Who's Leading This Thing? : Elders etc.

Church is more than a service, and it is certainly more than the leadership of a church.  Its about Jesus, and a whole community of people loving, being saved by and revealing Jesus together. It’s people living life together and helping one another throughout our cities to serve our cities. Each week, the church that is White Horse Church meet in bunch of small communities to learn about God, pray, eat, laugh, and live. We call these Community Cadres, each lead and attended by great people— they’re the heart of our church.  We gather those groups and other people together on Sundays to celebrate Jesus together in corporate worship (preaching, communion, song, offering, the occasional high fiving, and once a year one or two people may fist pump).  Below are some descriptions of the network we belong to, the leaders that lead and the church 'offices' that we believe the bible instructs that should be held by qualified people in the church as part of building the church.
Lead Elder (Planter) - Adam Witanowski

Briefly describe your story of your call to plant a church
I felt called to pastor a church about 6 or 7 years ago, a short time after coming back to church after some 'looser' years. God and I didn't necessarily see eye to eye on that one, so I asked my then Pastor, "what the heck do I do with this call"? He responded "run.... run as far and as hard as you can from it. One day you just wind up in the belly of a whale and you wont be able to escape it. You will just know". Sure enough, over time it became the inescapable reality and desire to plant not just one but many churches in a country that is very much post church, post christian.


How did you build up your core? What advice would you give to guys in the core-stage?
This is quite funny... we did the Fight Club recruiting technique from the movie 'Fight Club'. We would literally turn people away, try to convince them to stay in their current church, that no, they didn't really want to join us. People just kept coming. In your core phase, find people who really buy in and invest, invest, invest in them. People follow first followers as much as they follow you.


What were the biggest challenges you faced in planting your church (and/or currently facing)?
Finding a venue in a high density saturated area with pretty much nil Christianity... its a tough gig finding spaces to meet there.


How did you become involved with Acts 29? What have been the biggest benefits of being in the network?
As I wasn't being sent by a church, I wanted to find a group that was going to slap me around and be honest with me. There are other networks around, but I found them to be less stringent in their assessment and their follow up.


What advice do you have for men who are wrestling with the decision to plant?
Find people who will be honest with you. Find people who will push you. One of the big moments for me was when an older christian dude that I loved and respected simply sat me down and said, "give me a date, and a location, and I will be there cheering you on". Dave Fandey used a line that I am sure is ubiquitous around A29, but its a true-ism... "Friends don't let friends plant churches (alone)", so find those gold dudes, those 'band of brothers' that are going to stick through it with you, and fight the fight with you, good or bad.


Friends don't let friends plant churches (alone)

What’s the most important thing you’d want to share with a new church planter?
Love your wife. Cherish your wife. You need her to be honest, loving and on board (etc)... she is probably going to be your biggest personal asset apart from Jesus. Love your wife. Cherish your wife.


How do you pastor your family?
My wife and I study and pray together every morning for an hour over breakfast. I buy her whatever resources she wants to study and I support her in some of her missional/creative outlets like art classes etc.

 

Outside of the Bible, what is the most helpful book you have read for church planting?
Confessions of a Ref. Rev. was helpful as a kick-starter, but since then, there have been too many to list. Total church, Evangelism and the Sov. of God by Packer… etcetera, etcetera



Mission, Vision, Values of Church
To plant the gospel in key Australian, population dense, urban centres and from that seed to grow churches that engage the city, with, for, because, about, Jesus.


What are some examples of God's grace that you have seen in your life and/or the life of your church?
We just keep getting given stuff. Locations, people, money, all kinds of things... the biggest thing for me though is the amazing community we have as a family. People really want to be a part of that and its only Gods grace that we have it.


How can we pray for you?
Pray that we continue to grow. We are in the least churched part of our country in a city full of churches. In terms of gospel, Australia is pretty much as hard as the soil gets, so pray that we can sow it and so it good… Then you can come join us and help us do it.




Questions and answers adapted from the Acts 29 pastors page.
Elders
Jesus calls qualified men to lead his church as elders, whom we also call pastors. Qualifications for eldership are found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, and include leading their families well, a record of serving Jesus well both in the church and in everyday life, a thorough knowledge of the Bible and a mature Christian walk, and a good reputation both in and out of the church.  Its important to remember that Jesus qualifies, and Jesus calls.  Being qualified practically is one thing (its a fairly practical list) & understanding that the real qualification isn't yours is an altogether different thing.  Both are inseparable.  

The primary duties of elders include praying and studying Scripture, leading the vision of the church, caring for the people of the church, teaching, living lives that are exemplary, protecting the people of the church from false doctrine and teachers, and developing other leaders.

At White Horse Church, we believe in a plurality of eldership governing the church.  This is not "lets play heads down thumbs up, whole church, have a vote have a go club"… its qualified men who love the church, stewarding the church as Christ's own bride.

The elders at this point (apart from Adam Witanowski), act as an external advisory panel.  In 2013 we hope to appoint internal elders for the church to ensure that it is lead, and cared for well.
Deacons
Jesus calls qualified men and women to lead his church as deacons, a word that is literally translated as “servants.” The office of deacon is first mentioned in Acts 6. As the burden of ministry grew for the early church, elders, in addition to prayer, study, leading, and teaching, were also taking on large workloads to serve the needy in the church and handle the administrative functions of the church. As a solution, the elders appointed deacons to assist the elders in these responsibilities.

At White Horse Church, while there many people who perform functional deacon roles, we have not officially appointed people as deacons.  This will change in 2012 as we look to solidify some of these offices within the church an relieve the burden of certain tasks and roles off of the eldership. Qualifications for deacons are found in 1 Timothy 3 and include integrity, generosity, soberness, a clear understanding of the Bible, a well-ordered home, and a good reputation both in the church and outside the church.
Acts 29
We belong to Acts 29, an international network of church planters.

Over the last ten years Acts 29 has emerged from a small band of brothers to over 400 churches in the United States and networks of churches in multiple countries.

We want to allow a unifying, uncommon move of God to happen through Acts 29 -- all centered on the gospel and advancing the mission of Jesus through obediently planting church-planting churches. It is our desire to see this leading to millions of lives changed by the power of the Spirit for the glory of God.

Acts 29 is seeking to get behind the men who are planting churches by:

  • covenanting with them under the gospel
  • training missional leaders formally and informally
  • networking with men in different denominations and networks for the kingdom good of the city,
  • resourcing planters with the tools they need to develop in a healthy manner
  • multiplying the gospel through church-planting as a means to make disciples of all nations
  • inspiring them as Spirit-empowered leaders, united with this gospel community of Acts 29 churches, on mission together for the glory of God.

Acts 29 is not a model or a style. We have classical church plants with a preacher and a congregation, we have video-delivered sermons, we have missional community models, replants, and existing churches that want to plant churches with us. We seek to be a movement of church-planting networks - that is, decentralized and empowered networks to lead men of all different types of churches in order to make disciples of all people groups.