Gospel Goodbyes: Celebrating and Sending a Church Planting Team

Show Notes

In this special episode of Wisdom for the Wilderness, Pastors Zack and Josh reflect on the profound mix of sorrow and joy in "gospel goodbyes" as Overland Church commissions and sends Pastor Brandon Dupré and a launch team to plant Overland Church North Fort Collins. With rapid growth and new homes in the area, this crosstown plant (launching Easter Sunday) represents bold obedience to the Great Commission: "Go and make disciples."

They share candidly about the pain of losing dear friends and key servants (echoing the earlier Durango plant's impact—dozens of baptisms, first-generation believers, and multiplication that doubled the sending church's reach). Yet they celebrate it as kingdom investment: eternal perspective makes temporary losses small, while souls saved and families transformed last forever.

The episode calls the church to pray fervently (spiritual warfare is real), continue faithful giving, invite outsiders (especially for Easter), step up in leadership/volunteering to "reload," and embrace risk for the gospel. Healthy churches multiply—may this send-off spark more plants across the Mountain West.

Whether you're part of Overland or following from afar, join the mission: support the work, pray boldly, and consider how God might call you to risk for His kingdom. Questions? Email [e-mail].

overlandchurch.org

overlandchurchnorth.org

overlandchurchdurango.org

Creators and Guests

JH

Host

Josh Hutchens

What is Wisdom for the Wilderness?

Join Dr. Josh Hutchens, director of Gateway Seminary's Rocky Mountain Campus and pastor at Overland Church in Fort Collins, Colorado, as he explores spiritual faithfulness amid life's challenges and suffering. Through discussions on theological questions and inspiring stories, Wisdom for the Wilderness offers guidance and hope for navigating the complexities of faith in a broken world.

speaker-0: Welcome to Wisdom for the Wilderness, a podcast of the pastors of Overland Church where we talk about the Bible theology and current issues. And today we want to talk about gospel goodbyes as one of the things that is happening at Overland Church right now ⁓ is that we are sending out a church plant, we're sending out a ⁓ corps and launch team ⁓ to the northern part of Fort Collins. ⁓ So, for those who aren't in Fort Collins, our Overland Church, the current one, is at what we call Midtown, which is actually not quite mid. It's a little more south. ⁓ It is kind of middle south.

speaker-1: is yeah, technically South Fort Collins is south of Harmony road. so we're, we're about a, we're a mile north of the South, but it is the, the part of town where you're in is called Midtown.

speaker-0: Yeah, but we are sending out ⁓ a planting team to start a church in North Fort Collins, which is an area of town where a lot of the building is happening, a lot of houses going up ⁓ already, and then if you look out over the next 10 years, ⁓ even more houses. And so, ⁓ this coming Sunday, we are going to be commissioning the pastor-planter of that church, Brandon, who was our college pastor and is being sent out in that way, and then they are launching on Easter Sunday, and then we'll start meeting every Sunday after that. So, a lot of excitement, but also a lot of us looking around and saying, wow, these are some really great people that we're going to miss whenever they are launched to North Fort Collins.

speaker-1: Right. You know, there's something about just going to church with people and being in community with people and building strong relationships with people, for them to all just kind of like a big number be gone at once is painful. Yeah. And so I just, pastorally, want to guard our hearts against focusing on the pain and rather to focus on the joy of sending and why we would send. ⁓ today, ⁓ in preparation, ⁓ for that sending celebration on Sunday, ⁓ you know, sending people out, just, I think about sending that team to Durango. it is one of the more painful things and one of the more, more joyful things in my life all at one time. So the reality is like, if I think about sending Durango, man, it cost me greatly. know, Buddy's one of my best friends. My, his children or my children's best friends. Right. And to watch it, watch my, my children struggle with the pain and, and, and buddies too. And, know, our kids are all the time communicating and we, know, it's, it's still, this is, you know, about three years in and it still stinks for them. They still hate it. You know, they still talk about, you know, our, I'll hear our kids talking about, well, Maybe you guys should move to Durango, you know, like, that's going to happen. Like, and, and they're talking about going to college, the same colleges, you know, there's pain in that kind of thing. There's pain in, in the sending. But then I look and see all the Lord is doing in Durango and the people, like when I've walked into that building and you see the people that did not know Christ, that now know Christ.

