On Friday and Saturday I attended a meeting with some United Brethren church planters. A fellow named Tim Roehl, from the Evangelical Church, was brought in as the resource person. Altogether, this was a group of about ten guys who sat around in a living room setting learning and discussing. An intimate setting.

I liked Roehl. He had a lot of good stuff for the guys, and I wrote down some neat insights. Here’s one.

Roehl said church planters often go into an area thinking, “We’re gonna win this place for Christ.” But really, he said, what we’re doing is coming to be part of a team God has already assembled to reach that area–that town, that neighborhood, that city. Church planters need to start by getting acquainted with the other team members already there–the other pastors, churches, and Christian organizations working to extend the Kingdom. And then, as they become acquainted with the other pieces already in place, they can determine what their unique contribution to the team will be. What essential ministries they will develop.

I like that. A lot.

In starting Anchor in 1998, we certainly didn’t take this approach. We were one church coming to impact a neighborhood, and it all came about rapidly; a month after the core team came together, we were on the ground running full speed. But there were already churches–“partners”–ministering in that neighborhood: Wesleyan, Mennonite, Church of God, Presbyterian, others. And we properly need to view them as teammates. I guess it’s not too late.