M I N I S T RY | P R O F I L E
Planting in Small Places How one Missouri church is reaching rural communities By CHRISTINA QUICK
P
lato, Missouri — an unincorporated village with a population of 109 — may not seem like an obvious place to plant a new church. Yet that’s what Pastor Kevin Larsen says God called him to do. Average attendance has yet to top single digits since the church’s soft launch last January, but Larsen isn’t focusing on numbers.
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“If you don’t have a lot of patience, rural ministry is not for you,” says the Detroit native. “It can be tough. That’s where faith comes in — realizing God builds the Church, not me.” Larsen’s congregation is one of 17 parent-affiliated Assemblies of God churches Life360 Church has planted across southern Missouri. “Our approach is to plant in smaller, rural towns that have public schools and no AG church,” says Ted Cederblom, vision pastor of the multisite church and lead pastor of the main Life360 campus in Springfield, Missouri. “You’d think anyone in their right mind would go where there are a lot of people, but God has given us a heart for rural America.” Cederblom, the son of Assemblies of God missionaries Larry and Dorothy Cederblom, grew up on the mission field in Panama. When Cederblom became the pastor of Park Crest Assembly of God in 2003, he wanted to see it become a multiplying church. The congregation changed its name to Life360 to reflect the vision of moving beyond Springfield’s Park Crest neighborhood and taking the life-giving message of Jesus in all directions. Although some of the early church plants did not last, Life360 persisted — and finally found its niche in rural ministry. “We’ve always had a permission-to-fail approach,” Cederblom says. “Our failures are where we learned and grew.” Today, Life360 has about 1,200 attendees — 400 at the main campus and 800 across the other 16 locations. Each church has a lead pastor and associate, with full-time salaries provided through the Life360 network. Every planting team receives a church van and building, as well as ministry training and support. Lead pastors preach their own messages, and tithes stay in the local congregations. All the leaders come together weekly to share stories, swap ideas, celebrate wins, encourage one another, and pray. Cederblom believes those connections are vital.
