Around two years ago, Jessika and I knew that God was calling us to something other than student ministry. We had been doing student ministry together for 8 years but knew we were being pulled in another direction. After reflecting and praying, we felt God was calling us to plant a church. But, we really didn’t know anything about how to go about that. In searching for answers, I have been able to be a church planting resident at The Well Church in Abilene since August 2020.

During my time as a resident, I have been poured into and have been equipped to be a better pastor and church planter. When I first started the residency, we thought God would call us to a big city like Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, or maybe even Houston. However, as we continued praying, we felt God wanted us to be closer to where we already live and felt settled to plant in Abilene. So, we moved forward with the plan to plant in Abilene.

As we started to build relationships with the people of Abilene, we began to realize the loss we would experience in leaving the community that we love so much. Jessika and I have spent most of our lives in Clyde. We have a deep connection and love for the community, and now, our kids love the community too. We never thought Clyde would be an option. There are many churches in Clyde that we love and we’ve always felt there wasn’t a need for a new one, with so many churches doing great things. But, God has continued to draw us toward Clyde.

I was recently reading Eugene Peterson’s book,  Run with the Horses. He walks through the story of Jeremiah. When you get to Jeremiah 29, the people of God have been exiled to Babylon. They don’t want to be there, they’re just waiting for a time they can return to their home country. Amid this exile, God tells the people to get comfortable, to marry, to have children, to start a life, don’t wait until you are out of exile. God had placed them there for a reason, and asked them not to look ahead, but to be present right where he had them. 

Jessika and I were looking to plant a church in a larger city, where there are more people, which might mean a bigger church. But God has made it clear that he has placed us here for a reason, and that we need to put down roots and come alongside the people of Clyde, come alongside the established churches and be co-laborers for Christ, in hopes that the city of Clyde will have Gospel flourishment. We believe God has called us to plant a church in the small city we love, Clyde, TX.

The city of Clyde has a rich history of long-standing churches in the community. Many of these churches have helped establish the city of Clyde. However, with all of these churches, one can still find a city in need of life, hope, and the good news of Jesus Christ.

There is always a need for churches that are reaching the lost, discipling the saved, raising up leaders, and then sending out those leaders. A church’s goal is not to have numbers that are greater than the week before, but to have a kingdom impact in the city it is in; caring for the saints, reaching out to the unseen, imitating Christ.

We desire to have an authentic community of believers who share the proclamation that Jesus is Lord, share in prayer and communion, and be a refuge for their struggles where they can confess, find help, and find truth in Christ.

We hope to bring together all the different types of people that make Clyde unique, to become one body, and be united by the proclamation that Jesus is Lord.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Revelation 7:9-10

WHO WE HOPE TO BE

Unified in our Proclamation that Jesus is Lord.

We are a gathering of believers who proclaims Jesus Christ as our Lord. We strive to be unified in this proclamation and embrace each other and our differences with the Gospel of Jesus shaping us. This is why we can be from many different backgrounds, ethnicities, socio-economic statuses, and still be unified in Christ.

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock (proclamation that Jesus is Lord) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Matthew 16:18, parenthesis added

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28

Unified in Prayer and Communion

In our unity as believers, we are unified in prayer and communion. A constant reminder that we are one, that we partake weekly in remembering who Jesus is, what he’s done, and what he will do. We pray as one, as people who know God and pray for his will.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Acts 2:42

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 4:31

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11:26

Unified in Authentic Family

When it comes to a gospel-centered community of believers, the idea of the family cannot be ignored. In the Gospels, Jesus uses family terms to describe God (father), to describe his followers (brothers and sisters), and then Paul describes the church as a family. In our unity, we desire authentic family, where we can share our struggles in light of the love and grace we receive from Christ, our Savior and Lord. We confess our sins to one another. We believe that as a church, we must be unified to survive. We all have a part to play, no one sits on the sidelines. We show each other love and grace as we strive to be like Christ and carry each other along when needed. We may not always get along, much like a family, but we continually care for one another.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24-25

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,

Romans 15:5

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

James 5:13-16

WHY WE’RE HERE

Jesus used one of the most intimate gatherings in Jewish culture to reach out to his community. He invited sinners to sit with him at his table, to share a meal with him, so much so that he and his disciples were called drunks and gluttons. Our community of believers will be called The Table, a place that sinners, which we all are, have a seat to hear the proclamation that Jesus is Lord and that there is grace and love for all. There is always room at our table for anyone, no matter their struggles or past. A place that will show the love of Christ, in hopes that we are drawn close to our Savior.

The Son of Man has come, eating and drinking, and you say, “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”

Luke 7:34

We give a seat to the unloved, the unreached, the unseen, in hopes that our community will know that our Father in heaven:

1. Loves Us

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

2. Reached Down to Us Through His Son Jesus

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:3-4

3. Sees Us

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field.

Matthew 9:35-38

HOW WE HOPE TO DO IT

The book of Acts lays out a strategy for what it looks like to plant churches. It is a cyclical pattern of reaching the lost, discipling those who are saved, raising up leaders, training the leaders, and then sending out those leaders to plant a local church. The strategy is nothing if it is not rooted in complete dependence and guidance of the Holy Spirit and through unified prayer.

