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Understanding Networking

When Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and

said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very

religious,” he was connecting to the heart of who they were. Very

easily he could have climbed on a soapbox and blasted away.

Clearly, the city was full of idols. But he chose instead to relate by

complimenting the people on their philosophical interest in reli-

gion. He connected, he aroused their interest and he earned the

right to share the message of Christ. Acts 17:34 details the mea-

sured result, “A few men became followers of Paul and believed.”

Remember the Samaritan woman whom Jesus related to over a

drink of water? Or, that great story many of us first heard when

we were children about the “wee little man in a sycamore tree?”

Jesus, recognizing the man’s curiosity, looked up and said,“Comedown immediately for I must stay at your house today.” Because

Jesus was looking, he saw Zacchaeus and was eager to intention-

ally relate to him on his notorious turf.

The New Testament is packed with very exciting accounts of rela-

tional networking.Every time I read them I get a renewed passionfor church planting. To think that I don’t have to spend all day in

an office sitting at a computer or running to another committee

meeting. I can do relational networking and it’s my job!

Every church planter must be a relational networker. Regardless

of our ministry focus or our unique cultural context, we’ve been

called to reach people. We cannot reach them by implementing

new strategies, developing creative programming, preaching

powerful sermons or investing in high tech marketing alone. We

simply must connect with people and teach and empower others

to do the same in order to experience multiplication.

According to the book, Power Networking, a referral generates

80% more results than a cold call. Did you know that 70% of all

jobs are found through networking? Most everybody has at least

250 unique contacts. Amazingly, whomever you may want to

connect with is only four to five people away. Regardless of who

you are or where you are, you have vast resources available to

build the church. The vehicle is relational networking.

It should go without saying that when you build a relationship

your ultimate aim is to see people come to Christ. It may sound

self-serving, but to do that you must first convince people that

you are an OK person yourself. It takes time to build trust, loyal-

ty, admiration, support, confidence and a good reputation.

Someone said that it is not about whom you know, but who

knows you. What people say and think about you, as you are

involved in their every day lives, will make the greatest impact.

You’ll never be more available for relational networking than in

the first phase of your planting ministry. Once things get up and

going you’ll be pulled to divide your time in so many ways.That’s

why it is important up front to plant a high level of relationship

building into your church’s DNA by intentionally multiplying

yourself. Encourage others to follow your lead.You’ll need to pol-

ish your people skills and develop an intentional strategy. Plan

each day with networking as a vital part of what you do as a pro-fessional church planter. If you put everything else first with a

goal of working some relational networking in whenever you get

a chance, it won’t happen! Mark your daytimer with intentional

times for networking even if you don’t have a scheduled appoint-

ment. If you’ll do that with your antenna up, you’ll have more

networking opportunities than you can imagine.

One of the greatest things about relational networking is that the

whole family can get involved, and no one has to be neglected.

Look for those natural opportunities that may have already come

your way. You really don’t have to be too creative if you are pay-

ing attention. When we moved to Chula Vista, California, in 1991to plant a new church, we were a family of 7, with kids ranging

from ages 3 to 20 and grandma in her 70’s. The doors never

stopped opening for us.

Our son, Greg, was a Pony League baseball player. Soon after I

signed him up to play, I received a call asking me to become themanager of the Red Sox. With a little fear and a tremendous

amount of anticipation I accepted the challenge. I leveraged our

first meeting together as parents and players with a newsletter I

called, “Straight Pitch.” It was an intentional way of introducing

myself while sharing my personal values and vision for the team.

We kept producing that newsletter throughout the season. It was

an intentional connection.

During those beautiful summer nights in San Diego while on the

field with my son and his teammates, my wife, Ronnette, was in

the stands building relationships with the other moms. Our kids

Get Ready, Get Set, Relate: Getting Intentional About Relational NetworkingBy Bill & Ronnette Armstrong

The New Testament is packed with very exciting

accounts of relational networking.

