I first met Carolyn Moore when I was invited by Chris Backert to a retreat center outside Orlando FL. Carolyn and I were both speakers. It took two minutes into her address to the church leaders that day to convince me that she had a special voice and a special calling for such a time as this. I began to follow her, and I have been on her podcast. When she wrote her book I was honored by her to write words of support in the book.
Whew, this hits close to home! As a female church planter this resonates so much. Church planting structures, networks, and coaching do not know how to factor in female planters. The standard models and practices don’t function with the same outcomes for female planters. Maybe that’s okay.
In fact, maybe that’s why God calls female planters in the first place. We’re going to have to plant differently. The female planters I know have less funding, leaner teams, and smaller churches. They have installed collaborative, polycentric leadership teams. They do more with less. They are focused on deep discipleship, dialogic teaching, and providing substantive service to their local communities. They invest in incremental growth rather than explosive expansion. We get creative with the funding we have.
I keep meeting women who were caught by surprise when God called them to start a church—they weren’t seeking this call. Which has led me to wonder if God isn’t up to something in this particular moment by calling women to this task. Perhaps the way forward for the larger church will require the kinds of skills these women are working out in small church communities right now.
Whew, this hits close to home! As a female church planter this resonates so much. Church planting structures, networks, and coaching do not know how to factor in female planters. The standard models and practices don’t function with the same outcomes for female planters. Maybe that’s okay.
In fact, maybe that’s why God calls female planters in the first place. We’re going to have to plant differently. The female planters I know have less funding, leaner teams, and smaller churches. They have installed collaborative, polycentric leadership teams. They do more with less. They are focused on deep discipleship, dialogic teaching, and providing substantive service to their local communities. They invest in incremental growth rather than explosive expansion. We get creative with the funding we have.
I keep meeting women who were caught by surprise when God called them to start a church—they weren’t seeking this call. Which has led me to wonder if God isn’t up to something in this particular moment by calling women to this task. Perhaps the way forward for the larger church will require the kinds of skills these women are working out in small church communities right now.
Praise God for people like Carolyn Moore