The church planting pastor
We gave Jerome Stafford a brand new kind of role when we made him our latest Pastor. We call him the “church planting” pastor. That means
- he is making the contacts out on the edges of our community,
- he is trying to establish beachheads where we have not been yet
- he has a largest “love list” full of new acquaintances
- he is, specifically, the co-pastor of of our latest congregation in the Northwest, until it gets established and is no longer considered “affiliated.”
For some of us that sounds like fun, the best job ever, “How do I get to do that?”
For the rest of us that sounds more like, “Oh Lord, thank you I have another role in the body!”
It’s a hard job, but we all do our bit
We are all cell and congregation multipliers in our own way, so the Lord already gave us some bit of what Jerome specializes in. But, for the most part, our reactions might be apt. It is a hard job.
- It is about meeting new people all the time.
- It is about being rejected more than you like.
- It is about overcoming the fear of being rejected every day so you can connect and build new love relationships that speak of Jesus and potentially lead to following Him and to being part of our team (or someone’s!).
- It is putting all your entrepreneurial skills in action in the cause of extending the kingdom and building up Circle of Hope.
You’ve got to run the race
We want to form a self-sustaining tribe in the Northwest that can afford the luxury of a building and pastor, which makes it a long-lasting influence in a fluid and spiritually deteriorating situation.
That is hard, but it is also a lot of fun to run the race hard and strain toward the goal line, like Paul felt. There are so many moments of wonder when you are out on the edge trusting Jesus! For instance, Jerome can tell the story better, but he was out making new contacts and met a young man who read his flyer and immediately said, “Yes, I think I could use some Christianity. I’ll be a part of your cell.” Last night he told us all that the experience is stoking his passion. He loves it.
[And thanks again Darcy and Ellison!]