1. Reach the Lost

The reason to plant a church is to reach the lost in your local community. A church must present the Gospel with the contextualization of the community it is trying to reach. Jesus always contextualized his message depending on his crowd. We see that Paul writes to different churches in different ways. It is no different when a church is trying to reach its community. Although every community is reached differently, every community needs the saving message of Jesus. The message is always the same. A church contextualized by the guidance of the Spirit must have a singular pursuit of the mission that God has given all believers.

2. Disciple the Saved

The model has never been to save the lost and then throw them into the world, but rather to teach those who have been found. A church must invest in the saints, teach them the whole of scripture, the wholeness of God, and the mission that it has been given. A church must not only teach, but also encourage believers. The early believers were constantly praying and encouraging their fellow brothers and sisters. When a church body becomes individually focused, then it becomes crippled.

3. Raise Up Leaders

When a church is reaching the lost, gathering together, and they are beginning to be discipled, then a church must raise up leaders to help lead the church.

This is what we see in Acts. Paul would proclaim the Gospel, teach those who were saved, then he would raise up a leader to continue the ministry that he started. A church needs biblically qualified leaders. Leaders must be trained to be able to lead effectively.

4. Send Out Leaders

The church is not a hoarder of leaders. It should be training up and sending out those leaders to further the mission. Once the leaders are trained and prepared, then the church must be willing to send them out. The church cannot be inwardly focused on how it can grow, but must be outwardly focused on how the Kingdom of God can grow. A church should not stop training and supporting the sent-out leaders, but continually encourage and pray for the sent.

The mission is to continue the work of Christ, to spread the message of reconciliation to the ends of the earth. We must continue to reach the lost, disciple the saved, raise up and train leaders, and send out leaders to continue the mission.

Weekly Ways to Foster this Strategy

1. Weekly Gathering

A believer’s life and growth were never meant to be done in isolation but with other believers stirring them on. Our church has two ways that we hope can stir each other up. We have a weekly gathering, where we come as one to proclaim that Jesus is Lord through scripture, singing, prayer, and communion. All of these are done because of what Jesus has done for us. As a community, we are united together during this weekly gathering.

2. Gospel Communities

We strive to build authentic family and community among the church. In the same way that a city has different families living among it, we desire to have different “families”, or Gospel Communities, that break our large community into groups, that can do life together in an intimate way. They can share their struggles, their joy, and confess their sins to one another. Having a family that will pray for them, will help them grow stronger in their proclamation that Jesus is Lord.

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

8 Normatives to Strive for

The goal of a church is to become established. This is what success looks like. A local church should be working toward these normatives:

1. A body of believers who proclaim Christ is Lord. 
2. A body that has elders who prayerfully, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, lead and are responsible for the local church.
3. A body that has deacons who help take care of and serve the local church.
4. A body that has qualifications, taken from the Bible, for elders and deacons.
5. A body that not only looks inwardly (inside the local body), but outwardly, to be a witness to their local community.
6. A body that looks outwardly for wisdom and mission.
7. A body that practices baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
8. A body that worships together in community regularly.

Success is not having a certain number of people attending, or a certain number being baptized, but it is becoming a healthy established church. My desire is not to have a huge growing church that has plenty of money in the bank, but to be a church that is continually sending out planters, that is discipling the saints, and having an impact in our local community for the kingdom.

Where we hope to be in year one

• Established core team
  • 3 gospel communities meeting once a week
  • Have elder candidates
  • Worshipping together as a community once a week
  • Have deacons who care for and serve the church

Where we hope to be in year five

• Many gospel communities meeting once a week
  • Lay-elders overseeing the church
  • At least two church planters who’ve gone through the residency and have been sent out
  • Help plant two churches
  • Financially independent
  • Strong ministries that cater to children, families, and equipping members

Where we hope to be in year ten

• Full equipping program from birth to death
  • At least 6 church planters who’ve gone through the residency sent out
  • Help plant 6 churches
  • Financially dependent and helping other churches
  • Form a non-profit that helps meet the needs of the city of Clyde
  • A growing staff that can meet the needs of the different ministries in our church

Timeline of Years 1-3

February 2022 – May 2022

• Begin interest meetings for growing a core team
  • Fundraising for church planting, hoping to raise 90% of our yearly budget through external giving.

August 2022 – November 2022

• Core team gatherings to give the vision of our church

January 2023 – December 2023

• Launch Sunday worship gatherings
  • Multiply core team group into 2-3 separate gospel communities meeting weekly
  • Continue fundraising for church planting, hoping to raise 75% of our yearly budget through external giving.

January 2024 – December 2024

• Continue to launch more Gospel Communities that meet weekly
  • Begin to have other ministries that equip members
  • Working towards sending out a church planter from our church
  • Continue fundraising for church planting, hoping to raise 50% of our yearly budget through external giving.

Please pray for The Table and the community of Clyde. We know that the only way a church can be planted is with the help of the Lord! Please pray for partners for us in establishing this church, and pray for hearts to be softened to the message of Christ in Clyde.