It takes time to build trust, loyalty, admiration,

support, confidence and a good reputation.



he two-fold mandate of the Great Commandment is the love of God and the love of peo-

ple. There is, then, a vertical dimension and a horizontal dimension to which all followers

of Christ must commit. Church planting is wrapped around passion for God and passion

for people. As we examine many of the Scripture passages identified in this manual we find this tan-

dem at the root. At the hub of strategic people ministry is the nuts and bolts reality of networking.

Remember, success in church planting is measured in reached people. Reaching people requiresrelentless networking before the launch, during the launch and after the launch.

In our discussion of Essential Wiring, certain aspects of Calling, Gifts, Skills and Behaviors are about

our relating to people. The key term “Circles of Influence” is defined as “the various networks of

relationships…”. The three universal church planting values are identified as Evangelism (turning

people to The Lord), Empowering (training and releasing people) and Multiplying (kingdom expan-

sion). All of these values are built around working with people. All eight of the essential qualities

specified in Natural Church Development involve effective ministry with people. The Prayer

Commitment calls for the developing of people who will pray for the reaching of people. Biblical

Multiplication describes the Desired Ends as many people coming to salvation. The Book of Acts

traces the history of God’s working through people to reach people.

The hub of people activity in the church plant is networking, working the networks that are our

circles of influence. As we network in our circles of influence, we share our faith, we disciple, we cast

vision and we recruit. We tirelessly mine our circles of influence, enabling and empowering those in

our circles to begin to mine their circles. We expand our circles and create new ones. We are always

would be relating to other brothers and sisters. Even grandma

would be swapping grandkid stories with the other senior adults.

We had more after game parties than any team in the league.

When the baseball season ended, the parents became our first

church adult coed softball team even before we started services.

Many of those families became part of our launch team. My two

assistant coaches eventually hosted Bible study groups in their

homes. One coach is an elder in the church today. His wife

became our children’s director and now administrates and directs

a very large and successful pre-school hosted by the church. The

greatest thrill was being able to see first hand the spiritual results

of relational networking. I’ll never forget the day I took my Pony

League players to a baseball clinic led by professional players who

were Christians. Nine of the twelve boys invited Christ into their

lives. That day our youth group was born and so was our church.

Believe me, that is when church planting really gets to be fun!

Church planting is not about a re-gathering of scattered

Christians who are looking for a cool place to worship. It’s about

building relationships with people who are lost for the expressed

purpose of bringing them to Christ. Maybe coaching a baseball

team isn’t your thing. Nonetheless, you have unique circles of

influence. Identify them. Get intentional. Plan your action and act

on your plan! How are you going to connect?

Bill and Ronnette Armstrong planted a highly successful church in

Chula Vista, CA, EastLake Community Church. The young church

experienced a 75%-80% conversion rate growth. Now Ronnette and

Bill organize and direct Church Multiplication Training Center

Bootcamps. [email protected]

Multiplication Factors:

t Connect to people in their contexts.

t Earn the right to share your message of Christ.

t Keep your eyes open for opportunities.

t Find ways to intentionally relate.

t Make relational networking job number one.

t Empower your team to connect with people.

t Never burn relational bridges.



on the lookout for someone whom God might call into the church that we are called to plant. Each

new person brings new possibilities for ministry. The person who desires to successfully plant a

church must commit to networking as a way of life. There’s always someone else to be reached.

REMINDER

CIRCLES OF INFLUENCE: The various networks of relationships to which a planter, ministry part-ner or team member are connected. For example, co-workers, fellow members of a homeowners

association committee, the parents of the kids on your kid’s soccer team, a group of friends, or family

and relatives would all be considered circles of influence. These circles provide the starting points for

making contacts, casting vision and recruiting.

This article is provided by Outreach, Inc. Visit www.ChurchPlants.com <http://www.churchplants.com/>.

You are also invited to visit the website for the Church Multiplication Training Center at www.CMTCMultiply.org<http://www.CMTCMultiply.org>/

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