Fast-Growing Follow Up: Insights from Pantano Christian Church’s Growth with Trevor DeVage

Welcome back to the unSeminary podcast. This week I’m talking with Trevor DeVage, the lead pastor at Pantano Christian Church in Tuscon, Arizona.

Trevor has talked with us before and is back sharing how to recognize opportunities at your church and embrace best practices to create space for growth.

* Opportunities, not problems. // Pantano recently launched a third service to address parking issues and accommodate their expanding congregation. Aware that people were being turned away at the parking lot, the congregation was so committed to making space for more guests that they asked for another service to be added. Time changes for all services had to be shifted yet were welcomed with enthusiasm. Solving issues, like this one, that your church faces aren’t “problems” but rather opportunities to get your congregation to catch the vision.

* Gather to scatter. // Pantano engages in Serve Our City, a practice where the church mobilizes its congregants to go out on a Sunday and serve in different capacities around Tucson instead of holding services. While it might be tempting to worry about giving when services are canceled, Trevor encourages churches not to miss this type of outreach opportunity. From bringing care packages to first responders to building almost 1000 bikes for kids, mobilizing Pantano Christian Church actually stirs people’s hearts to be more generous because they are reminded that the reason they gather is to scatter and serve their community.

* Pantano Anywhere. // Trevor believes we can’t neglect to engage people online or we will miss out on reaching a significant portion of the world. One of the church’s strategies for online ministry is Pantano Anywhere, where they encourage people to launch house campuses in their own homes or businesses. Pantano provides training and tools for these individuals to lead and host gatherings and make a difference in their communities. 

* Spreading outward. // Looking to the future, Pantano is exploring multisite options by partnering with other churches so their legacy can continue. By resourcing their Pantano Anywhere participants, they also look for pockets of people near each that could be targeted for a future campus or church plant in a different part of the state, country or world.

* Simplicity saves souls. // Instead of looking at how you can do more, focus on how you can do less more effectively. Pastors and churches may be tempted to make things more complex because it is a form of job security. However complexity fails to empower others. The mantra Pantano communicates to their staff is that simplicity saves souls, complexity causes confusion. By simplifying, the church can reach more people and extend its impact.

You can learn more about Pantano Christian Church at pantano.church.

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