Half of my four years at LifeChurch.tv were spent as the LifeGroup/Mission Pastor at the Oklahoma City Campus. (For those who don’t know, LifeChurch.tv is one church with 13 campuses in 5 different states.) When I started at the OKC campus, we had 181 LifeGroups, and when I left that campus, we had over 500. How did we have such numerical success in a short 22-month period? I attribute it to two things: God’s blessing and great volunteers.
There’s no way around it; the group ministry on that campus flourished because God moved. He moved among the people and raised up over 200 new leaders. He moved in the hearts of thousands inspiring them to find a group and connect with other believers. Most importantly, He moved among an elite group of standout leaders who had a passion to develop the next generation of leaders. That elite bunch was our LifeGroup Coaches.
I believe with everything in me that our coaches were the heart and soul of the group ministry on the OKC campus. I’m reluctant to name any of them because I don’t want to leave anyone out. Yet I think of Greg and Dana Spender who continually set the bar high for the leaders they coached. Their leaders always jumped over the bar that they set! I think of Travis Reynolds who developed friendships with his leaders, and although he’s not officially their coach now, he still keeps up with them. I think of Kyle McClain who took one of the most reluctant leaders of all time and developed him into a person with great confidence and competence. I think of Mike and Sara Dunbar who were living examples to their leaders of what a godly married couple should look like. Mark and Chris Crow, Brad Montgomery, Angie Morelock, Marcy McConnell, Damon Moran, Jeff and Deziray Click, and many more are the people who made that ministry a success.
So what was my role? I got to enjoy the ride. God blessed me to be in the right place at the right time and gave me the great privilege of working with the best group of volunteers EVER. It’s just that simple…and just that complicated.
