New & Unique Locations to Plant a Church

Tag Archive - plant

New & Unique Locations to Plant a Church

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Zoning ordinances, school and hotel usage regulations, overpriced rents, local restrictions on religious organizations – new churches face numerous challenges in finding a place to meet. With God’s help and provision, Converge church planters take some creative approaches to resolve this problem. Here are a few…

#1 Church in a Movie Theater
Iron Ridge Church
Waukon, Iowa
Marlan Mincks, pastor

After Mincks inked the contract to purchase the Main Feature Theatre & Pizza Pub in October 2007, the church decided to keep the restaurant open and remodel the theater as its sanctuary. All restaurant profits go to Iowa church planting.

#2 Church in a Skating Rink
Ambassadors of Christ Fellowship
Columbus, Georgia
Luis Scott, pastor

In 2010 ACF bought the 25,000-square-foot Lambert Skating Rink, which had been unoccupied for six years. After remodeling the rink, the church opened its sanctuary in October 2011 and added eight classrooms and three nurseries in 2012. English and Spanish-speaking congregations share the facilities. A fellowship area, café and offices are under construction.

#3 Church in a Computer Store
Heartland Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
Darryn Scheske, pastor

Leading a new church of 30 people, pastor Scheske signed a lease in May 2001 on a former Elek-Tek Computer store. The church remodeled the building for classrooms, offices and a 1,000-seat sanctuary. Since then, additional sites were added in Indianapolis and at Purdue University in Lafayette.

#4 Church in a Movie Theater
Epikos Church
Milwaukee, West Allis
Danny Parmelee, pastor

Founded in 2004 in Milwaukee, Epikos purchased the Paradise Theater in suburban West Allis in June 2011 and completed remodeling a year later. Continuing to meet in Milwaukee, they opened their West Allis campus in June 2012.

#5 Coffeehouse & Church Combo
SoZo Coffeehouse & Missio Dei Community Church
Chandler, Arizona
Scott Morgan, pastor

When you walk into SoZo Coffeehouse in Chandler, Arizona you won’t see crosses and Bible verses on the walls. And you won’t know a church of more than 100 people worships here every Sunday. In fact, the only hint of a church you’ll find is an 8.5”x11” sheet of paper displayed on the countertop. It reads, “Missio Dei Community Church meets here every Sunday. All are welcome.” Pastor and owner Scott Morgan calls SoZo Coffeehouse and Missio Dei Community Church his “unique venture,” a combination of business and missions.

#6 Church in a Gas Station
Epiphany Station
Thief River Falls, Minnesota
Jeff Gauss, pastor

Available sites were hard to find in Thief River Falls for this 45-member church plant. After a long search, church planter Jeff Gauss settled on remodeling a gas station. Epiphany saw more than 500 attendees this Easter.

*This article first appeared in Converge’s Point Magazine. Used by permission.

Posted in Leadership

5 Reasons it’s Good When People Leave Your Church

Monday, May 27, 2013

Over the past 17 years of full time local church ministry I’ve seen people come and go from churches for all kinds of reasons. For the most part I’ve observed that those reasons have more to do with personal preference, style, and relationships than God actually “calling” them to be at one church or another.

And when this begins to happen I’ve seen Church Staff agonize over people departing from their churches. Frustration and fear can begin to creep in. How are we going to replace their financial support? Who is going to fill their recently vacated volunteer role? If they’re leaving and they’ve been here so long, then is there something wrong? Do they know something that I don’t? Should I be leaving too?

Even worse I’ve seen Church Staff begin to make decisions rooted in the fear of people leaving as opposed to the advancement of the mission. And when that begins to happen it’s a clear indicator that the church is drifting towards becoming insider focused.

What if I told you that people leaving your church can actually be a good thing? Maybe even the best thing? Below are 5 reasons that it’s actually good when people leave your Church:

1. They fell in love with who you were, not with who you are becoming

They’re stuck in the past. They were there when the church was small enough that you could know everybody by name and the Pastor was more available. Or maybe their favorite Staff Member excelled in their role when the church was smaller but it passed by their capacity and they’ve been moved to a different role, or they’re off the bus all together. Now things have changed and they’ve become critical that things aren’t the same anymore. You know people are stuck in the past when they keep talking about the “good ‘ole days” instead of what God is doing now.

