Where We've Come From
Fellowship is a church plant from Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Ark in October 2002. We have recently relaunched with a clear focus on the mission Jesus has called us to, and it came through repentance…
Repent and Relaunch
Background
We were halfway into our 6th year as a church plant in Northeast Arkansas when the ground began to shake. Although our city lies near the New Madrid fault just west of the Mississippi, this was not an earthquake. The first rumble came at the announcement that one of our staff members—an original co-church planter—was being called to another church plant in another state. Jesus graced us with a smooth and trouble-free transition, yet our three remaining staff members and elders thought it was the ideal opportunity to take stock regarding our current position.
To be clear where we were when we asked that question, it’s helpful to know where we weren’t.
- We were not a high profile church in a glamorous setting. IE No big city.
- We had no ultra ‘high capacity’ leaders (and still don’t). IE No big names.
- We had never experience explosive growth. IE No spikes on any chart.
We were a good, solid Bible-centered church with great people in the religious south.
In spite of who we weren’t, we still had a zealous passion for Jesus and His church.
So over the next several months, we asked one simple question: “Jesus, as the head of the church, how would you evaluate Fellowship?”
How Jesus answered us over the months to follow was gracious, honest, loving, passionate, restoring, hope-filled, and satisfying…but it wasn’t easy…or fast. All that He shared with us would fill numerous pages, but where He led us ultimately was clear. Jesus showed us that we were not effectively making disciples…and it was OUR sin as leaders, not our people’s sin. So Jesus called us to relaunch our church to be a gospel-centered, disciple-reproducing, church-planting church for our city, our region and the world. And it would ALL begin with repentance!
Here are five key areas where Jesus called us as leaders to repent of before our people. We’ll provide a brief explanation after each. Our prayer is that you too might be led to ask Jesus to evaluate His church He called you to serve. And maybe, just maybe, we may serve as a humble example of how so many of us have strayed from the purpose and the power of the gospel.
5 Areas of Repentance to Relaunch/Replant Fellowship
Sin 1. We planted programs before planting the gospel.
When we first planted Fellowship, we were resolved NOT to hold our 'launch' Sunday until we were ready to pull off a worship service, children's ministry/program, a youth ministry, men’s & women’s ministries, and small groups. Without giving it a second thought, we had equated all of those good things with "church". With all of our effort focused on launching and sustaining what we considered ‘essential’, we failed to plant the ONLY thing that matters—the power of the gospel!
Sin 2. We taught our people great Bible content without calling them to follow Jesus on the mission of the gospel (ie discipleship).
Bible-saturated content abounded. Our Doctrinal statement was orthodox. Seminary degrees were in tote. “If we teach it, they will come” was our implicit mantra…which also meant we were convinced that “If they hear it, they will learn it and live it.” We even made it clear that we were here for the purpose ‘evangelism and discipleship.’ Without giving it a second thought, we had equated disseminating great Bible content with "discipleship". With all of our effort focused on content, we failed to implement the ‘discipleship along the way’ model of Jesus—the purpose/mission of the gospel!
Sin 3. We equipped people for our world (the "church" world) and NOT for their world (everyday life).
We were determined NOT to be a ‘programmatic’ church, but an ‘equipping’ church…and we were succeeding. The only problem was, our people were being equipped to live in our world—our ‘non-programmatic’ ministries, our activities, our facilities, our small groups. This was a ‘world’ that many not-yet-believers in our city were all too aware of, but uninterested in. Without giving it a second thought, we had created an alternative world apart from the one Jesus sent us into. With all of our effort focused on managing and maintaining, we failed to show people how the gospel transforms ALL of life, the everyday stuff—the reach of gospel!
Sin 4. We assumed people knew more about the gospel than they really did—beginning with us a leaders.
As we launched, we asked all of our members to ‘do’ three things: faithfully attend our Sunday morning corporate worship gatherings, serve in a ministry of our church using their gifts, and actively participate in one of our small groups. Essentially ‘church’ became a place we "go to" and some things we “do”, rather than “who we are.” Without giving it a second thought, we had called people to “do” some good things without ever showing them what Jesus had already done for them and who they were in Him. With all of our effort focused on keeping our people “doing” church things, we failed to call them to be who Jesus made them to be—a gospel community on mission!
Sin 5. We were more concerned with filling our services than filling our city with people who live and love like Jesus.
What was last week’s attendance? Although we weren’t big number people (because we’ve never had that many people to ‘number’), or highly attractional and slick (because we’ve never had the monetary resources or a large enough talent pool to pull it off) that became the de facto measurement for effectiveness and health. With that being the standard by which the leaders evaluated Fellowship, it was only natural that our people followed suit. Much of the impact Fellowship could have on our city was tied to whether or not we could get someone to the ‘service’ and whether or not they liked our contemporary God-centered music and “non-watered down” Bible-centered teaching. Without giving it a second thought, we had made the goal getting our neighbors in rather than sending gospel-centered followers of Jesus out to be a blessing to our neighbors. With all of our effort focused on attracting, we failed to show people the joy of blessing their neighbors as gospel communities that exist for others—the life and love of the gospel!
Where We Are Now
We love where Jesus has led our church, even though our present external status hasn’t changed much.
- We are still not a high profile church in a glamorous setting.
- We still have no ultra ‘high capacity’ leaders, no forth-coming books and no conference speaking engagements.
- We still have not experienced explosive ‘numerical’ growth.
We do, however, see Jesus helping us rediscover God’s missionary heart to restore all things (and we love it). We do sense a laser-sharp focus on where Jesus is calling us, what a disciple is, and how Jesus is calling us to reproduce disciples in our context by the power of the gospel. We do have wonderful brothers in Acts 29 whom we’re learning much from. We do have wonderful people who have trusted us and are excited about where Jesus is leading Fellowship. We do have laughable dreams for our city, our region and the world. And we do have the Spirit of the resurrected Christ.
We’ve also learned that repenting as leaders is at the heart of the gospel. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all begin with a call to repent—the repentance Peter, James and John would have had to continually walk through as leaders of the church. Repentance is the gateway to Jesus, making room for Him to do His restorative, powerful work.