COVER STORY 24 october 2024 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida edition Church United has been on a decade long mission to connect ministry leaders from Christian churches across denominational, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds to collaborate in ways that strengthen the body of Christ and advance the gospel in our region. Birthed out of a period of brokenness, Edwin Copeland, executive director of Church United, said their strategy is to develop healthy leaders and foster thriving churches that will ultimately lead to flourishing cities. South Florida has a long history of faithful men and women of God advancing the gospel in their day, explained Copeland. In the 1980’s, the Rev. Billy Graham filled Lockhart Stadium with a message of hope and freedom in Christ. People were saved, tools such as Evangelism Explosion were developed, churches were planted, and South Florida began to shift from a sleepy beach town to an influential gateway city. Twenty years later, the sons and daughters of the pastors and patrons who invited Billy Graham collaborated on BeachFest, where hundreds of thousands gathered to hear Evangelist Luis Palau share the gospel on Fort Lauderdale Beach. Building on the momentum of that moment, the National Christian Foundation South Florida was established, and uncommon generosity was unleashed. Marketplace leaders, pastors and ministries began to connect and collaborate, and a number of influential ministries and churches grew. Yet in the midst of this, a spirit of competition, division and moral failure developed. Describing the events that led to the founding of Church United, Copeland, said, “In 2014, Bob Coy [founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale] fell; 12 months later – not even – Tullian [Tchividjian, former lead pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church] fell. Alan Platt, [leader of the global Doxa Deo Church and the City Changers Movement] was brought in as a coach and consultant catalyst to help make sure Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale could be the best it could be [under the new leadership of Pastor Doug Sauder]. During that season about 14 pastors came together, and I watched God do something beautiful. The holy spirit showed up… As these pastors began to share, they realized they barely knew each other’s names yet some of these churches were blocks from each other. They viewed each other as competition, not colaborers, and the reality was none of them felt like they were winning. At the heart level, we knew this wasn’t just a story about moral failings. Moral failings don’t happen overnight, and they don’t happen in a vacuum. There are a thousand small compromises and decisions that take root in pastoral isolation. That was the theme, so Alan wisely said at the end of this beautiful meeting that went way over time, ‘I think God’s doing something here. You have a rare leader in Doug. I’ve never seen a humble strong leader of an organization like this.’ And he said, ‘Don’t waste this crisis.’ A couple of weeks later Tullian falls.” Realizing the awesome pressure that is placed on pastors, these 14 pastors and their wives went on an overnight retreat at the Hillsboro Club to do a little bit of soul care with Lance Witt, author of Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul, and they continued the conversation. While this was happening, other key leaders began to take note, lending their voice, influence and perspective to the unity that was beginning to unfold in the region. Copeland recalls a meeting with Stephan Tchividjian, Co-Founder and CEO of the National Christian Foundation South Florida, Doug Sauder, Todd Mullins, lead pastor of Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach Gardens, Rick Blackwood, then senior pastor of Christ Fellowship in Miami, and Rob Hoskins, president of OneHope, where Alan Platt explained “there are City Gospel Movements happening globally where churches are coming together to connect, collaborate and celebrate. Some of them are causal, some of them focus on a single issue, some of them gather together in order to build relationships, but I think God could be stirring something here.” That’s when they all came to the table. Mullins had already been inviting pastors from other Palm Beach County congregations to join their quarterly staff meetings for mutual encouragement and community, so they were happy to embrace the movement. Today Copeland estimates there are about 450 churches who participate in Church United in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the Treasure Coast and Southwest Florida with a heavy focus on creating community for pastors and ministry leaders to seed long term collaboration. More than an organization, pastors describe Church United as a family or hyper local band of brothers that come together for impact. Having been part of Church United from its inception, Stephan Tchividjian said, “I would say that one of the most significant attributes of this movement is how it has brought attention and solutions to the overwhelming pressure that pastors and ministry leaders carry. Often, when this is not addressed it results in tragic outcomes. However, I love hearing the testimonies from pastors, their families and teams on the renewed love and passion they have for their callings, because of sacred spaces that God has created through Church United. It’s the power of God’s redemption.” Doug Sauder, lead pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale and a member of the Church United Leadership Team, said “I'm on the phone every week with a local pastor and sometimes we're praying together, sometimes we're solving a problem together. It's a really beautiful thing and it's very unique. As I travel around the country, this kind of ecosystem doesn't exist everywhere.” The pressures on pastors were especially high during COVID. When school closings left many churches without a place to meet, churches like Calvary Chapel, Rio Vista Church and Riverside Church opened up their buildings for churches that were homeless to meet in to do video broadcasting. Still, Carter Brown, unity catalyst for Church United in Dade County and the pastor of CrossBridge Church, said “A lot of studies show that about 40% of all ministers have left the ministry in America over the past several years.” Church United hopes to reverse that trend. “I think we have a unique moment right now to lead and to say we're going to fight for unity and be the Church Jesus envisioned. We're going to help each other, celebrate one another, and I love the idea that we're going to agree on the essentials and show charity to the non-essentials, in all Stronger Together: Church United Approaches 10 Years of Missional Impact Shelly Pond Good News Editor A Quarterly Church United Gathering Eddie Copeland, Alan Platt and Brian Brookins
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