Revitalisation Review: Round up reflections

Episode 10: Round Up Reflections

Episode Summary
In this final episode, we reflect on personal lessons from the planting journey—gathering wisdom from olive trees, prophetic pictures, and Scripture that has shaped the path. A reflective send-off for future leaders.

Key Topics Covered
·       The olive tree graft as a metaphor for revitalisation

·       Knowing yourself and the challenge ahead

·       Prophetic pictures that shaped planting leadership

·       Scriptures that anchored the journey: forgiveness and mercy

·       Letting go and preparing the way for the next leader

Reflection Questions
·       What metaphors or stories have guided your journey?

·       Where do you need to graft in rather than start from scratch?

·       How well do you know your calling, wiring, and blindspots?

·       What Scriptures are anchoring you right now?

·       What are you handing over—and how can you do it with peace?

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Email: churchplantchat@gmail.com

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introducing the Final Episode

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome everyone to the final episode of the revitalization review series. I've really enjoyed sharing a few musings about this kind of planting with you and, as I said at the outset, it's by no means a complete guide or even close, but it's hopefully just giving you a few things to think about on your revitalization journey, as you prep for it, as you plant and as you propel forward with all that God's given you. And this final episode is kind of a leadership roundup of a few final thoughts that have kind of helped me along the way over the last four years. So let's get into it. So let's get into it.

Speaker 1: 0:51

First thing and there's three overall is that of the olive tree, specifically my family's olive trees back in cyprus. I'm greek cypriot, that's my heritage. My grandfather on my dad's side was an olive tree farmer and my uncle now tends to those trees, and there's a whole bunch of analogies and talks that can be unpacked with olive trees and the Bible and faith and leadership. But the reflection for today is just a short one around something I witnessed when I went to Cyprus last year. I went with my dad to spend a week with my uncle, george the olive tree farmer, and he took us around all the olive trees. We stopped at numerous trees and he'd tell us all about them. And we got to one particular tree and he pointed out part of the trunk and the branches that looked different to the rest of the tree, and that's because it was. It was literally a different branch that had been grafted into the existing tree. The existing tree had actually stopped producing good olives, and so my uncle took a tiny little branch from another olive tree which was producing good olives and he literally grafted it in. It started out as a really small stick of a branch with string wrapped around it to hold it in place, to graft it in properly, and it over time had grown and thickened out to be a full, healthy part of the tree and it was now producing brand new olives that were a combination of both trees DNA, and it took many months for this growth and transformation to happen. And as I stood there and observed this grafted tree, I couldn't help but think of revitalisation that involve similar grafting in. You know, a few things stood out to me about the process of the olive tree that are worth being mindful of.

Speaker 1: 2:43

For our own church grafting one, it can be a small amount of new people coming in to join a larger existing group. Whilst it can be daunting and you can often feel like an alien minority trying to weave yourself into something else, and it can be awkward at the beginning, you'll need that string around you guys as the branch to hold you in place as you grow into that new setting. You know you'll need some sort of pastoral scaffolding wrapped around you. If you're coming in small, joining in with something bigger that's existing two, it can take a long time for the branch to take Relationships and trust. They take time to build and the growth that's happening isn't always visible to begin with. You know the growth and the nutrients have to seep in and get to work from the inside of the tree before the outward fruit of the olives show and grafting in.

Speaker 1: 3:43

Revitalisation takes time. There's often a lot of under the hood work taking place operationally and relationally and those things take time to display themselves outwardly. Thirdly, the joint fruit produced is better than the fruit that grew by itself. The olives that were produced through the joining of the two types of tree were actually of better quality than of the single tree and there is so much to be gained by two new groups of people coming together in a graft revitalization project. The fruit it can yield is like nothing else, because what's been forged, relationally has been hard fought for, you know, it's been costly, it's meant both groups of people have had to sacrifice and learn and that is a very enriching process for everyone involved. And so the fruit when it's produced is that much more decadent because of that. So olive tree grafting, that's the first reflection. Thank you, uncle george, for giving that gift on holiday. Second reflection know the challenge, know yourself.

Speaker 1: 5:00

This really helped me here, but it took a while for me to recognize it fully, and that was to know the challenge that I was taking on and how I myself was suited or wasn't suited to it through my calling, personality, experience or adaptability, whether through naivety or lack of experience, misunderstanding or sheer ignorance. I didn't anticipate the challenges that I had in my time in this revitalization project. I think you know I'd made a lot of assumptions. I'd come in quite blind, eager, but unknowing about the core challenges and whether my style, skills, personality, type, et cetera, really suited the challenges and opportunities that are here. But by the grace of God, as mentioned before, you know, I've learned lots as I've led here and God has been really faithful and there have been amazing things taking place which is just so wonderful to see. And you know I've really been able to see God at work here and I've had to grow a lot to rise up to the needs here. You know, if you want accelerated discipleship, take on a revitalization project. But those growing pains have been difficult and hard fought.

Speaker 1: 6:20

You know, to be fair to myself, I wasn't completely ignorant of what was needed here for the time I've been here. It's just that I didn't realize to what extent and I don't think I really knew the type of leader that I'd be in those earlier days. So to give you an example, just before starting here I had two pictures given to me. The first was of a snow plow clearing the snow and paving a path for others to walk down, and the second was of a farmer toiling the ground, breaking up soil that had gone hard, softening it up, turning it over and sowing new seeds. Both those pictures are indicative of change, of preparing the way and of being a catalyst. And that truly has been my role here and I kind of knew it would be early on.

