An Interview with GCA President, Steve Childers

How did you first get involved in church planting?

My first church planting experience was in the late 1970’s in an urban area where the neighborhood and housing values had deteriorated significantly and crime was on the rise. This caused many people and churches to move out to the suburbs. In God’s providence I came across a small, faithful remnant of mostly elderly people, about a dozen or so, who no longer had a minister but continued to meet on Sunday afternoons in an old church building that was literally falling apart. That was my first core group. My first elders were a retired truck driver, a retired machinist and a retired newspaper man. I was in my 20’s, young, idealistic and full of zeal.

Frankly, I don’t think anyone else wanted to go there. But by God’s grace, soon the church was filled with new converts including homeless people, musicians from the symphony, medical students from the nearby medical school and members of a rock band. Later in the 80’s and early 90’s I planted and pastored a church for ten years in Plano, Texas, a northern Dallas suburb. I’ve experienced first-hand the power of God at work in church planting and it has changed me forever.

So why do you think church planting is so important?

Because I believe the Church really is the hope of the world. Think about it. The Church is the only institution in the world both designed and equipped by God for the spiritual, cultural and social renewal of all nations. Governmental organizations, educational institutions and even specialized ministries, like evangelism, discipleship, teaching, relief and development, are addressing many of today’s most pressing global concerns. But there are no organizations that can parallel the potential long-term, holistic, transformational impact on the world like healthy, growing, reproducing churches.

 What are some ways that new churches help change the world?

One primary way is by helping people resist the temptation to compartmentalize their understanding of Christian mission to just one segment of ministry like evangelism. And then by recapturing the kingdom mission of participating in God’s work of restoring all things in Christ. This includes intentionally focusing church ministries on not only personal conversion and spiritual renewal but also on cultural conversion and social renewal. Churches are designed by God to be agents of kingdom renewal in the world, not only renewing individual hearts but also renewing forms and structures in society, being redemptive agents of global shalom, helping to make that which is crooked in our world straight.

 How does that relate to church planting?

Church planting is not only the most effective method of evangelism and discipleship under heaven, it is also the most effective method of cultural and social transformation. God has ordained that His Kingdom come with power into every sphere of life in all nations primarily through the Church. This is why I believe that a commitment to seeing God’s kingdom advanced in the world today must be linked with a commitment to seeing God’s church advanced in the world today.

But for churches to be transformational, I believe they must have this DNA of kingdom mission deeply embedded in their identity from the very beginning. Then, like new wineskins, they become the vessels through which the new wine of the Gospel of the Kingdom flows with power resulting in spiritual, social and cultural renewal.

You talk a lot about renewal. Why is renewal so central in your focus on church planting?

That’s because I believe that renewal is so desperately needed in our day—personal, church and cultural renewal—not only on a local level but also on a national and global level. To turn things around we need a widespread spiritual awakening, a new Reformation, through which the invisible kingdom of God becomes more visible in every sphere of life. I’m convinced that one of the primary reasons so many Christians and churches today are suffering with such an anemic, joyless, powerless Christianity is because our lives are not more radically aligned with God’s Kingdom purposes to advance His church.

There is a strong link between your commitment to seeing God’s kingdom advanced through His Church and your personal experience of God’s power. That is because God loves to pour out His Spirit with power on those individuals and churches who dare to align themselves with His global cause. And God means for our radical commitment to these kingdom purposes to be a vital part or our ongoing experience of truly knowing Him and experiencing His will for our lives.

What is the primary mission of Global Church Advancement?

This vision of seeing the renewal of all nations through the advancement of the Church has given birth to our mission of equipping leaders to start, grow and multiply gospel-centered churches among all nations. We define a gospel-centered church as a transformational church—one that centers its ministry primarily on facilitating spiritual, social and cultural renewal through gospel ministries in both word and deed.

The primary thrust of GCA’s ministry is working in kingdom partnerships with evangelical denominations, mission agencies and educational institutions to help them be more effective in training church planters globally. Through GCA conferences and seminars we have already trained Christian leaders from more than 30 countries representing over 100 denominations and mission agencies.

How is GCA training being used today in the non-Western world?

During the last decade GCA has been working in kingdom partnership with leaders in Japan to provide church planter training for both Japanese national church planters and English-speaking missionaries. This partnership has helped birth the interdenominational Japanese Church Planting Institute which now sponsors a national church planter training conference annually and is the platform for starting regional church planting networks in Japan.

This national training conference in Japan has the GCA church planter curriculum in both English and Japanese as its core training track. It’s attended yearly by hundreds of missionaries and Japanese nationals from many denominations and mission agencies. We’re now also helping to start a similar Church Planting Institute (CPI) in West Africa (Accra, Ghana) and laying the groundwork for new CPIs in South America (Chile), China, northern India and other strategic nations globally.

