Community Outreach: January 22nd Interview: Phil Underwood

Jan 22 Interview: Phil Underwood, Pastor/church planter

Phil has been married to Gill for 35 years. They came to the US from New Zealand 15 years ago, and have 3 daughters.
Cornerstone Christian Church http://www.cornerstonedelco.org/
Before becoming a pastor, he worked for a radio station in NZ where he was a journalist and producer. He eventually moved to Christian radio before going to Bible college.
Phil began pastoring in New Zealand at age 25. He enjoys going to churches that have recently split due to anger/dispute. His first pastoring job was difficult, 24 out of 150 attendants left due to a controversy over music.
Enjoys the challenge of an empty church, and was part of a mini-revival in NZ.
One of his jobs was to prove that moving out of strategy works, despite people's Pentecostal mindset of solely relying on the Holy Spirit, and being lackadaisical about structure.
Phil strives to win disciples, not converts…they count salvations by the number of people who have been discipled, not just saved. He stresses quality salvations over quantity salvations.
Strong believer in strategic planning, they do so by asking their churches to set goals.
A principle that drives him is "you are a priest to your circle of influence." He often preaches this message to his new church congregation to get them involved with his vision of reaching the community by emphasizing their sphere of influence.

Your job is a ministry, whatever it may be. Wherever you are, you're representing Christ. It's what we do, not what we say that we believe.

3 Approaches to Community Ministry:

Set up a "garden"...come along side a ministry by supplying them with resources.You are a part of this ministry, but not fully dedicated to it.

Not driven to specific locations, but to specific needs…(ex: prison ministers go to different prisons, but are always doing prison ministry.)

Some of what a week of ministry looks like for Phil's church…

Outreach to alcoholics Mon. and Tues. nights.
Life groups
Grief share, divorce care, the are of marriage….(all designed programs where you only need to buy material.)
Pick-up basketball league

Main Points:

We don't always gravitate around strategies in pentecostal movements.
"Past performance is the best future predictor." (In regards to church planting.)

Community Outreach