Saturday, August 30, 2008
Church Planter Retreat
They gathered from as far away as Denver, San Antonio, and Harrisonburg (VA) for the third annual Mission Alive planter retreat—twelve church planters and their families. Charme Robarts and Robert Foster, leaders from the Skillman church in Dallas, came as their spiritual guides. John Cooke, Tod and Candace Vogt, and Gailyn and Becky Van Rheenen, the staff of Mission Alive, participated as encouragers, counselors, and catalysts.
The site was the Briarwood Retreat Center (www.briarwoodretreat.org) north of Fort Worth and south of Denton. The winding trails and prayer sites (especially the unique crosses) provided a unique environment to develop meaningful and supportive relationships, enhance our sense of peace and excitement about our walk with God, expand our awareness of how searchers and new believers are spiritually formed in the process of church planting, and provide a safe setting to talk about the joys and struggles of church planting.
The theme of the retreat was The Dwelling Place, built around the pilgrim praises of Psalm 84. Church planters are on a spiritual journey to come into the presence of God, to his tabernacle, and to encourage others to accompany them on the journey. They have set their hearts on pilgrimage (vs. 5) to enter the presence of God (vs. 1-2) and to ever praise him (vs. 4). They are blessed because they dwell in God’s house (vs. 1-4), their strength is in the Lord (vs. 5-8), and they trust in God (vs. 9-12).
A high point of the retreat was telling personal stories, sharing the joys and struggles of the journey. Following are nuggets gleaned from church planter narratives.
- God has not as much led us into church planting as he has led us into Himself. In the valleys and deserts . . . we meet God . . . , even when are about ready to give up.
- God has been fine-tuning our lives.
- We have been led into church planting by surprises and paradoxes. Our lives were stretched between a church we love greatly and a campus open to ministry. We were so invested in church that we were not able to engage students on the campus.
- We don’t have it all together. Sometimes I try to fix her, to make her a perfect church planter. We have learned to realize our differences, our unique giftedness. She, for instance, is an artist; I am a statistician. We each experience God differently.
- On our journey we move from exhilaration to fear and back again.
- We fit so well with our team. We work as family. What happens in ministry is fluid. We flow in and out of ministry as a unit ministering out of the unique gifts God has given us.
- I decided to go along with church planting for the ride, but God has led and enabled me to become a partner in ministry!
- I am a ministry dork. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I have discovered God’s faithfulness.
- We are risk-takers. We stepped into church planting with inadequate finances and God has amazingly provided.
- I have felt as uncomfortable in unchurched spaces as unchurched people feel in churched spaces.
- He was an extreme alcoholic. When we met he said, “You are a minister. I cannot be your friend.” He called, however, after getting stuck while four-wheeling asking for help. We found him stuck in the mud of life and the trap of alcoholism. We are on a journey with messy people. Our goal is to get these people out of the mud.
- Wife: “I am a completely different person now.” Husband: “I think I like people more than I think I did.”
- I am learning to love all over again. I have had to confess that sometimes I hate those I minister with.
- Most people in our area have experienced the church scene and have rejected it. We learn to depend on God as we minister among them.
- Once I cried on Gailyn’s shoulder saying, “We have no leaders.” But God in his own timing has raised up his leaders. Change from old lifestyles and patterns to the way of God does not occur as quickly or smoothly as we expected.
Church planters’ lives frequently become too crowded, too busy. It was thus a joy to be led by Charme Robarts and Robert Foster on three spiritual pilgrimages. During these periods, we were given permission to stop, to be quiet before the Lord, to wait for him to mold and shape us.
Three focused worship periods were spiritually formative yet very different. Nick and Christal Haner from Higher Point in Denver led us through song and meditations to reach out and up to God. During this period, we developed a longing to be in God’s presence (Ps. 84:1-4). The music was passionate, stirring. The second, facilitated by Mike and JeEtta Deaton from Harrisonburg, VA, was interactive, intergenerational. Families drew pictures depicting the experiences of people on the journey to enter the presence of God. Groups of worshippers then read and reread Psalm 84:5-8 and discussed meaningful themes about God’s strength within us. Finally, Ryan and Claudia Porche from Uptown Dallas inspirationally concluded the retreat by using songs and readings to lead us to trust in God on our journey, the theme of Ps. 84:9-12.
Perhaps the greatest growth took place during in-between times and late at night through intimate sharing and mutual encouragement. Laughter punctuated the first night as the group played games together. At other times participants interacted in groups of 2-4, spontaneously sharing, encouraging, and praying. On the second night a group started singing, others joined, and soon most of the participants were lifting praises to God.
Church planters were learning from each other . . . becoming a community.
Gailyn and Becky Van Rheenen
Facilitators of Church Planting
Mission Alive