speaker-0: many baptisms have they had this year, do you remember? It's a lot.

speaker-1: It's right now it's at 12. So at the filming of this podcast it is 12. It will be more by the time this podcast is released. so, yeah, they're having a string of baptisms. People come into faith. A lot of college students come into faith. First-generation Christians being made. So really incredible.

speaker-0: to go to three services this past year. ⁓ And so, you know, and it's not just about those numbers, but those are markers. Yeah, that's right. Markers of what God is doing through the sacrifice that was made in sending that team down.

speaker-1: Those numbers are real people. Yeah, we sent, including small children, babies, whatever, there were 29 people that at one time went to Overland Church in Fort Collins. Two of those, Don and Ben Jones, had already been down there like two years, even before we said we were going to plant. But they're a huge part of their team and they're very, very involved and they came to Overland Church here in Fort Collins. So... ⁓ It is hard and it is beautiful at the same time. And there's this tension that you feel because you've loved these people, you've labored with these people, and now they're leaving. And it seems like a ⁓ bummer in some ways. ⁓ But here's what I would remind our people, that for 2000 years, this is how the gospel has moved forward. ⁓

speaker-0: Absolutely. Yeah, go ⁓ in the Great Commission means go. It means you have to, if you're going to make disciples of all nations, you can't stay put. ⁓ You have to actually leave, and that doesn't mean that everybody is going to leave, but it is a commission that's given to us as a body, as a church, and it means that some of us are going to have to leave where we're at in order to go and make disciples and plant churches in new places among new people groups all around the world, near and far.

speaker-1: Right. And, and you know, some will be set apart and sent and that's how the gospel has advanced. ⁓ you know, and then, and then I'm sitting here going, know, well, we're not planning a church. This isn't a seven hour away church plant. Right. This is a Crosstown church plant. They'll still see them on Wednesday nights. We're still going to do things together and I'm still finding ways to go. Okay. This is a bummer. Yeah.

speaker-0: Yeah. Right. Because there are certain people that every Sunday, they just make my day when I see them. And then there are other people who are, and some of them are the same people, that are ⁓ such important parts of ministries. You know, we're looking at, like, the kids ministry and all the number of volunteers that ⁓ we're going to be missing, and that we have to fill those as well. And so, it is a huge thing. even though it's only, I don't know, what is it, 10 miles away? Not even. Not even 10 miles.

speaker-1: Ten miles away, right? It's it's still you know, it's still an incredible thing that we're that that's ⁓ So We want to celebrate it. Yeah, I want to celebrate their faithfulness I want to celebrate them stepping up to the plate and saying yeah, I'll go because they're feeling this too Right. They they just the people who the people who are going

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: They've already made the decision and prayed about it on the front end, but they made a decision, hey, we're going to make this sacrifice and we're going to go. So I want to celebrate their faithfulness and their courage. ⁓ Every church that's ever been planted requires courage, sacrifice, risk, a deep trust in the Lord.

speaker-0: scary to plant a church. A lot of them don't make it. And so, here are people that are going out, not just Brandon, but the entire team that are going out and taking the risk of, we could faceplant. ⁓ And I don't think they're going to faceplant. I think that they're to do great, ⁓ but that's just the reality of church planting.

speaker-1: think you're gonna do well. With everything in me, So. it watching them take those steps, I'm just proud of them. So if you're listening to this and you're one of those people going, listen, I'm proud of you. I'm so thankful for you. ⁓ even though it might hurt right now, we're looking down the road to go, there are going to be so many people who come to Christ who, ⁓ families that the whole family dynamic has changed because the mom and dad came to Christ and then the kids are reared in church. You're to have like, generational moment sure have people who who are addicted to drugs and without hope who come to Christ and and get cleaner get sober you're gonna have ⁓ couples meet and get married from Overland North you're gonna like those things are generational changes will be happening because of sacrifice and that is something we want to celebrate like this is a kingdom investment not a loss and

