposed to getting to know Christians in a group where they can feel at home. During our first week in Minneapolis, we visited a friend whom we had met years earlier, before she moved to Minneapolis to get married. This friend is eager to introduce us to her brother-in-law and his family who run a restaurant located a half-block from our new apartment. Both of these families “happen” to live in the

in his real passion of reaching out to lost people with the gospel of Jesus Christ and plant churches. This is also not new in the CLB. One of the Regional Pastors, Warren Geraghty and his family moved from Miles City, Montana, many years ago, to Connecticut to plant a church, but first he needed to find work to support his family. Today it is a solid vibrant church, but it took a lot of work from a bi-vocational pastor to get it off the ground. This was also true in places like Williston, North Dakota and Sidney, Montana where lay pastors settled into a community and found a job and then started the work of planting a church. The Church of Jesus Christ owes a great deal of thanks to men and couples who felt the call to plant a church where none previously existed and were willing to go and find outside work to support their calling. Are you one of those people? Has God

The Future of Church Planting

Church Planters Wanted!

same neighborhood as Ebenezer Lutheran Brethren Church. Our hope is to develop relationships with these two families (and with others as these relationships lead us) and then bring some of our Christian friends from Ebenezer to get to know them as well. This may, or may not, lead to a missional community, but this is how it starts. We follow relationships that God prepares while intentionally seeking new relationships. There are those people out there whom God has prepared. What a joy and privilege it is to join in the work that God is doing in their lives!

Rev. Joel Nordtvedt is Regional Pastor for the CLB Central Region.

called you to be a church planter? Could you go into a community and find work and begin reaching out to people with the intent of establishing a church? The CLB needs people like this, people with a calling from God, a passion in their heart and a willingness to sacrifice for His Kingdom. If that sounds like you then give your Regional Pastor a call and share that dream of planting churches in America and Canada.

Rev. Gary Witkop is Regional Pastor for the CLB Western Region.

GARY WITKOP

cont. from p.1

The miracle of the feeding of the 5000 is recorded in all four gospels. Matthew tells us: “Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ But Jesus said, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘We have only five loaves here and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” (Matthew 14:15-21 ESV) Have you ever wondered why Jesus asked the disciples to give the people something to eat? Was He kidding? Or did He really expect them to feed 5000 men, plus women and children? Why would He ask the disciples to do the impossible? And then, why would He act as though the five loaves and two fish, which John tells us were brought by a boy, even mattered? Certainly the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe, didn’t need such a meager offering in order to accomplish this great miracle, did He? In the account of the feeding of the 4000, recorded in Matthew 15, Jesus once again took what was brought--seven loaves of bread and a few small fish--and used them to feed a crowd of people with seven baskets left over. Isn’t this strange? Wouldn’t the miracles have been much more impressive if Jesus had started with no bread or fish at all? What’s going on? Could it be that the Son

of God chose to use the small offerings of ordinary but willing people (even children!) to do the impossible and bless so many? You and I also come to the Lord with the “fish and bread” offering we have in our hands--too little to really make a difference--or is it? Jesus says, “Bring them here to me.” Isn’t it incredible that God has chosen to bless the multitudes through our insignificant, insufficient offerings when we place them in His Hands? Listen to 2 Corinthians 9:10 with the feeding of the multitudes in mind: “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” The disciples said, “We have only . . .” Jesus said, “Bring them here to me.” Just like the disciples, we often say “we

have only...” We ask you to pray that God will reveal His miraculous plan for your “loaves and fishes” as part of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren.

Roy Heggland serves the CLB as Associate for Biblical Stewardship.

Focusn

Loaves & FishesROY HEGGLAND

1020 W ALCOTT AVEFERGUS FALLS, MN 56538-0655

NONPROFIT ORGUS POSTAGE PAIDFERGUS FALLS MN

PERMIT NO. 289

w w w . c l b a . o r g / g i v i n g P. O . B o x 6 5 5F e r g u s F a l l s , M N 5 6 5 3 8

ONLINE: BY MAIL (U.S.):P. O . B o x 7 3 9B i r c h H i l l s , S K S 0 J 0 G 0

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W hich of the following numbers is larger 000,000,000,000 or 1,000? Obviously the number with the “1” in front of the zeros is larger since zero is zero no matter how many times

it is repeated. The works that a person does in his own strength are like the zeros. No matter how many they are, without the number one (Jesus) they are valueless. But when zeros are added behind the One, the result is exponential! The gospel of justifying grace gives stewardship not only its starting point but also the power which enables it and keeps it going. In the third chapter of Ephesians Paul describes the great things that Christ does in our lives: the joy, the strength, the peace, the steadiness which result from faith in him. All this, he says, happens “by the action of his power within us.” The word Paul uses for power is a greek word, dynamis. He speaks about knowing the “power of the resurrection”, whose source is the same One (Jesus) who created the universe by a word and who now is at work within us to accomplish His good pleasure. Here is indeed the secret of our strength. Please consider partnering with us, as we follow the One whom gives us joy, strength, peace, and steadiness, the One that has called us as a family to join Him in His mission.

Received as of Oct. 3, 2011

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