One of the great temptations in pastoring is putting people in places of leadership before they are ready. Let’s face it; sometimes it seems like a warm body is better than having to do something yourself. We need people to serve and lead, but there is a real danger in releasing people too soon before […]

A person begins their interaction with your church simply as a participant. It is a one way relationship as they receive, listen, and learn. They enjoy the benefits of the gathering and community. It’s necessary for people to begin in this stage and to dive into all the things offered to them. A problem occurs […]

Three years ago the lead pastor of my home church, Vineyard Mishawaka, was prompted by God to create five new Vineyard church plants or campuses in our local area. As the executive pastor, I was part of explaining the opportunity to the entire team. There were various emotions and tons of questions. We couldn’t answer […]

As pastors over the past few decades, we have seen a lot of really great leaders come and go. In the Vineyard we have always been taught to hold our leaders open handedly. We’ve discovered that by being the kind of people who will not only invest in others, but also be willing and eager […]

A foundational assumption of any church planter should be that it is up to God to do the work of putting your church planting team together. It’s an assumption that comes out of a genuine expectation of the Lord to build the church. Thus, the first thing to do is not to make a list […]

Doing constant leadership development in a real world, dynamically changing church environment, where urgent needs often replace long term priorities, is always a challenge. Like with any growing organization, we desperately needed an incubator for new leaders. We want to do leadership development well, not just because these people will serve in many areas of […]