S10:E14 Church Planting Post-COVID with Dr. Eun K. Strawser

Is it time to refresh the old church planting playbook?

In this forward-thinking episode, Dave Fitch and Mike Moore sit down with Dr. Eun K. Strawser to explore how church planting must evolve in a post-COVID world. Drawing on her work with the IWA Collaborative, her leadership at Ma Ke Alo o, and insights from her upcoming book You Were Never Meant to Lead Alone, Eun outlines a vision for leadership that is local, diverse, co-vocational, and built on discipleship, not metrics.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• Why the old church planting model no longer fits post-pandemic realities

• The rise of co-vocational, prophetically bent leaders—especially Black, Brown, and women leaders

• Redefining success: from attendance metrics to neighborhood presence

• A vision of shared leadership rooted in communal discipleship

• The emerging partnership between Northern Seminary and IWA Collaborative

📌 Highlights:

• [00:08:00] What the Eva bird teaches us about leadership and local nesting

• [00:13:00] Co-vocational leadership and the shift away from big-budget, parachute church plants

• [00:22:00] How prophetic, local leaders are already planting churches—whether they call it that or not

• [00:29:00] Eun’s forthcoming book: You Were Never Meant to Lead Alone (pre-order available soon)

• [00:33:00] Five pillars of the new church planting initiative:

  1. Centering Discipleship (book link)

  2. Intercultural Dynamics

  3. Sharing Leadership

  4. Pastoring Co-Vocationally

  5. Exegeting Neighborhoods

  
  

💡 Takeaway:
Church planting isn’t dead—it’s just waking up to a new imagination. The future belongs to grounded leaders who know their neighborhood, share power, center discipleship, and stop disqualifying themselves from God’s call.

📖 Resources Mentioned:

• Centering Discipleship by Eun K. Strawser (IVP)

• Eun’s upcoming book You Were Never Meant to Lead Alone (Fall 2024 – Preorder link coming soon)

• Northern Seminary Church Planting Initiative

• IWA Collaborative

• Lawndale Christian Community Church

• Christian Community Development Association (CCDA)