speaker-0: That's

speaker-1: You know, I look at Buck Run, for an example, when, when we left Buck Run, it was not necessarily easy on Buck Run. ⁓ and, they made a sacrifice when I left Buck Run, were running 800, almost 900 some Sundays. ⁓ I left into their staff member left. It got down to in the sixes. Yeah. So even though we left, like there was, there was some, there were some things that. that calls it to drink. But so you're going, okay, well, let's just say they were 800. Well, they were 800 when we left. Now we're a lot of Sundays up close to 400, sometimes over 400. Durango is in the well into the 300s. And so like they literally have doubled in size by multiplication. And so if they just stayed the same, we still would probably be about the exact same size. But by sending us, they doubled. so there's going to be a reality. Um, you know, I hope and pray that after we send out these 75, we continue and we grow back up to about that 400, 400 range. And I hope they're sitting at North at 200. Yeah. And, and Durango is going to hit 400 and all of a sudden we're going to be at a thousand people because we've planted some churches. And so it's, it's just, it's worth it.

speaker-0: That's right.

speaker-1: It's worth it because people are going to be disciples.

speaker-0: And, you know, taking these risks and feeling these losses, it means taking a long-term perspective, and what I mean is an eternal perspective. So, I'm gonna miss seeing Kelly and Ron on Sunday morning in this lifetime, but we have all of eternity together in the new creation. So, making those sacrifices feel big now, but in light of eternity, they're really tiny.

speaker-1: Right. And their sacrifice is made for someone else's eternity. That more and more people will spend eternity with Jesus. know, Piper famously says that the gospel is good news if it gets there in time. You know, and so we plant churches to proclaim the gospel. It is the best tool for evangelism out there. It's the local church. ⁓

speaker-0: That's right.

speaker-1: And so, uh, man, to know that there's a part of town where there are a whole lot of people that don't know the gospel, haven't heard the gospel, haven't even yet had the opportunity to reject the gospel. Um, and so we, we, we must send now as they go. And I've been encouraging us to do this. I don't know that anybody's taken me serious, but we've got to pray. Yeah. You know, it's our job as the send in church to pray for them. and to, to, to plead to God, to go before them and fight for them, ⁓ pray for the work, ⁓ to support them, ⁓ to, to continue to encourage and love them from more of a position of, of strength. So talk, you've been a missionary for years, talk about the support and how much it matters.

speaker-0: ⁓ It absolutely matters, because this is a spiritual battle, and it can only be accomplished by spiritual means. And so, we want to do the Lord's work in the Lord's way. ⁓ So, you know, you can have the best strategy, you can have the best sound system, you can have the best graphics, the best marketing, you can be the best preacher, and ⁓ your church plant can absolutely fail, or maybe even worse, it can succeed by worldly means and have no spiritual power in it. And so, we've got to go to the Father, and we've got to plead with Him to actually do the work. ⁓ You know, the Lord has to build the house, or those who labor labor in vain. And we have to recognize that that Brandon ⁓ and everyone who's making these sacrifices are entering into spiritual warfare that Satan ⁓ does not want the gospel going forth into North Fort Collins, and he's going to be attacking them, attacking their families in multiple ways. ⁓ And so, prayer is the way we engage in that battle, is the way we put on the armor of God is by praying at all times. in the Spirit. And so, ⁓ you know, without prayer, there is zero chance of success because prayer is the work, as I don't know who said that, but that's the truth. Prayer is the work, and everything else flows from prayer.

speaker-1: Yep. So that, I mean, that's, that's our job. ⁓ number one, as we send them, ⁓ often in church planning, there's continued financial support in, in care. ⁓ interesting enough, they might, they're, they're might be supporting us.

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: how it's all worked out. But financially, it is important that even as they go, that those people who've been giving, who are tithing, it's important that our church continues to give and steward our resources for God's glory so that we can rebound, so that they can get their footing. The faster that they get their footing and we get our footing the faster they can start saving for a building and and putting money away and being smart in how they steward their resources so Continuing to give you know for us The job is now like we've struggled to have room to reach people and Now we've got the opportunity to go and reach people right and I'm gonna take a little tangent here for a second and say One of our struggles in reaching people and using our facility to the best we can use it is how we sit in that dag gum thing. And so in the third service, when the college students are there and they sit beside each other and they fill the rows up, we can reach a lot more people. so we waste so much space and it's ⁓ not blaming anybody. It's the facility itself that that's hard, but hey, just those aren't chairs. Those are pews. Yeah. Don't think of it as like one person per pile in screech in.

