Does Boston Really Need 42 Church Plants

That was the question that came to mind when I first heard that Boston had 42 church plants, under 5 years old.  I thought, “surely there are enough churches currently.”  However as I have learned more about Boston I have come to realize that Boston actually needs many more than 42 church plants.  Here are some reasons for the great need.

1       Population growth has far outpaced the church growth.  Although Boston continues to explode with an influx of people moving into the area, a majority of the churches are either stagnant or declining.  Church plants are needed to keep up with ever increasing demand.

2     There are over 80 colleges and universities with students from over 140 different countries.  Boston desperately needs more ethnic pastors to reach into these ethnic populations.  Thankfully Boston has seen several Brazilian, Nepalese, Hispanic, Korea and Chinese church planting pastors.  However there are so many more people groups without a church in their native language.

3     Boston has a “towny” culture in which church planters must figure out how to reach into.  Although, Boston proper has 600,000 people, the Metro Boston area has nearly 5 million people.  This area is actually made of little towns.  These town range in sizes, from as small as 11,000 to over 60,000 each. Within these towns, their inhabitants stay primarily in their area for shopping, school, sports, and entertainment.  Most towns have their own schools, police department and fire department.  So to reach Boston, you have to reach the towns.  Currently North American Mission Board is focusing on 24 pivotal towns. 

Please continue to pray for Boston and for more church planting pastors to stand in the gap.  Lori and I are excited to go this summer to come alongside these pastors.  Please contact me if you are interested in coming to Boston to serve or would like to help support our efforts this summer.  Here is the link to our website http://msc.kintera.org/jablonskis

How does your schedule stack up to a Boston Church Planter?

While Lori and I were visiting Boston last fall, we got to meet several church planters.  During our time there, met their families, listened to their passion to reach Boston and how difficult it was to reach the area.  One aspect that stood out was the grueling and demanding schedules.  So here is a typical Monday in the life of a church planter. 

A Day in the Life of a Boston Church Planter

4 am – Get to go into work.  This pastor is a day shift manager at Dunkin Doughnuts.  This comes really early considering the pastor stayed up late to build relationships with new members of the church plant or the leadership team.  This was hard to grasp because I have served as a full-time pastor in the Bible belt for over 11 years and bi-vocationally for 7 years.  I never had to work a full-time job just to provide for my family, while trying to build a church.

5 am – Open the Dunkin Doughnuts store, while intentionally trying to build relationships with coworkers, as well as customers. 

2 pm – Leave work to head home and spend time with family.  This planter has a newborn, still under the age of 1 and in diapers.  Before their daughter was born, his wife also worked to help provide.  However she stays at home to take care of their daughter.  So now money is tighter as they try to make ends meet in an expensive place to live.  Unfortunately many church planters’ wives do not get the encouragement they need, while they stay at home with the children and try to build relationships as they have moved into a new area and not knowing anyone.

4 pm – Squeeze in some sermon prep time before dinner. 

5 pm – Eat dinner with family.

6 pm – Contact new visitors from Sunday’s service, either by email or phone call.  Also make phone calls to communicate with upcoming visiting missions teams.  There a lot of logistics to work on before a team comes to visit (i.e. nailing down a project, housing, food and schedule).

7 pm – Meet with leadership core team to evaluate Sunday’s service or to vision cast

9 pm – Spend some time with spouse before having to get up early again for the next day of work.  Unfortunately, many times the wife has to put the children to bed before the husband can get home.

As you can see, these planters have grueling schedules.  This is one of many reasons why Lori and I are going to Boston to serve as Mission Mobilizers.  We will be coming alongside these planters to help ease their schedules by meeting with visiting mission teams, running errands and working on logistics. 

Here is a website where you can watch video of each of the church planters. http://www.bostonchurchplanting.com

Mission Mobilizer? What does that mean??

 “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Matthew 9:36-38

As many of you know, Lori and I will be traveling to Boston this summer to serve with the North American Mission Board and Baptist Convention of New England, as Mission Mobilizers.   Unfortunately many people do not fully grasp the importance of  this position and why it is so critical.  So through this blog, I hope you will begin to gain a better understanding of how the Lord will use Lori and I in Boston.  Although this position is multi-faceted, I will only focus on 3 areas in which this position will assist Boston Church planters. 

Focus #1 – To encourage Boston church planters and their wives:

·      Church planters are stretched very thin as they juggle full-time jobs, families and ministry. 

·      Boston is a difficult culture to crack.  A majority of the planters are either from different parts of the country, as well as several from other countries.  So getting acclimated to a different culture can be very tough.

·      The planters have very little contact and connection with fellow believers.  This city can be very lonely spiritually speaking.  God has truly called them to be a light in the darkness. 

