Update on Church Planting Goal

The Team 

Our TAP (Target Analysis Process) Team consisting of our Regional Minister, Dan Andrews, Natalie Cooley, Bryan and Megan Dewhurst, Dean and Michele Messerly, Vince Lindaman, Joe Simon, my wife, Pam, and I met for our last official meeting on Sunday, April 30.  This was our “Confirmation Meeting.”  We spent time in prayer, praying through Psalm 145 together, and had a time for silent confession.  We really wanted to hear from God.   

The Process 

We had spent the previous month engaging with key people from the target towns we felt the Lord had led us to focus on—Conrad, Gladbrook, Shell Rock, and Janesville.  We had already visited each of these towns and prayed over them.  We compiled notes from all the conversations members of our team had with people from these towns.  I asked each member to rate each town with regard to its openness to a church plant, the viability of a church plant, and the need for a church plant.  Finally, each member was asked to choose the town they felt we should plant in first. 

The Towns 

Conrad had the least need with a church plant already started recently in town and a large youth outreach from the Presbyterian Church there. Gladbrook scored the greatest for need but was the least viable, with the town seeing some difficult economic times after the derecho and the closing of the elementary school. Gladbrook also did not seem very open to outsiders or to a new church.  Janesville seemed like a viable town, which could use a new church, and had a great location to meet in with its school, but no one from Janesville really wanted to visit with anyone on our team about this possibility. Feedback from outside the team was that Janesville was awfully close to Cedar Falls/Waterloo. Finally, Shell Rock seemed quite viable with several new industries and employers springing up all around the town.  Their Baptist church (which seemed more legalistic and separatist) had closed, and they currently had a couple of struggling congregations and one relatively healthy but very traditional Lutheran congregation.  There are some good churches operating in nearby Waverly with which Shell Rock shares a middle school and high school, but it didn’t seem these churches were reaching out to the unchurched in Shell Rock.  Finally, many of the people we contacted in Shell Rock seemed open to talking about the idea and the Elementary School principal encouraged us to come and said we would be able to rent space in the elementary school after its major renovation next year. 

While the great majority of our team voted for Shell Rock when forced to make their choice, the unanimous confirmation that we received from our meeting was “We don’t feel comfortable locking in a location before knowing how a prospective church planter feels about it.”  The team was enthusiastic about seeing new congregations started, and one was willing to travel to wherever we decide on and help start it, and a couple of others were open to being involved depending on the location.  Another person from the congregation approached me about helping with music at the church plant after being asked by someone on our team.  This person feels a strong calling and has great gifts.  God continues to stir. 

The Planter?    

Through this TAP process, we did identify a prospective church planting couple.  The man was a former youth pastor for Victor Baptist church who had served for several years on staff with Dan Andrews.  On May 13, Dan and I met him and his wife and their seven-week-old baby for lunch at Cooler Inc. on Cherry Street in Shell Rock.  We discussed how the support for a plant might work.  The owner of the establishment, Teresa, came over to see the baby and asked us where we were from and what we were doing.  We told her we were looking at planting a church in rural Iowa and were considering Shell Rock.  She mentioned that she had an “upper room” above the bar where people in the community meet.  I asked if we could see it and she gladly showed it to us and offered it for use (FREE).  It was a positive interaction and certainly a space that could be useful to a future church plant.   

On Tuesday, May 17, Dan called the prospective planter to see what he was thinking after our meeting.  They decided after seeing the town that it was too much for them right now to take on a rural Iowa church plant.   

The Fit 

Stu Streeter from the North American Baptist Conference, who spoke at our church on the Sunday of the annual meeting in January, oversees church multiplication for the NAB.  He organizes the NAB’s Fit Assessments.  These Fit Assessments evaluate potential planters, missionaries, and church revitalizers with regard to their suitability to these demanding callings. The next one is July 10-12 in Cincinnati, OH.  The one after that will be in February of 2024.  It would be great to have a candidate to send to Cincinnati in July. 

The Prayer 

Our next step then is to really pray for and seek out a church planter with a heart for rural Iowa.  We have an attractive call statement that we need to get in front of the eyes of the right person or the right couple.   

Please be praying that God would call a gifted church planter to partner with us.  Pray that God will give us fresh eyes to see the spiritual needs in our own ministry area while we wait.  Pray that God would continue to stir hearts and give us direction as we step into new territory.