Planting a tree

By John Coleman

Have you ever had a conversation with God that went something like this, “Pardon me, God, but are You sure about this?” I remember asking that question in the fall of 2005 when I felt God leading me to uproot my family and plant a church on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. 

My dream was to plant a church in my hometown of Newark, Del. Born and raised in Delaware, I started my relationship with Jesus on April 11, 1982 when I was seven years old. At age nine, I went to my mother weeping one evening and shared that I felt God had just called me to “preach His Word.”

In my teens, I helped found the music group “Soldiers of the Cross.” Over twelve years on tour, my wife, Kim, and I traveled over half a million miles leading worship and sharing the Gospel in hundreds of churches.  

Trying to subsidize the small income of a full-time gospel singer, I began to self-publish a local Christian magazine. I made the mistake of telling God that I would take care of my financial needs, so He just needed to take care of the others in our ministry. I learned the hard way that wasn’t how God worked! He wanted me to put my full trust in Him. So, after almost losing everything and nearly going broke, I learned to place my trust in Christ for my income, my resources...my everything.

That was a turning point in my life and ministry. My wife and I left the road to serve in the local church. For three years, I served as associate pastor of worship and communications at Friendship Church in Newark, Del. In early 2005, God revealed to me that it was time to leave Friendship and become a church planter.

I started praying that God would show me where He wanted me to plant a church. More specifically, I was praying that a group of people looking for a planting pastor would contact me. One Wednesday afternoon in October 2005, God answered that prayer with a phone call.

Pastor Daryl McCready of SonRise Church in Berlin, Md., called saying his church was looking to birth a church plant in the Pittsville, Md., area (the midpoint between Salisbury and Ocean City). A few “Google” searches and a few road trips later, I discovered it was home to some amazing people, close to some great beaches and packed with several million chickens.  

Our visits to the Lower Eastern Shore, and more specifically the Pittsville area, reassured my wife and I that this was where God was calling us to grow a church. So we packed our stuff and moved our family two hours south to plant “The Gathering Tree.”

Here’s just some of what I’ve learned from this adventure so far:

First, God may ask you to give up your dreams to be part of His dream. Even though I knew God’s dreams were bigger and better than mine could ever be, it didn’t make surrendering mine any easier. I needed to trust His dreams for my life more than my own.

Second, I have learned the best way to start a church is by spending time with people. All my expertise in marketing and design is great for making logos, brochures, and bulletins, but I have made the most impact by investing my time in people. Don’t get me wrong; I love creative outreach. In fact, it’s one of our church’s core strategies. We have invested a lot of time and resources in the area of creative communication. However, I can say without hesitation that the best return on our investments has been in the area of time spent with our community. Duh, right?! Well, for me, it’s something God has to remind me continually when I’m spending too much time worrying about how our church appears, and not enough on how it relates.

Third, I have found that relational evangelism is more effective than “big tent events.” I love putting on an event! I like the whole process, from brainstorming to the big day! In fact, I thought my experience as band front man and marketing director were God’s way of preparing me to plant a church. I thought church planting would be about “events.” Again, God adjusted my understanding. Our most effective outreaches have been relational. Most people have connected to our church through friendships, servant evangelism, youth ministry and small groups. Folks in our area seem to respond better to our ministry when it is demonstrated by consistent, intentional caring rather than occasional “big tent events.” Rather than one or two big budget events a year, we plan monthly servant evangelism projects and smaller connecting events.

Fourth, I am learning that the learning never ends. That’s why I meet regularly with other planters and pastors in our area to learn from their experience, and to see where God’s at work. I’m thankful that we have an amazing resource like the BCM/D, and for every one of you that sacrifices to make church planting possible! I am honored to serve alongside so many with a heart for God’s Kingdom. 

John Coleman is the church planting/pastor of The Gathering Tree in Pittsville, Md.  He can be reached at pastorjohn@gatheringtreechurch.com or by phone at (410) 835-8955.