Josh and Loren Abernathy felt God nudging them to start a church, but they also had some doubts and fears. They discovered in conversations that their church had been started with help from Stadia, and believed churches should multiply!

However, Josh & Loren knew this wasn’t a decision to take lightly.

To help decided whether to start a new church, the two walked through Stadia’s Discovery Center: A 3-step process designed to help new church leaders explore, discern, and discover their calling, readiness, and competency to start a new church.

After going through Stadia’s Discovery Center, Josh and Loren were able to affirm that God was indeed calling them to start a new church.

Starting a new church, just like starting a new business, takes a lot of work. We were thrilled to be a guide on this journey. The next step after Discovery was being paired with a Project Manager; an experienced, organizational expert on starting a new church.

Their Project Manager walked Josh and Loren through the logistics, legal paperwork, questions, and gave support and accountability. They became a valuable cheerleader and mentor throughout their entire process and were available at no-cost to Josh & Loren because of generous donors who help fund this service!

“You’ve got that person who will walk through the whole thing with you step by step.” —Josh

As time progressed, their Project Manager pointed them to and a series of trainings and intensives available. Josh and Loren learned how to fundraise, how to build a healthy leadership team, how to establish plans for spiritual formation, what good budgeting looks like, how to track metrics, and even more.

After experiencing Stadia’s Discovery process, working with a Stadia Project Manger, and receiving full training (all at no cost), Josh and Loren Abernathy were finally launching their church!

Enter: City Church — WOOHOO! 🎉

In the early days of City Church, Josh and Loren were the only staff. But their church was growing, so it was time to find more staff to support and serve their growing community! As they found candidates for children’s and city engagement pastors, Josh and Loren decided to send their candidates through a staffing track within Stadia’s Discovery process. This allowed them to hire confidently, and helped the candidates be certain that their new positions on staff was where God wanted them.

In the midst of all that was happening, Josh and Loren still needed people who understood their life. That’s when they got plugged in with a Stadia Cohort lead by an Experienced Coach. The connection with other church leaders who were on the same journey was so valuable!

“It created a sense of community.” —Josh

As Josh joined a cohort, Loren did too! But she was connected through Bloom. Bloom is a ministry of Stadia that is designed to equip, empower, and encourage women who are starting a church—no matter their role or responsibility. There are unique challenges in ministry that women face, so it is essential to have an authentic community. Loren was also connected with a mentor who had been walking with her through her entire church planting journey.

Starting a new church involves a lot of moving pieces. At Stadia, we are honored to partner with people who have been called to start a new church and equip them to thrive!

Take your first step to start a new church:
Check out Our Discovery Process