what is a launch team?
And why do we need one?
If you've wondered about either of the above questions, that's okay! Emily and I always enjoy discussing our current thoughts on church planting and Christian living and greatly enjoy learning from others' views and experiences.
We believe that God saved us to send us. Emily and I are extremely excited about moving to Boston, but we also have no desire to do this alone! In fact, we don't believe that would be wise or the most biblical approach in church planting. All throughout Scripture we see men and women serving the Lord in community with other believers and we want to follow that biblical model portrayed to us once we move to Boston. A Launch Team is a team of missionary servants who commit 1–2 years to living in Boston who use their jobs, resources, and relationships to advance the Gospel.
Our team plans to accomplish this through a three prong strategy that we expect our Launch Team to be fully invested in:
1. Life on life: Our Launch Team, including Emily and I, will be expected to share their lives with one another. There are so many "one another's" in Scripture that we have the opportunity to implement in our lives through our love for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Because of this bond, we desire to spend time with each other in our relationship, normal rhythms of life.
2. Life in community: Our Launch Team, including Emily and I, will be expected to live their lives in community with all other believers. The world should know the Lord through our love for one another as a church as a whole. For example, our vision trip team was able to attend a church-wide picnic held by our partner church in Boston. That picnic was a great example of life in community as those from Hickory Grove were able to learn from, encourage, share with, and pray over other believers from a different congregation in a different city.
3. Life on mission: Our Launch Team, including Emily and I, will be expected to live as an ambassador, a "sent one", of God. Because of Christ, believers carry a life-changing message and we have the privilege and responsibility to share that message of the gospel with unbelievers in our daily lives. We must live our lives intentionally seeking opportunities to tell others about Jesus Christ by living on mission at the grocery store, in the workforce, at the gym, and any other place that Lord has us.
Boston doesn't need people in its city. Boston needs more people that are willing to use whatever platform they have in order to advance the gospel for the glory of God. And that is the purpose of a Launch Team: to ultimately help our new church plant by individually and corporately advancing the gospel through their everyday lives.