speaker-0: You don't need a spacer chair between you and the family next to you. can sit right next to

speaker-1: to them that's right yeah and so let's just try to fill it up so anyway yeah we have the we have the ability now though with sending 75 people to go and reach 75 more people yes and

speaker-0: Especially as we are building up towards Easter, and a lot of people are going to come to church or be willing to come to church at Easter who would not normally think of it. And so, you have neighbors that you can invite, and it could change their eternity that you invited them to church on Easter Sunday at Overland Church.

speaker-1: So something reminds you, like, how do we reach people? We invite people. We have gospel conversations with people sometimes that lead to invitation. Sometimes it doesn't have to be a gospel invitation, like a conversation that leads to invitation. It can just be like, here, we're going to have little cards, little Easter invites, hand them to them. ⁓ It's when people show up to church, building relationships with them, inviting them to community group, inviting them out to do things, welcoming them into... flock. We have a ton of people that visit our church and we want to make sure that they get invited into the next step. And it's not just me doing it from the stage on Sunday. This is what I know. If I see someone be invited to come to a community group, there's a great chance that they end up at our church, end up saved, discipled, growing in their faith. So be hospitable and love people well when they come to church. The next thing is we're losing a lot of leaders. Yes. And so we have a leadership pipeline and naturally we, the leadership pipeline is working. We now need more people to move into the volunteer role. We need people who are in the volunteer role to step up into the leader roles, the leaders into coaches, just all the way up. We need you to step up in terms of leadership. And I see this as a really good thing. Yeah. There are people who want to serve that there aren't real clear roles for them to serve because somebody else is in them and now there's a clear opportunity so step up and Get involved ⁓ There's new There's there's new ground to take new ground to take You know we say Healthy churches make healthy disciples and healthy disciples make healthy churches and I really believe

speaker-0: .

speaker-1: that we're sending a group of healthy disciples to go and play at the church. We've got to make sure that because now we've been weakened that we get back in the gym and strengthen those muscles. That's right. And so this is a, this is an invitation to get on board, to serve. Because we want to think about not just getting healthy and getting back, but doing it again.

speaker-0: That's right. That's right. Yeah. And, you know, the ingredients, essentially, for being able to do it again, we have the strategy. It's in terms of, ⁓ you know, finances are one major thing, and that comes down to our faithful giving as not just outside giving, but our giving at Overland in obedience to what the Scripture tells us to do. and then people, having the people that have the heart and the leadership to go out and do it again. And so, you know, I see that as we do this more and more, it's going to escalate our ability to do this if we keep our hearts in the right place, if we obey those basic commands of making disciples and giving and being willing to participate in the mission of God, then it's not going to be every two years or every three years, it's going to be every year, what's our church plant this year? That's possible, and that's needed in a place like northern Colorado, like the Mountain West. There just needs to be a ton more churches planted here.

speaker-1: Amen. Praise God. And so we're going to celebrate those who are going. We're going to reload. That's right. And let's do it again.

speaker-0: Amen. Amen. Well, do you have any parting words of wisdom for the wilderness?

speaker-1: take risk for the kingdom of God. I'm just going to tell you this. You will not regret. taking risk, you will very well might regret playing it safe. And so as we sin, let's celebrate them, but I want to push you yourself to go, all right, what risk do I need to take in following God?

speaker-0: Well, mine will be to those outside of Overland if they've listened to this podcast, because we do have a lot of people across the country and the world that listen to this podcast, and I would just invite all of them to be a part of what God is doing here. ⁓ If you want to support Overland Church North or Overland Church Planting, then ⁓ you can get in contact with us, and we will tell you how to do that. And also, ⁓ if there are in the ministry ⁓ and you want to plant, then we can connect you with opportunities, whether that's here or somewhere else in the Mountain West. ⁓ We would love to get you in a residency here or residency in a sister church and have you be part of what God is doing in this region. Amen. That's good word. All right. Well, thank you for listening, and please continue praying for Overland Church. Midtown and Overland Church, North Fort Collins, and Overland Church Durango, ⁓ and the future opportunities that the Lord will bring up. And if you have any questions, you can always send those to us at wisdomatoverlandchurch.org. May God bless you and keep you. See you next time.