Marlan: Good morning. I’m honored to be here with these two guys today. It seems a little bit like a sendoff, like we’re done with you. Is that, that’s not the case?
Steve: No.
Marlan: I first heard about the Johnsons when I was in a little Baptist church in Decorah, Iowa. And the pastor at that time said, “There’s these two crazy guys from Wisconsin who have started a church planting movement and they have no money. Maybe we could do something as well.” And so that’s kind of how it started. And then in a Team America meeting where I was able to attend and met these two. And right away I thought, there is a brotherhood here that I wanna be a part of. And for me, Converge has always been about that brotherhood. So I’d like to unpack just a little bit. You guys made a commitment to yourselves early on that you wouldn’t compete as you planted churches, but that you wouldn’t give up on each other and that you made this covenant. Tell us a little bit about how that looked and how that materialized as you developed 43 churches.
Steve: Well, we certainly didn’t compete. We’re all on the same side. One of the things that I think we made a decision to do is to make sure that the other didn’t fail, especially Paul, to Lynn and myself. And I want to thank Paul and Darla and my beautiful bride Lynn, for going with us on this whole journey. But it’s really wonderful to have somebody who’s just telling you that I’m gonna be there for you regardless of how difficult it is.
Paul: Marlan, when we, you know, after our churches succeed, and remember, we’re 20 and 21, and our region was gonna hire another church planter. And Steve and I were praying about it and we just said, “We’re gonna do everything in our power to make that church better than the one before.” And then the three of us said that to the next church planter and the next church planter. And all that we learned, all the transactional systems and strategies flowed out of that fundamental commitment to say we were together, we were covenanted together. And I just wanna say to all of you, that’s the way you should do ministry. That should be your life. That’s nothing new. That’s something, that’s what Converge is all about.
Marlan: Yeah, Converge has always had this open-handed style about ministry. If we have it, it’s yours, and we’ll help you bring people to the kingdom of God. So how did you then, moving from that, how did you become church planting experts over the years? ‘Cause you said in the video, you started, you didn’t know anything. And here you are today, you wrote a book.
Steve: I don’t think we’re church planting experts. I think that the cutting edge is right out here now, and we have to collect the information that you’re gaining. We started in Wisconsin, which no one was starting churches in Wisconsin. And we may have known a little bit there, but it’s the cooperation all across Converge where we’re able to take the best of ideas and resource people as they go out to try to accomplish things.
Paul: I remember Ed Stetzer telling me one time, he said, “In our national office, we have 40 people working on church planting. How many full-time people do you have in Converge?” I said, we don’t have any. All we have is practitioners. And those of you that are church planters. Like Steve said, you are the ones that are the experts. You’re discovering what needs to be done in this next chapter. Now, when we were actively in the game of church planting, we were discovering that too. And as I coach people now, I still get to experience that, but it really goes back to that sense that God is gonna reveal the best ways to move forward to people that are committed to multiplying.
Marlan: Yeah. That’s so good. You know, thinking back, the assessment center was a part of what you guys produced, our ability to assess church planters, which so many people have been impacted by. And just looking at all of those things, and the generation today, what would you say to those who are thinking about church planting or those that aren’t church planters, but want to be a part of church planting?
Paul: You know what I would say to all of you? What are you doing about multiplying? Like I said, God hates division. Our president brought that home to us last night, and He likes addition, but He loves multiplication. Are you entering into multiplication? And if you have any dream of multiplying, maybe it’s supporting a church planter, maybe it’s coaching a church planter, maybe it’s giving funds for a church planter. Well, you saw our regional presidents here. Go to your regional president, just say, you know, “I want a covenant with you. I wanna be a financial partner with you. I want to give,” we used to say, “Give a tithe of your time,” eight hours a month. Give eight hours a month just to start out where you’re investing in the ministry that goes on in your region. And if you’re a planter here, just keep at it, and look at that video. Get your group of buffalo that are gonna scare off the lions, right? That’s what we need. A group of people that you covenant together with. And where it’s not something that it’s transactional, but it’s relational, and it’s a relationship with God. And I wanna tell you too, if you have any, if any of you would like prayer, Steve and I, and Lynn, and Darla, and lots of other people, all the regional presidents, would love just wherever we are to stop and pray for you about the dreams that God is giving you. But I’ve got a feeling there are lots of people that have a church plant in them right in this room. I think there are a lot of churches in this room that could parent churches, and that in the process, could just discover more of the depth of God’s love and power.
Steve: I would say it’s just one word: say yes. One of the things that Marlan had said is that anybody who’s interested in church planting, there’s gonna be sacrifices. I don’t know any church planter who hasn’t sacrificed. Every time we’ve ever done anything, God was asking us to lose something that seems secure. And yet, God’s call in our life, empowered us to say yes, make sure that your spouse is on the same page, because there are these sacrifices. But it’s amazing looking back at seeing what God can do when there was nothing. And then He gives you a burden and then you move there. And then when you leave one day, you actually have something that will be sustaining and growing, and multiplying for generations to come.
Marlan: Thank you so much for the ministry that you have given to so many people. (audience claps) In the foreword of one of Gary Rohrmayer’s books, he called them “The Sons of Thunder.”
Paul: Love you. (audience claps)
