How to Welcome a Church Planter to Your City

This is for my fellow pastors...

I’ve heard it all…

• We don’t need another church in our area. (You probably do.)
• I will lose members. (You might.)
• I don’t like the way they do things. (Did Jesus ask for your opinion?)
• I don’t like their music. (Never heard that one before.)
• I don’t like the way they dress or how they do their hair. (Remember when you were in your 20’s?)

The bottom line is that many pastors view church planters with fear.  That fear usually leads to ungodly emotions. How are you going to explain to Jesus that your biggest hope for a local church planter is failure? Remember you are talking about Jesus’ church.

Years ago I made a conscious decision to embrace church planters. They were coming whether I liked it or not. But I had a choice. I could sit and sour myself, or I could stretch myself and support them.  In the end I found that I was the one being blessed.

Church Planters have some of the most infectious faith that I have ever seen. They are excited, yet they are afraid. Most have a great network of fellow church planters, yet they feel so alone. Sound familiar?

They are full of ideas but have little experience with leading people. Remember your early days in ministry?

I realized that I didn’t need to understand or even agree with their methods to be their friend and mentor. They deeply desire to have an older pastor mentor them. They need a safe place to talk about their marriage, their kids, their team and their church leaders. They need help with time management, balancing family and church. They need to be loved.

Here are some simple ways you can make a difference:

1. Call them. Ask your DOM or state convention to let you know when a church planter is coming to your area so that you can reach out to them even before they arrive on the field.
2. Invite them to lunch to introduce yourself (and you pay)!
3. Ask them how you can pray for them. I keep a prayer journal on specific prayer requests for church planters.
4. Not all relationships will click, but be open to meeting regularly with them if they desire it. Sometimes the relationship is for a season.
5. Offer to meet with them via phone or in person to pray. Each week I spend 30 minutes on the phone with a church planter in another city. We talk, and we pray. Our time always ministers to me. In fact I learn from him. Some of the most creative ideas I have had for my church have come from this young church planter. Go figure.
6. Listen to them.  Sometimes they just need you to listen. Don’t feel like you have to have all the answers because the truth is, you don’t.
7. Be a safe confidant for them to vent.
8. Help them navigate the challenges of dealing with people.
9. Before you meet, ask the Holy Spirit to give you a discerning heart. He knows what they need to hear.
10. Bless them with your words. But if you really want to take it up a notch, bless them in tangible ways. Provide a date night for him and his spouse. If you have a church member who has a retreat home on a lake, in the mountains or at the beach, arrange for a free week of vacation.

There is a beautiful six bedroom house available to my family at the beach.  On one occasion my wife and I took four church planting couples along with our church counselor and his wife. We had a blast. We played and we laughed. We ate great food. We sent the couples on a date night. During all of this our counselors met with each couple privately. We had several Bible studies on marriage and ministry. In the end, each couple was refreshed and recharged. One couple said to me “this retreat saved our marriage.” I had no idea. I think Jesus was pleased.

My faith is stretched by their amazing faith. I have great hope for the next generation of church leaders.

To My Gateway Family...

Just a side note to all of my pastor friends… if you are looking for the best church who knows how to love, encourage, support and pray for their pastor, well… I’m sorry, but Gateway is already taken.

As I finished my eight weeks of radiation therapy today, I could not help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude and encouragement. First is for my wife Mary. I married the most non-typical pastor’s wife ever. She has stood beside me and has encouraged me through my journey of cancer. Not once has she complained or felt sorry for herself. She taught me how to lighten up and have fun.

Second are my kids. I love my children, their spouses and their children beyond belief. This past weekend, we all gathered together to celebrate the end of this current journey. Just their presence was enough to lift my spirit. The best part was having a cake made for me by three grandsons…

Third is the Gateway family. You are the best! You have encouraged us with cards, letters, emails, text, hugs, meals, phone calls… but most importantly you have encouraged us with your prayers. We truly felt them. Each morning at 7:20 when I would lay down on the radiation table, a calmness would always overcome me. It was God’s Spirit lifting me with your prayers. Mary and I love you. You have stood by us for 22 years. You have supported and encouraged. You have loved our children and grandchildren. You have allowed Mary and I to be ourselves. You have allowed me to make mistakes. You have graciously and patiently followed my leadership. We love you.

Fourth are my friends outside of Gateway. I have received prayers, letters, phone calls and encouragement from friends all over the world. I am blessed by their friendship.

Thank you for thinking of Mary and myself during this time.

I am a blessed man…

Pastor Don

Personal Update

I can not believe that I haven't posted a single blog this year! I have written several, but never finished them. Well, today I sent the following message out to the Gateway family and wanted to share it with you... thanks for your prayers!

