Redeemer Family,

Over the past few months, a number of you have reached out with questions about our Church Planter-in-Residence program. I’ve spoken on this a number of times and have written a few things here and there, but I thought it might be helpful to put it all down in one, concise document. So, here goes folks - this is everything you need to know about Redeemer’s Church Planter-in-Residence Program!

MEET THE PLANTERS

CHURCH PLANTER #1
The Rev. Steven Breedlove
The concept of Redeemer hosting a Church Planter came about in the Summer of 2017 when our parish was just 9 months old. I had the opportunity to meet with three Bishops (very intimidating!) to discuss the potential of a new Anglican church planter moving to Richmond in the following year. We decided together that the best and healthiest way to help this new person get started was to bring them “on board” (so to speak) and then send them out. Our hope is that this would communicate to those within our Anglican movement and to our neighbors here in the city that our church plants are not in competition with each other, but rather partnered together.

This is how Steven & Courtney Breedlove ended up spending February 2018 - May 2019 here at Redeemer before launching Church of the Incarnation in the West End. It was a wonderful privilege to have Steven and his family serve “in Residence” with us for a season and we are grateful to have a small part in the story of Church of the Incarnation.

CHURCH PLANTER #2
The Rev. Danny Hindman
A short time later, through the kindness of a few mutual friends, Danny Hindman and I got connected with one another. At the time he was serving as a college minister at the University of Wisconsin. He expressed interest in planting a new Anglican parish in the Metro-Richmond area and, after much deliberation with Redeemer’s Vestry, we formulated a plan to bring the Hindman family to Richmond in the Summer of 2021 as our second Church Planter-in-Residence. Danny has been a wonderful blessing to our parish during his time here with us and we are excited to send him out to plant All Souls Anglican Church this Winter 2022/23.

CHURCH PLANTER #3
The Rev. Lewis Lovett
In the Fall of 2021, our family had the opportunity to spend a weekend in the mountains with some of our dearest friends, Lewis & Maggie Lovett and their four girls. One late evening, over glasses of bourbon, Lewis and I discussed the idea of him joining Redeemer’s team as our third Church Planter-in-Residence. Weeks later, the Lovetts decided to accept the position and in June of this year (2022) they uprooted their family from Lexington, VA and moved to Midlothian. While Lewis’ timeline for planting a new church has not yet solidified, we expect that it will likely be in 2024.

THE STRUCTURE

SELECTION: How do we select our church planters? The application process is long and thorough. Not only must our church planters undergo an interview process with Redeemer’s search team - comprised of staff, vestry members, and personnel team members, but they must also interview with our Bishop and the Diocese. In a good church planter, we are searching for men or women who fit the following profile:
- Deep, sincere Christian virtue and character.
- Experience in ministry leadership with evidence of good fruit.
- Desire and eligibility to be ordained in the Anglican Communion.
- Personal chemistry with Redeemer’s leadership.
- Relational gifts to gather and lead people.
OVERSIGHT: To whom does the church planter report? A church planter at Redeemer reports directly to The Rev. Tuck Bartholomew, the Canon for Church Planting in the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic.
EMPLOYMENT: For whom does the Church Planter officially work? A church planter is technically an employee of the Diocese, not of Redeemer. This is why we call them “in-residence” and not “on staff.”
FUNDING: How is the church planter funded? The planter receives a stipend from Redeemer for five years: $15k / year for Years 1-3, $10k for Year 4, and $5k for Year 5. Additionally, they receive a stipend from the Diocese and are then personally responsible for raising the rest of their funding.
LOCATION: How is the location for the next church plant chosen? When a prospective church planter is being interviewed, they are given a list of neighborhoods in Metro-Richmond that would benefit from a new church. The planter has the freedom to select a neighborhood location from the list.

THE WHY

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is, “So why are you helping to plant these new churches?” Here are the real reasons and, just for fun, here is some clarity on what the reasons are NOT:

REASONS TO PLANT NEW CHURCHES

Metro-Richmond is growing rapidly and church growth has not kept pace with population growth. Purely based on population growth, there is a legitimate need for more churches.
Metro-Richmond has far more church buildings than healthy, thriving congregations. New church plants can revitalize the spiritual health of a neighborhood.
Active followers of Jesus are a minority in Metro-Richmond and new church plants are one of the most effective strategies for reaching new people with the good news of the Gospel.
Recruiting, training, and sending church planters is one of the most effective ways to develop the next generation of pastors/priests.

REASONS NOT TO PLANT NEW CHURCHES

Redeemer is getting too big, we need to off-load some of these people.
Redeemer is exporting its “brand” to more neighborhoods in Metro-Richmond.
Anglican churches are better than other kinds of churches and so we need to plant more of “our kind of church.”
- *Not only are these not true, they’re also dumb. Don’t believe anyone who says that these are the reasons why Redeemer is planting new churches.