·      Unfortunately, wives are the most overlooked.  As their husbands work, build the church and connect with people, spouses are left at home to take care of children and have few to no friends with being in a new area. 

As Mission Mobilizers how we will encourage planters:

·      Within our first week of being in Boston, Lori and I are hosting an encouragement picnic for church planters and their families.  There will be food, games and fellowship.  During this time, planters will get the opportunity to spend time with other planters. 

·      Also Lori and I will finally get to meet many of the planters face to face that we have been communicating with over the past several weeks.  

·      Lori will be setting up a coffee & tea social for church planters’ wives.  After 18 years of ministry, Lori knows how difficult it can be to be a pastor’s wife.

Focus #2 – To help equip church planters:

·      Although the planters have been through seminary, many are young and have little experience in church ministry.

·      Church growth in itself brings so many new challenges, including how to deal with conflict.

·      Thankfully there are a couple of church planting catalysts in the area who the planters can go to for help.  These catalysts are seasoned church planters, who can share their experience and help mentor younger church planters.  However with 42 church plants, the catalysts are stretched thin.

As Mission Mobilizers how we plan to help equip planters:

·      With over 18 years of church ministry, Lori and I bring a wealth of wisdom and experience to share. 

·      We will be able to help planters to think strategically how to handle church growth, as well as handing conflict.

·      Thankfully I have developed some great tools for ministry that I can share with planters.

·      We will be able to come alongside the catalysts and bear some of the weight.

Focus #3 – To help with mission team logistics

·      Church planters desperately need mission teams to come and serve.  However since they work full-time jobs, their time is very limited. 

·      There is a lot of planning that takes place to have a team come and serve.  Again, church planters’ schedules are very tight. 

As Mission Mobilizers how we plan to help with logistics

·      Lori and I will be communicating with church planters, as well as mission teams to help nail down essential details.

·      While in Boston, we will be working with teams when they are in serving.  Church planters are not able to take off the whole time when teams come to serve. 

Lori and I are very excited about this summer and serving in Boston.  We look forward to seeing how God will use us.  Until we go, I will continue to blog about Boston and church planting.  I am also planning to blog while we are in Boston. 

We will be volunteering for 8 weeks.  Here is the link for more information if you would like to donate towards our trip.

http://msc.kintera.org/jablonskis

Getting into S.H.A.P.E. - Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts

 “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.”

1 Corinthians 12:1

Discovering and understanding your spiritual gifts is the first step in realizing your SHAPE and how God has designed you. During this post, hopefully you will begin the process of discovering your spiritual gifts.

Purpose of Gifts

In scripture there are a total of 19 spiritual gifts found in three different passages: Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4. There are two purposes for which God gives spiritual gifts.  The first is to glorify Jesus. Spiritual gifts are not meant to make one person more important than another or given for your own personal pleasure. As you read through 1 Corinthians you will understand how the church at Corinth struggled with this. They had lost sight of glorifying Jesus with their spiritual gifts. The second purpose is to edify or build up the Church. Our gifts are not given to make us look good, but to encourage other believers. 

What is the difference between a talent and a spiritual gift?

A talent is a natural ability given by God to a person at birth.  Whereas a spiritual gift is a supernatural ability given by God at rebirth. A talent can be anything from athletic ability to musical aptitude to artistic genius. God allows a person to use his or her talents for many different purposes and in many different capacities. However when it comes to spiritual gifts, God opens up the ability of a person to be used by The Lord purposely and directly in His work. A spiritual gift can spring from a natural talent, or it can be a completely new ability that is "out of the ordinary" for that person. All talents and spiritual gifts come from God. God will use talents and spiritual gifts to accomplish His purposes. Everyone has talents, but not everyone has spiritual gifts. Christians are the only ones who have spiritual gifts because they have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Ultimately, as a follower of Jesus, we are called to use our talents and our spiritual gifts for the glory of God.

Steps to discovering your spiritual gift

Step one – Take some time and study through the passages of Scripture that list the gifts - Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 

Step two – Experiment through serving in your church.  As you try out different roles within the Church, your gifts will naturally come out. Unfortunately many people want to select their gift and find the best place to serve. As you experiment it is important to not idolize someone else’s gift. Too much envy happens within the Church. God has given each of us different gifts.

Step three – Take a spiritual gift assessment. There are many great assessment tools out there. 

Step four – Ask others for input. Others will often see gifts in us that we can’t see ourselves.

As you being the journey of figuring out your SHAPE, I would be interested in knowing your spiritual gifts.  Please leave a comment listing your gifts or send me an email at pastorjabo@gmail.com.  I pray as you seek the Lord that this time is a great time of discovery and wonder for you.