These CPI national training conferences provide the platform for us not only to train church planters but also to help key church leaders start their own regional church planting networks in their nations. Our heartfelt prayer is that the Lord will transform these regional church planting networks into true renewal movements.

How is GCA helping to train church planters in the USA?

 GCA is also working in North America in kingdom partnership with various denominations to provide services like Church Planter Readiness Seminars for evaluating potential church planting apprentices, church planter assessment services, regional Leadership Training Summits, coaching and consulting. Most people learn about GCA through our more public 5-day National Church Planter Training Conferences normally held twice a year in the USA. These training events are designed not only for church planters but also for spouses, coaches and supervisors.

Like the national training conferences we offer in the non-Western world, the USA training conferences are usually attended by church planters from many denominations and agencies. One reason church planters love these interdenominational training events is because they get to learn from their peers about how the Lord is working in other denominations and networks outside of their own. These North American training conferences also provide the platform for us to help key church leaders in the USA start their own regional church planting networks.

Why does GCA have such a strong focus on helping denominations develop their own regional church planting networks?

 That’s because we believe that kingdom-minded networks have the potential of forming kingdom alliances with other regional networks that, if grounded in prayer and cooperative service, will give birth to regional movements and spiritual awakenings. This is why our primary strategy is not merely to train and coach individual church planters but to serve evangelical denominations and mission agencies by helping them start and strengthen their own regional church planting networks from which they will raise up their own church planter trainers and coaches.

And since no one single church planting network has the ability to minister effectively to all the diverse affinity groups in a city or region, our strategy is to help start healthy, growing, reproducing church planting networks that will intentionally develop alliances with other networks of differing affinities to work toward the common goal of birthing a movement that results in the transformation of a city or region. Our vision is to reclaim the riches of denominational ecumenicalism for entire cites and regions without compromising the gospel.

Is GCA helping USA denominations start these kinds of regional church planting networks?

Yes we are. GCA has developed kingdom partnerships with several denominations in North America to help them start their own regional church planting networks. As a result of the consulting and training ministries of GCA, several strong, healthy church planting networks are now being established in various regions of the USA. Because of the obvious success of these regional networks, GCA is now being asked to work with several other denominations to help them establish their own networks.

What role do you see for laypeople in church planting and in these church planting networks?

The critically important role of the laity in church planting and in church planting networks cannot be overstated. Quite frankly you cannot plant a church or establish a viable church planting network without the significant involvement of laypeople. And a church planting network will never become a movement until lay people, both men and women, become significantly involved in all aspects of the network—including assuming major leadership roles.

So it is essential that laypeople be recruited, equipped and empowered to be involved in both church plants and church planting networks. One of the most serious problems I see in churches and church planting networks today is clergy-centeredness. I’m convinced that a clergy-centered church planting network will rarely if ever birth a true church planting movement.

It’s thrilling for me to see what happens in the lives of laypeople when they discover how their unique gifts and abilities can be used in making God’s kingdom visible in their city and region through church planting. This kind of missional focus often leads to their own personal renewal as they discover how God’s purpose for their city and their church actually fits with God’s purpose for their lives. Few things satisfy so richly as fully adopting and embracing God’s kingdom purposes toward the world.

What lies immediately ahead for GCA?

One of the primary goals before us now is developing the best church planter training available in the major global languages. The complete GCA training curriculum is now available in English, Japanese and Korean. The Chinese (Mandarin) translation project is now well underway. Our next translation projects are Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic.

We think this entire curriculum development project should take about 25 more years. So we also need a lot of help—on every front. People usually comment that our training curriculum is unique in its emphasis on gospel-centered theology, missiology, adult-learning methods and the high priority we place on the personal character development of leaders.

What lies immediately ahead for GCA?

One of the primary goals before us now is developing the best church planter training available in the major global languages. The complete GCA training curriculum is now available in English, Japanese and Korean. The Chinese (Mandarin) translation project is now well underway. Our next translation projects are Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic.

We think this entire curriculum development project should take about 25 more years. So we also need a lot of help—on every front. People usually comment that our training curriculum is unique in its emphasis on gospel-centered theology, missiology, adult-learning methods and the high priority we place on the personal character development of leaders.

About Steve Childers

Steve Childers is the President and CEO of Global Church Advancement. Through his conferences and seminars he has trained Christian leaders from more than 30 countries representing over 100 denominations and mission agencies. Steve is also a professor of Practical Theology (since 1995) and the director of the doctoral program at Reformed Theological Seminary, in Orlando, Florida, where he teaches church planting, missions, spiritual formation and evangelism.

Steve has served two churches (urban and suburban) as church planter and senior pastor for 15 years. His educational background includes earning master’s degrees from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago and a doctorate from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. Steve has also done doctoral studies in global mission at Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of World Mission in Pasadena, California. Steve and his wife, Becky (married for 26 years), live in Orlando, Florida and have three daughters.