YOUR ROLE

Now, what does all this mean for you? Well it means a few things:

PRAY: Pray for our church planters, for their leadership, for their pastoral ministry, and for the healthy and vitality of the parishes they lead.
ENCOURAGE: Encourage our church planters. Call/text/email them to let them know that you support their work and see it’s worthiness.
GIVE: Give to our church planters. You might consider giving a financial gift to help them raise the support they need. You can give to Church of the Incarnation directly via their website and to Danny and Lewis via the Diocesan website.

SHOULD YOU LEAVE REDEEMER TO GO WITH A CHURCH PLANT?

This is a very real question that some of you are considering. What a great question!

When we sent out the Rev. Steven Breedlove to plant Church of the Incarnation, we sent Redeemer members with them. These are dear people who faithfully participated in the life of our parish, and now they are doing the good work of establishing a new parish. We love them. We miss them. We rejoice at the new work they are called to do.

As the Rev. Danny Hindman prepares to plant All Souls Anglican and as Lewis Lovett prepares to plant in Midlothian, I imagine that a number of you might consider leaving Redeemer to go with one of them. While it is always hard to say farewell to people we love, it is also a privilege to commission people.

So, how to do this kind of spiritual discernment? (And how not to go about it!)

THREE GOOD CRITERIA FOR GOING

If the three following criteria are met, then it is possible that the Lord may be leading you to leave Redeemer and to go with a church plant:

LOCATION: You live in, or are planning to move to, the neighborhood where the new church is being planted. Local outreach in the immediate neighborhood of the church plant is critical. Therefore, physically living proximate to the people the new church plant is seeking to reach is essential.
DESIRE: Your heart is genuinely pulled towards the work of planting the new church. There is something in your spirit that comes alive at the thought of rolling up your sleeves and doing the hard work of establishing a new parish. You are ready to dive into things like: arriving early to set up chairs, volunteering in children’s ministry, inviting new visitors over for dinner, cooking food for church events. New church plants need people who do not only live proximate, but are emotionally all-in. They want to be there.
RELEASE: Your season of participation and work at Redeemer is at a close and you are released to go and begin a new work. In other words, you didn’t recently just start a new form of working/serving/volunteering at Redeemer. You want to complete the work you are currently doing before moving on to the next new thing.

THREE LAME CRITERIA FOR GOING

The following are super-unhealthy and won’t do you (or the new church plant) any good in the long run.

SELF-IMPORTANCE: All of us want to feel important. The reality is that sometimes we bring that desire with us to the church and demand that the church be a place where we can feel important. If we don’t get the kind of attention we feel we deserve, then we leave and move on to another place. If, in your time at Redeemer, you haven’t felt like you’ve received the attention, credit, accolades that you deserve, the answer is not to leave, the answer is to stay and continue to ask of the Lord, “How can these needs be met in you - Jesus.”
BOREDOM / NOVELTY: New things are interesting and exciting! Staying in the same place for the long haul can be dull and boring. It’s true for churches just as much as it’s true for homes, marriages, and jobs. However, if you want to cultivate long-term intimacy, stability, and health… then you’ve got to stay in the same place, with the same people, doing the same thing. Changing churches to “keep things interesting” won’t lead to spiritual health any more than changing spouses will lead to marital health.
STYLISTIC PREFERENCE: Each pastor and church has their own unique feel/vibe. A great temptation is to think that, if I finally found the right pastor, with whom I can connect emotionally/relationally, and the right worship service and church programs that fit my stylistic preferences and tastes…. Then (and only then) I would thrive spiritually! Alas, this is not the path to God, this is the path to the self.

So, to summarize, if you live in the neighborhood of the new church plant, you have a genuine desire to serve that neighborhood, and you are released from your work at Redeemer, then going with one of our church plants might just be the thing the Lord is leading you to do! If that describes you, please let us know so that we can pray for you and support you.

If, on the other hand, you are feeling some of those other things…. Then perhaps not.

And of course, there are many of us who enthusiastically support the work of our church plants, but know that we are called to stay at Redeemer. This is, funny enough, the exact boat I find myself in. I am thrilled for the good work that our church planters are doing and will do! There is something in me that rises up and wants to go with each of them! But I know that my role is to be on the sending side of things.

As always, if anything in this article has stirred up questions within you, please just reach out and let me know.

Redeemer family, I am so grateful that we have the remarkable opportunity to participate in the work that God is doing here in Metro-Richmond in establishing His Church. Thanks be to God and God bless our church planters.

In the Father’s love,