There’s nothing cookie-cutter about church planting. From one plant to another, the history is different, the community is different, the approach is different and, of course, the people are different. But in each case, the church wouldn’t root itself and grow if it weren’t for mature, committed lay leadership.
Jim and Imagene Biers serve on the leadership team at Hills View EFC in Piedmont, S.D. It’s the second EFCA church the Bierses have helped launch—both without a pastor initially at the helm.
That’s right: Before calling a pastor to Hills View, the Bierses—and seven core families—chose a name for the church, rented a building, defined core values and held public services for seven months. All with lay leadership.*
The core team brought multiple qualities to make it all happen: leadership and communication skills, cooperation, the ability to listen, a heart to serve, and—to be honest—marketing skills. But despite that impressive list, Jim says, “God has a way of using ordinary people with the heart to further God’s kingdom.
Seven months into the process, the team recruited its own pastor. “Ron McLaughlin was a pharmaceutical salesman,” Jim explains, “a lay person with a pastor’s heart. He was one of several men who had filled our pulpit while we were in the process of finding a pastor.
“During our review of possible candidates, the leadership team talked about Ron. So I called Ron and asked if he would consider being our pastor.”
Ron recognized the caliber of the team he had stepped into, so he simply empowered them to keep leading alongside him as he shepherded the church family.
And they have. Despite holding full-time jobs themselves, both Jim and Imagene are significantly involved at Hills View. Jim is moderator and facilitator at all leadership and church-wide meetings. Imagene, a trained biblical counselor, teaches classes for women. Together, they model hospitality by hosting life groups and other church functions in their home.
“I love the openness of starting a new church,” Imagene says. “We’re so glad to have people show up, that we don’t reject them as they come through the door.
“Being a leader in a church plant sometimes means that you mop a floor or clean up after a potluck dinner, but group cooperation bonds people together. My role isn’t so much about building a church as it is about growing a family.”
Yet even the heady oneness of being part of a new family cannot erase the day-to-day challenges. “Just setting up and taking down chairs can become a burden,” Imagene admits. “Sometimes I desire to go back to a church where I had it easier. Added to this is a large sacrifice of time and the grief of leaving friends behind to make new ones.
“But when we see God at work in lives as a result of a church plant, we know true joy.”
Perhaps not every lay leader in every church plant is as deeply invested as the Bierses. But without a doubt, those who commit to this wonderful spiritual “birth” are invaluable players in bringing God’s vision for their community to life.
*Although there was no church-planting pastor at the helm, Hills View still had some amazing coaching support. Fellow EFCA pastors had initially recognized the need for an evangelical congregation in Piedmont. Veteran church-planting coach Bruce Redmond and Pastor Mark Crossman, of nearby Southern Hills EFC, recruited Jim and Imagene Biers and also sent out fliers into the community to look for more interest. Bruce and Mark coached the initial leadership team for two months before transitioning out of the three-year launch process.
