Doug Beutler received his ministry training and graduated from Fort Wayne Bible College in 1982. He was ordained in 1990. He has planted two churches during his ministry, in 1994 and 2004. He started LifeWater Community Church in 2004 in his living room, and it has grown into what it is today. Doug has a passion for church planting and reaching those who are lost. His mission is to help each family find and fully follow Christ.
Recently, Doug founded Seeds of Change. It is a growing network of small churches united by a common mission: Making Disciple Makers in a small church setting. They exist to support pastors of churches with fewer than 100 members by offering a strong, relational community of peers. Through support, coaching, encouragement, mentoring, and practical training, Seeds of Change helps small church leaders thrive right where they are. Their message is “You are not alone. You have a network of like-minded pastors behind you, walking with you as you lead and disciple.”
Doug joins Dale on today’s podcast to share his heart for the local church as well as small church pastors.
Links to Resources Mentioned or Related
- Website: Seeds Of Change
- Website: LifeWater Community Church
- Doug’s Blog
- Email Doug
- Link to NEW! Soul Care Essentials Online: 3-Session Video Series
- Link to NEW! Soul Care Essentials Cohort: 6 Weeks of Guided Conversations for Post-Conference Groups
- 95Network – Soul Care Essentials
- 95Network – Healthy Church Assessment
- Read Stalled: Hope and Help for Pastors Who Thought They’d Be There By Now
- Watch Podcast on YouTube
Key Takeaways
1) I realized in my first church that the seeker model that I was using wasn’t actually helping me to create disciples. Our church was primarily comprised of new believers who still had a lot of maturing to do.
2) The multiplication aspect of training disciples who also train disciples has led to our church impacting more people on a weekly basis than we actually have in Sunday morning attendance.
3) Seeds of Change was founded to support small church pastors, especially in rural settings, who admit they want to learn how to have a disciple-making ministry.
4) Our heart desires to serve and encourage small church pastors who often live in isolation.
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