[This post is part of the “4 Hour Campus Plant” series.]

Can you plant a church from scratch giving just 4 hours/week of time?

As most of you know, I work with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Los Angeles. While my job is specifically focused on starting Greek (fraternity & sorority) witnessing communities on 17 campuses across Greater Los Angeles, the team I work on is responsible for reaching all 70 colleges in the area.

It is a huge mission, and we have decided that God is calling us to own the whole field of campuses. Currently we are on 21 campuses in Greater LA (GLA) so we roughly have 50 more to reach.

Over the last couple of years through immense discussion, prayer, and ultimately hearing from God as a team, we have decided that he is asking us to commit for 15 years to planting three campuses a year. By the time we hit 2030 we will be just about at 70. I am leaving out many details, but the gist of what we are pursuing with Jesus is “The 70”. And it is reorganizing and reengineering everything we do and think. When you have the “whole field” in mind, and not just where you currently are, it messes with everything.

Everyone Adopt A Campus

This has changed the way we think about staff work and how we pursue the mission of God. One major change that we have made is that no matter what position you have, you adopt a campus that is unreached. We all have agreed to work on a campus in some capacity over the year to see what God may be doing.

Some are just praying, others are doing outreach; others are gathering core teams of open students and faculty. What you do is not regulated, but being there in some capacity is.

Recently I have joined a new church because the one I was part of failed. I detailed that the best I could do so here. But what is fascinating is that I have found that somewhere between 10-20 students from Long Beach City College attend.

But here is the kicker:

None of them gather intentionally on campus to reach the place!

LBCC is 31,000 students and by all intended purposes unreached.

Can I Plant It With 4 Hours A Week?

One thing that has been stirring in me since I first joined this church was “we have to plant LBCC.” I have been enamored with the fact that 31,000 students are at the school, and InterVarsity is not. Furthermore, all I have heard from anyone I have met that goes there is that the most present religious group is a cult. Furthermore, there are students in my new church that go there and they aren’t active on campus as a witnessing community!

This is bugging me to the core – my apostolic core.

But I have a few reasons that planting LBCC is not my responsibility:

• I have a full time job with Greek InterVarsity. Last time I checked LBCC is an urban community college with no Greek System.
• LBCC is not my territory and some other hired staff (my good friend Jerome) is over that area and in charge.
• LBCC is not near my house. It is about 30min away.
• Even if I were called to plant this place, I would need way more time than I have.

But then I got to thinking. If the right conditions came into play I could totally be a catalyst towards planting a witnessing community at LBCC. Sure, I won’t be the one to “plant” it, but I could be the one to catalyze it.

If I truly am apostolic, and I have said yes to an apostolic call and mission with InterVarsity, then I have to be open to how God might send me to a place that is not on “my” map.

We talk about “tithing” our time when it comes to adopting a campus that is unreached. When it comes to the average workweek that is 40-50 hours we are talking 4-5 hours a week.

So, that got me thinking further. If I were going to give 4 hours a week to planting LBCC, what would I need to have happen to make that possible.

Here are a few ideas to start…I am sure there are WAY more:

1. A pastor with some vision for LBCC at my church that could partner with me.
2. A person of peace on the campus – an inroad to more students.
3. A high initiative core team of students
4. Not just high initiative students but students with evangelistic postures for Jesus.
5. A simple model of ministry that can be replicated
6. I would have to make the time every week (4 hours) to train, inspire, pray

Notice how I play a very small role in the planting of this campus? What really stands out to me is that I am NOT in the center of this plant. Yet, almost all of our planting material – campus or church – puts the planter in the middle.

I wonder if that is why many of us don’t see it as possible to plant with 4 hours a week. We think that we have to become a “full time” whatever to make this thing happen – It is about us being in the middle.

But this “tithing time” model, if it can work, would start to change the conversation and some paradigms around planting – for me at least.

The mantra I have in my head and I know it is not new is this:

“Staff Coached and Student lead”

If this plant could TRULY become student led, then I think this could be done in 4 hours a week if I use my time correctly. I know it would be the Holy Spirit gathering, growing, and multiplying this group. At this point this feels fun and I want to be open to it.

Lunch with Sean Changed Everything

April 24, 2015

But then I had lunch with Sean and everything changed. We didn’t meet to talk LBCC, but of course it came up and that is where we got stuck. Sean is a youth pastor at my church and focuses on high school primarily. But he is apostolic and has vision and excitement for LBCC as well. When we started talking LBCC, we just couldn’t stop.

I had to film his passion. Check out his plea for us to come help him plant LBCC:

Now I am Hooked

How could you watch that video and not say to yourself, “We have to get to LBCC!” After that lunch I couldn’t stop thinking about the campuses, the potential partnership with Sean, and what God could do if all this came together.

I asked him to gather a few students, or one at least, and lets talk again about some ideas for the campus. Lets test this sucker out and see what God does at the very least right? My apostolic hunch says something is about to pop open here.

Journey With Me…

I met with Sean last week and I can’t wait to detail that meeting in my next post. What I have decided is that I am going to make this a “real time” journey that we can learn from together as it unfolds.

I don’t know if it is possible to plant in 4 hours/week. I want to test it, give it a try, and wait on God to bring the right kind of students and environment into focus.

At the best we will have a vibrant witnessing community on the LBCC campus. At the worst, we will have learned some really great lessons that will sharpen our apostolic calling more pointedly.

So follow along, subscribe to the blog if you haven’t already, and I will post an update on the “4 hour campus plant” journey once a week.

In the meantime, one way you can really contribute to the “together” part of this is by posting a question or comment that you have with regards to planting a ministry in 4 hours/week.

How are you feeling? What would you do next if you were I?

Please leave your questions in the comments below.

[This post is part of the “4 Hour Campus Plant” series.]