2. It creates new opportunities

When people leave your church it creates an opportunity for new people to jump in, serve, and fill the gap. The exciting thing about new people is they always have fresh eyes, a different experience base, a new perspective, and new ideas. When people leave your church it’s an incredible opportunity for an infusion of new talent and ideas that will help propel things forward.

Posted in Leadership

Join me at Ignite 2013

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Ignite 2013 is right around the corner and early bird pricing ends in just a month! Ignite is intentionally designed for Church Planters, Planting Teams and Pastors who want to explore planting daughter churches or launching multi-site congregations.

You and your team will have opportunities to learn best practices from nationally recognized church planting leaders. I’ll be involved teaching a breakout session and interviewing Alan Hirsch in another. I’d love to connect with you, if you’re there come by and see me!

Dates & Location: March 5-7 at Cornerstone Christian Church in Phoenix, AZ

Cost: Early Bird Pricing ends January 1: $99/person or $79/per person for a group of 3+ from the same church. Click here to register!

Some of the Speakers:

Alan Hirsch
Alan Hirsch is the founding director of Forge Mission Training Network. Currently he co-leads Future Travelers, an innovative learning program helping megachurches become missional movements. Known for his innovative approach to mission, Alan is considered to be a thought-leader and key mission strategist for churches across the Western world. Alan is co-founder and adjunct faculty for the M.A. in Missional Church Movements at Wheaton College in Illinois. He is also adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary, George Fox Seminary, among others, and he lectures frequently throughout Australia, Europe, and the United States. He is series editor for Baker Books’ Shapevine series , IVP’s Forge line, and a contributing editor of Leadership Journal.

Ed Stetzer
Ed Stetzer has trained pastors and church planters on five continents, holds two masters degrees and two doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books. Ed is a contributing editor for Christianity Today, a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today’s Building Church Leaders, and is frequently cited or interviewed in news outlets such as USAToday and CNN. Ed is Visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has taught at fifteen other colleges and seminaries. He also serves as Pastor of Grace Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Chan Kilgore
Chan Kilgore is the Lead Pastor of CrossPointe Church in Orlando, FL, a church he planted in 2002. In addition to his pastoral duties at CrossPointe, he serves as the Florida Regional Leader for Acts 29, a church planting network. Chan is grateful for the partnership CrossPointe has with Converge Worldwide. On a personal note, he has been married for over 20 years to wife Stacy and is the proud father of 3 girls.

Posted in Leadership

church planting in arizona

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

If God is calling you to plant a church but you’re not sure where, then you need to consider Vision Arizona. Vision Arizona is a movement of Arizona churches that strategically envision, establish, equip, and empower church planters in the church planting movement of Converge Worldwide.

We are church planters who, together, plant church planting churches. We remain open to current church planting models, for example, missional, attractional, cultural, urban and suburban, as well as other multiplication methods, for example, parenting, partnering, pioneering, multi-site, satellite, franchising and network churches. All of our church planters are recruited, pre-assessed, approved, assessed, trained (including internships), coached and funded.

Why church plant with Vision Arizona?

1. A proven track record of planting successful churches will allow you to learn from the mistakes and success of others who have gone before you.

2. Effective assessment and training will prepare you for the future.

3. Funding will help give you the resources and tools you need to turn vision into reality.

4. Ongoing coaching and development so you won’t be alone.

Proven Population Growth

Among the 50 states and District of Columbia, Arizona’s percentage of population gain from 1990 to 2000 is approximately 40 percent, and has grown approximately 14 percent from 2000 to 2005.

Expected Population Growth

Arizona had a population of 5.13 million people in 2000. The state ranked as the 20th most populous that year. By 2015, Arizona is projected to be the 13th most populous state with 7.5 million people and by 2030 it is projected to be the 10th most populous state with 10.7 million people.

Think the Lord may be leading you to plant a church with Vision Arizona? Contact me so I can help you take your next steps!

Posted in Leadership

imago dei community church phoenix is launching!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

I’m thrilled to be able to announce that Imago Dei Community Church Phoenix is launching on Sunday, September 23^rd at 10:00am at the Barry Goldwater Performing Arts Center! Check out the video below!

Imago Dei is a Vision Arizona Church Plant, which is the Church Planting Network that Sun Valley Community Church is deeply involved in.

If you live in the North Phoenix area don’t miss the 23^rd!