Dear Gateway Family,

This morning I shared with our church staff about my recent doctor’s visit. To get directly to the point, Mary and I were told that my cancer has returned. This is not what we wanted to hear, but we are ready to accept it and deal with it.  

Because you are family, I wanted you to know quickly so that you could pray. Let me share with you the course of action we are taking. Soon I will have a scan to establish a base line for the possibility of any other cancer location. At this time my doctors are confident the cancer is located in one place… where my prostate was removed. That’s very good news.

In January I will begin radiation therapy… five days a week for 6 weeks.  The best outcome would be that the therapy eliminates all of the cancer. Following the radiation, I will continue blood work every three months to monitor the results.

Mary and I are at peace and we are very hopeful. We want God to be glorified through all of this.

For those of you who are new to Gateway and do not know my story let me share a brief overview. In 2010, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was given two options – radiation or radical surgery. God lead us to a world-renowned robotic surgeon in Florida. He had performed more robotic prostate surgery than anyone else in the world. The surgery was a complete success and I experienced none of the normal side effects that men experience with such surgery.

If one opts to do the radiation first, then surgery is no longer an option. If you do the surgery first, then you can use radiation as a back up treatment if needed. We wanted to have a back up plan and of course, God’s leading turned out to be exactly the right decision as my tumor did not have clean margins and the probability of further treatment was increased.

The biopsy of my prostate showed that I had pattern 3, 4, and 5 cancer cells. Pattern 5 is the nasty type that is fast growing and fatal. Radiation treatment of the prostate with pattern 5 usually will not eliminate the cancer. Because of the pattern 5, my doctor told me that if I had waited or opted for the radiation instead of surgery, I would have been dealing with a very negative result.  Wasn’t God gracious to lead us to have surgery? 

My urologist is convinced that the cancer pattern that I am dealing with now is pattern 3. Radiation should easily take care of the cancer cells.

As far as my role as senior pastor of Gateway, there should be no problem with me fulfilling my responsibilities. I will be able to work during my radiation treatment.  In order to be wise with my time and energy, I have cancelled all of my events outside of Gateway, including 2 international trips. I want to give all of my energy, focus and attention to you, who are the people I love and who God has entrusted to me as pastor.

You are our family. We covet your prayers. Pray that the treatments will be sufficient. Pray that God will grant my body full energy and health.

My life verse is more relevant to me now than ever before…

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Phil. 4:13

I love being your pastor!

Pastor Don

Welcome Jeremy & Whitney!

Welcome Jeremy & Whitney Lloyd, Gateway’s new Worship Pastor! One year ago this month Gateway began a search for a fulltime Worship Pastor. The reason for the search is that I, along with the senior staff and Personnel Team agreed that we needed a fulltime Worship Pastor. We needed someone working with me during the week in sermon and worship planning.

Cory Singleton has graciously served Gateway for the past 2 years. We love Cory!  However, many of you may not know that Cory’s fulltime job is in the youth department at the SC Baptist Convention. God has used him over the years in this role. Having Cory, Christian Tyler and Leona Mixson has allowed the search team to “not rush” in finding the one person God had for Gateway. A HUGE thanks to Cory, Christian and Leona!!!

It is a great story as to how God lead us to Jeremy… I will tell it in church one day soon.

For the past 7 years, Jeremy has faithfully served at the Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. Olive is a church that has over 3,500 regular attenders. Here are some highlights about Jeremy and his family.

• Jeremy was born and raised in Panama City, FL and is 33 years old.
• Education: University of West Florida & New Orleans Theological Seminary
• Served as worship leader for Centrifuge (A SBC national youth camp)
• Served at Olive Baptist Church for the past 7 years as Middle School Student Pastor and High School Student Pastor
• Lead the contemporary worship at Olive Church (which is similar to our first worship service)
• Lead weekly worship and preaching for the high school worship (which is similar to our 2^nd & 3^rd worship)
• Lead worship for various city-wide events
• Itinerant Worship Leader both regionally and nationally for various conferences
• Jeremy’s strengths are in voice, guitar, bass, music theory and band arranging.
• Whitney is a graduate of Samford University and has taught elementary school for 5 years. She is now a stay-at-home mom.
• They have two precious children, Isabella, 2 years old and Jackson, 9 months old.
• Jeremy spends his free time playing guitar, running marathons and playing golf.
• He is running in the Boston Marathon for the second time this coming spring.

Give Jeremy and Whitney a great Gateway welcome!

A huge thanks to the search team that worked with me in seeking God’s man: Vicky Nettles, Janice Whiteside, Michael Graham, Jeff Douglas, Barnaby Dedmond, Tagg Wolverton, and Ronald Flynn.