A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting with Ariel Vanderhorst. We met at the Broadway Cafe, drank coffee, talked all things Pinback, Kansas City, Westport, & church planting. Ariel is a good man, and I have enjoyed getting to know him more through his blog.
Ariel is also a glutton for punishment, because after listening to me talk for over an hour, he interviewed me for a paper he's working on for a church planting class. I talk fast-- and faster still when people get me rolling about things I'm passionate about. Therefore, Ariel had no small task in taking notes during our interview. You can read his notes here.
THE BASIC OUTLINE OF OUR INTERVIEW
1. What’s been the greatest challenge(s) of church planting?
2. How do you deal with the financial needs?
3. How do you deal with the “people” needs? (Finding people to work with and attend the church.)
4. How did you (or would you) put together a core group?
5. What was or is the role of your “mentor” or role model?
6. What is the role of sponsoring/partnering churches?
If you have any questions in response to my answers to Ariel's questions, feel free to post them in the comments here as well, or you can email me with questions.
As always, you can track our progress as we work to plant a gospel-centered church in the urban core of Kansas City.
thanks for sharing your thoughts, kevin. it is always good to hear experience speak. I especially appreciated your emphasis on living in the tension of feeling and planning a launch. right now, SXSW launch feels strained but that could also be a product of where we are. commitment night is next week for our 20 missional core...
Posted by: Jonathan Dodson | October 01, 2007 at 10:20 PM
Thanks again for the interview, Kevin. Like I said, you set the bar high and gave me things to think about and aim for.
Posted by: AJ | October 02, 2007 at 08:05 PM
Glad to see God has brought you guys to the church planting season. May he hold your hearts and hands up as you reach out to KC with the gospel.
Posted by: Tony Stiff | October 02, 2007 at 09:02 PM
I read the interview on AJ's blog - I really resonated with what you said about the Kingdom being bigger than denominational distinctives... a new kind of cooperation is certainly needed for the new generation of churches. The whole thing was great. I couldn't agree with you more.
Posted by: Faith | October 19, 2007 at 01:46 PM