When I first started coaching church planters almost 20 years ago, I had an office in an unused space on the top floor of an old church building. Across the hall from my office was a small five-foot access door that connected the church with the parsonage. It was like a secret passageway.
In the infinite wisdom of the church elders, they reasoned that their Pastor might need access to the sanctuary without going outside, down the block, and around to the front door of the church. So, they created access on the third floor between the two buildings. Eighty years later, that same door was used by a church planter I was coaching for our frequent conversations about theology, ministry, and life.
I learned to listen to the angst, excitement, and evolving vision of an ambitious young leader who desperately wanted to do something new to reach.