Speaker 1: 7:07

But I underestimated how long that process would take. You know, it's taken four years and I didn't realize at the time that that would be the entirety of my ministry here, that it wasn't going to be me taking it from this foundational laying down phase into the next phase of building. That became clear as time went on, but not so at the very, very beginning, and so actually at the time of writing this episode, I'm in the throes of moving on from here, because I can see that my snow plowing and ground toiling work is complete and it's now time for the next leader to move in and build on the foundations I've laid through the next stage of revitalization. So I share that because I want it to be easier for those of you about to enter your project. If I were interviewing someone for a revitalisation project, I'd be wanting to ask them what challenges or opportunities do you anticipate here? Have there been any prophetic insights? What do you think they're saying? How are you suited or not suited to those specific things, things like that. And I want to do some psychometric tests, personality tests and so on, to see how well matched the person was to what was needed, not so that they could be turned down from the job, but so that they and everyone involved could be aware of their strengths and blind spots so that we could better pastorally scaffold them and their team. So, as much as you can, know the challenges, know yourself ahead of the project. I mean you can never know everything until you're in there getting going but at least get to grips with that as much as you can within the first year or in the year leading up to planting in. So know the challenge, know yourself.

Speaker 1: 9:18

So next, a few Bible passages that kept me in check. Ok, first one is the 70 times 7, matthew, 18, 21 to 22. Here it is. Peter approached him and asked Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times, I tell you. Not as many as seven, jesus replied, but 70 times seven, the key in this parable being offering unlimited forgiveness. This has been the essential thing in my leadership journey here to get from one day to the next, at times, in fact, out of everything in this entire series or podcast as a whole.

Speaker 1: 10:10

If there was one leadership offering I could share, it would be to learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes and to consistently, compassionately and courageously forgive those you lead. It is, hands down. The most liberating thing in leadership to be able to let go of your anger that you may be holding on to towards yourself or someone else and forgive. You will be amazed at what you can work through with somebody if you grow the capacity to continuously forgive them and yourself for any failings. So 70 times 7, the forgiveness formula.

Speaker 1: 10:48

Next passage, romans 12 verse, which I sum up as cheerful mercy, says with regards to different giftings and leadership, if exhorting and exhortation in giving, with generosity, in leading, with diligence, showing mercy with cheerfulness so closely linked to 70 times 7, this verse instructs us to show mercy, but with cheer. Forgive with joy as the overflow. If you can get to a place where you are genuinely showing mercy from a place of actual cheerfulness, then you are doing very well in your discipleship. That is a healthy aim and bar to set in leadership. If I was a funder or writing a funding strategy and looking at metrics for growth and health, I would be asking the planter and the church how well have you forgiven each other this quarter? Has it been with cheerfulness? It's one thing to show mercy, but to do so with a truly cheerful heart is next level and I've been trying to use this as a measure of how healthy I am in my day-to-day leadership, discipleship and home life Turns out I'm not always that healthy or cheerful, but it's a good way to keep ourselves in check and recognise where you need or where the church needs more grace and joy.

Speaker 1: 12:30

So cheerful mercy and last Bible passage, 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, verses 6 to 11, which I frame as build for tomorrow, or rather build for tomorrow's leader. It says this I planted, apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Now, he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labour, for we are God's co-workers. You are God's field, god's building. According to God's grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it, for no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1: 13:26

This passage has been really important for me in my time here because it's helped me to pace myself, to stay true to my individual call as a catalyst and foundation builder by no means masterful, rather messy, full instead. But this passage has helped me not to get caught up in trying to force myself into staying on as the leader here when I should be getting out of the way. It's helped me to give away authority and leadership opportunities to others more freely, to make decisions and plans that will benefit the leader of tomorrow rather than me as the leader of today. It's helped me to consistently frame my ministry as one of passing the baton. It's kept me sane on the more challenging seasons, knowing it's not forever. It's also encouraged me when I feel like I'm lacking skills or vision for aspects of the next season, because it reminds me that that's not my call here and it's okay that I can't tap into that future call or vision, because actually it's not mine to tap into. That in turn has kept me focused on the job that I have here to do, and it also forces you, or rather invites you, to eat humble pie through the acceptance of not being the one to seal the fruit that is to come from your ground-laying work, but instead to learn how to rejoice in this work as a holistic kingdom, work that is beyond our egos, ambitions and wildest dreams. So, whichever of the players you are in this passage, I encourage you to be mindful of it, as it will keep you present in your call for the season that you and the church are in, and it will allow you to release others into the next chapter and to prepare the way for them unselfishly. So build for tomorrow's leader. Friends. That brings us to the end of this episode and the series. I really do pray that it encourages and educates as you embark on your revitalization journey.

Speaker 1: 15:51

If you haven't already checked it out, I wrote a book in the earliest days of my time church planting, and it's called Journal of a Church Planter. It can be found on Amazon. Do check it out if you'd like to get some insights into the head and heart space of the planter in their earliest days. As I've said over and over, please do get in touch, whether it's just to say hi or if you want to chat something over about your planting journey, to be prayed for, to ask a question, whatever it is. You are not alone in it and I'd love to help. If I can Get in touch on Instagram, via DM at churchplantchat, follow the channel or email me at churchplantchat at gmailcom. Go gently, and God bless.