How I Shifted from “Church as Usual,” to EKKLESIA Impacting the City

(By the way… I’m still the Pastor of a thriving local church!) 

I had the privilege of pastoring for over 10 years in a thriving local church in the City of Oshawa. At the time, we experienced some great things. We had a big congregation in a big building, with lots of great things taking place. However, for some reason it felt like our city hardly knew we existed. Although we were experiencing the Lord move wonderfully in our weekly services and meetings, if you were to grid our results according to the Great Commission of Jesus and discipling nations, we were found wanting. 

Around the same time the Lord began to give me a holy frustration, which produced a longing to see our city experience God in the same way. I'm sure some of you reading this have the same feeling. Many times the gap between the great things happening in our churches, and where the community is (where the people live their everyday lives), can be vast. I wanted to close the gap.

Before finally experiencing breakthrough, we tried almost everything to reach more people beyond the walls. Our services and conferences provided altar calls, and teaching on the importance of reaching the lost. We prophesied, we prayed, and did everything we could. But God was not coming down and touching our city, even though He was touching us! I thank God He finally had mercy on us and helped. The Lord answered our prayers by giving us a unique tool for equipping “the labourers” to go beyond the walls of the church, making a transformational impact in the city.

After a season of training and equipping a handful of labourers, we began seeing results. A number of members in our church started projects and ministries in the city, as we emphasized an organized approach to reaching people beyond the walls. 

Soon after, the systemic effects of the Kingdom of God in the hands of these labourers started making an impact! In fact, so much was happening in the city through these new leaders the Mayor of our city presented us with an award, welcoming this “new movement” into the community. City leaders started recognizing all the transformational fruit taking place in the community through our church. We had ministries to single moms, ministries to the homeless, projects for rehabilitation of broken families, and more! 

Each leader we equipped, understood their own purpose and calling, and were effectively taking the Kingdom into their sphere of influence. I'll never forget the look on the Mayor's face when he presented us with the award and discovered only 13 people from the church created such impact in our city. 

We discovered small really is “the new big” when it comes to impacting society. This should come as a relief for some Pastors. It's not just about the number of people entering your building for a couple hours a week. It’s also about how much of the Kingdom you can take to your community. 

Contrary to popular belief, the size of your church does not limit the size of your impact. When your people are equipped and organized effectively, you can pastor your city, through those people. I hope this is a relief to some Pastors currently caught in the ministry trap of measuring results solely by how many people attend a church service. We were set free from that mindset. As we raised up more equipped laborers sending them into the community, we began organizing them in a certain way.

This is where the story gets powerful.

As we equipped and trained more of our church members with an emphasis of ministry beyond the walls, we started organizing the leaders strategically. 

We started small leadership groups called Society Small Groups, or hubs. Each individual in the small group knew their sphere of calling in the community and they worked together, effectively making an impact. They were trained with our “Destiny and Transformation” curriculum. These small groups were not your typical home groups with a relational discipleship emphasis. These small groups were active “Navy SEAL” type leaders, trained for making a maximum impact in our community and city.

Before long other churches took notice and adopted this model, some using a different name or branding, but with the same concept and principles. Pretty soon, not only were we seeing other churches having similar results, (measurable and reproducible), but we were invited to other nations to implement the concept. We saw the fruit was the same, and sometimes even greater, depending on the hunger level in some countries. Soon after, this model was even recognized by some international organizations and government officials. The results were undeniable, and the ability for an equipped Ekklesia to disciple nations, became evident in some unlikely places and platforms. 

In some countries we saw everything from laws changed to addiction rehabilitation centres established. In one case, a Kingdom-based curriculum was introduced and used in a secular school system for grades one through four. And with each open door for influence, SOULS were being saved. These were the results I always dreamed of, and they really are what Jesus commissioned us to do in discipling nations. For as many believers who were willing to be equipped and sent, there were unique ministries birthed. Every person, can reach people, in any sphere of influence in life.

#ekklesiaequipped #hubs #hublife