Expanding the Kingdom through Church Multiplication

On Thursday afternoon I had the opportunity to have lunch with and then spend the afternoon with four other guys in Vancouver, Washington (not to be confused with Vancouver, BC, Canada).

This was the first meeting of the newly formed Pacific Northwest District (EFCA) Church Planting Team. To my knowledge, this was the first meeting of such a church planting team in the PNWD for many years. Those present included three pastors, a District Superintendent and me. All of us have a heart for church planting and a desire to see church planters and church plants multiplied throughout the mission fields of Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

We spent time over lunch at the Olive Garden getting to know each other’s stories and why we share a common interest in church planting. Then we reassembled for some great discussion.

Much of what we talked about were the ideas and principles from Steve Addison’s book, Movements that Change the World. We dreamed together about how we might set the stage for a church multiplication movement to take place in the Pacific Northwest.

Addison writes about the five key elements found in movements that change the world: white-hot faith, commitment to a cause, contagious relationships, rapid mobilization and adaptive methods. Could it be that God might stir up such a movement for church multiplication here in the Pacific Northwest just like he is doing elsewhere in the world today?

Together we affirmed the vision shared by District Superintendent Bruce Martin – see the number of Evangelical Free Churches increase from 46 to 90-100 in the next ten years. Our desire is to work with the current pastors and churches here to help see this happen.

This is exciting stuff, especially in a district and region known much more for closing churches than for planting new churches.

The Pacific Northwest District currently has one active church plant, but three more may begin within the next 12 months, God willing. Please pray with me and us for a move of the Holy Spirit which results in multiplying disciple-making churches in the Pacific Northwest.

Dealing with the Unexpected

In the middle of March I woke up one morning with lower back pains which in a few days had spread to my lower front abdomen. Rest did not do much so I eventually went to my doc. He was puzzled and so I ended up at a neurosurgeon who put me through an MRI and discovered severe spinal stenosis (narrowing of the space around my spinal column nerves). Surgery was recommended but a follow up MRI indicated problems requiring surgery in my lower back and neck. Marty and I decided to have outpatient minimally invasive surgery on my back first while we pray.

That was step one. Now comes step two. My neurosurgeon wanted to have me checked by a cardiologist before he attempted any surgery so I went to a cardiologist who had me go through a nuclear stress test because of my previous heart artery stent procedures 4 years ago. I go through that 3 ½ hour test and head off to Tacoma where I am serving as interim pastor. Two days later I get a phone call from the cardiologist’s office with the news that part of my heart is not getting enough blood supply so he will do a heart catheterization to see what is causing the lack of adequate blood supply. That procedure will happen next Thursday in the morning. I find myself dealing with the unexpected and thanking God for your prayers.

So at the present time, here’s what I am facing:.


#1-Heart catheterization with possible angioplasty and/or stent placement next week. If that one-day procedure doesn’t work, then I may need something else done.

#2-Lower back minimally invasive surgery to open up space for my nerves and take care of some disc herniation. This too should be a one-day outpatient surgery.

#3-Soon I will probably need a more extensive surgery on my neck involving fusion of three vertebrae with laminectomies.

#s 2 and 3 are dependent on a successful treatment and resolution of #1.
These issues are really no surprise since I have a history of cardiac artery disease and stent placement for blockages and 3 different back surgeries in the lower back and neck, but they are certainly unexpected and will require God to provide funds for the insurance deductables.

So thank you for your prayers and please pray for wisdom and guidance for the doctors and health care people involved resulting in healing from the Lord. Pray that I will not have to miss much time away from my many ministry responsibilities. Pray for Marty who will be giving some home care for me while I recover and as she works part-time. And pray for us for the peace of God, patience for recovery and healing, dealing with pain caused by my neck problems while I wait for surgery, and for the strength and courage to trust the Lord for his will.

Adjusting to a Busy Ministry Schedule

I enjoy blogging, but finding the time to do it and do it well is another story.
In July I began a new ministry as an Intentional Interim Senior Pastor. This full-time ministry is an addition to the coaching, consulting and training that I am also beginning to do in my role as Church Planting Coach in the Pacific Northwest. This is a bi-vocational ministry where my “day job” is also ministry but in my current case a full-time-plus day job.

Now, I’m only doing this double duty because the Interim Pastorate is short-term, meaning six-months to a year depending on the need and how quickly the church will be able to call a new senior pastor. This church ministry is a God-send and an answer to prayer for our “daily bread.” But it is still a very demanding schedule, especially at our age and energy level.

For example, it’s my day off and I just finished writing the pastor’s blog for the church web site, posted it, and then turned my attention to writing this blog. Following this I will be editing my Coach and Equip web site and cleaning my desk. I can do this because it’s a quiet day with Marty at work handing out samples at Costco, and it’s raining outside. At least I got a nap in today and was able to sample Apple Strudel handed out at Costco in Bellingham by Marty. I’m also able to do this because I finished my sermon preparation and sermon Power Point for tomorrow in Tacoma.

So, to my coaching, consulting, and training, add the following “normal” church stuff: sermon preparation and preaching, counseling, training leadership, recruiting leadership, coaching leadership, hospital and home visitation, blogging, entering stuff on Facebook and Twitter, phone calls, reading, researching the church neighborhood, preparing for and leading the weekly Bible Study and Prayer meeting, attending church activities in the neighborhood, leading staff meetings and coaching the staff, planning, preparing for an all-day leaders retreat, and did I say praying? Now, what am I forgetting?

All this is to say I need prayer, and from time-to-time a bit of encouragement.
Oh yes – I will soon be having surgery for my back so my schedule will need to be adjusted some for a few weeks. More to come on that soon.