A Real Live Church Planting Story

Here's an excerpt from a note we recieved fom Gerry Michalski (www.soulsanctuary.ca) about the last church planting congress, NEXT? (Vancouver, 2003):

As I struggled with what I thought was a midlife crisis, it was suggested to me to go to a church planting conference. Church Planting!!?? What a joke! I am not a church planter. Those guys are "out there," "risky," "carefree" and I am "safe." And since I am not a golfer, why go to a conference?

Regardless, I hesitantly went to NEXT? the church planting conference in Vancouver. WOW! There as I wrestled with GOD'S call on my life was to plant a church, or am I just frustrated. I was amazed to hear that my feelings and my story was affirmed and retold in the testimonies of many church planters who were featured.

We were given a handout at NEXT? that quoted Marcel Proust who said, "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes." This statement was key for me in my reflection of what was God attempting to do in my life. GOD was speaking to me at this conference, but I still needed confirmation. I decided to dedicate myself prayerfully for the next few weeks to see Winnipeg in a new and deeper way. I began to ask myself, "What does God want to do in Winnipeg?"

I began to reflect on four words: love, communicate, influence, and heal. I began to ask, what they mean in relationship to my neighbourhood and city? During this time I began to distinguish between church traditions and the Christian traditions, and move the emphasis from the former to the latter. I began to look at the thought of a church through the eyes of someone with no knowledge of Christianity: would they see more church tradition or Christian tradition?

And then Gerry describes his decision to plant a church in Winnipeg:

We set out starting with 50 people and we were obedient to what GOD was placing on our hearts. Today, there are no regrets at all but don’t get me wrong, it is hard work. Yet, I find myself encouraging other pastors to go out and start fresh, plant a church, develop ministry according to how they could do church differently.

Finally, the one thing that stuck out to me at NEXT? was that each church planter acknowledged that this work was GOD’S and not theirs. Today at Soul Sanctuary, GOD is the author and we are just the pages upon which he is writing.

To those struggling with the call of GOD I can only ask if you see yourself as a virus (pastor) with a mission to change, going into a new body (church). That body is either going to fight you until you die, or you may fight with it until you win. Or do you create a new body that is shaped with the vision that GOD has placed in your heart.

Church planting is hard work, maybe you need to go to MOSAIC in Toronto and prayerfully see if this is where GOD is calling you?