Had a great time yesterday with Jared Wilson, who visited Kaleo while he was in town and then went out with a few of us to partake in the glorious gift that is Pappasitos. (If you’ve never had Pappasitos, you’re missing out. Get to Texas ASAP). Jared is doing great work, having moved to Vermont last year to pastor a church that is a few hundred years old. Before this, Jared was a church planter in Nashville.

As we talked, one of the things that was really helpful for me was to hear Jared’s wisdom when it comes to being patient and faithful in working to help older churches grow and change as they move forward into the future. Our conversation got me thinking about a lot of random questions when it comes to the fairly recent surge of church planting vs. young pastors taking a pastorate at an older, more extablished church:

• What is the best and brightest young leaders were willing to lay down the cool factor of starting something new and instead lead one of the may existing churches that is without a pastor? Mark Dever talks a lot about the importance of this - is it happening?
• On the other hand, for young pastors who are willing and feel called to this - what do they do if older churches are not willing to take a risk on a younger minister? Is his only hope to take a staff position and wait until his mid-forties before he’s able to lead?
• Does our rush to start new churches sometimes reveal our impatience for God’s timing and opening a door of ministry? (Spurgeon, in Lectures to my Students emphasizes that if God has called you to minister, God’s people will provide an opportunity).
• At the same time, are there some local churches that are so ingrained in unhealthy doctrine and practice and so unwilling to change that it would be unwise for pastors to go there, but instead perhaps God is in the process of slowly shutting that church down? (EVERY church has a life cycle, by the way. The question is not if a church will close, but when.)
• If a young pastor feels called to serve in an established congregation, how does he go about seeking these opportunities?

Just a lot of random thoughts I’m throwing out there - would love to hear your input. I’ve been part of Acts 29 for over five years now, and we’ve seen God do great things through both church planting and church revitalization. The solution is definitely never going to be an either/or - I’m just thinking through the dynamics that are involved with both, particularly for younger leaders.