I want to share a major ministry announcement!
Groundswell and 1000 Churches, a church-planting ministry founded by Dwight Nash, are combining to form a new organization called Mobilize the Church.
Our name is our mission.
Dwight and I first met in 2004 at a pastor’s conference while serving in the Texas-Louisiana District of The Wesleyan Church.
He was leading a local church in New Orleans, LA, and I was serving on staff at a church in Dallas, TX.
Dwight was later elected to be the part-time District Superintendent of the region and moved to Dallas, TX, to fill my former role as Associate Pastor at Sent Church. God called my wife and me to plant a new church in The Colony, TX.
The Backstory
Over the next fifteen years, our paths would continue to cross, and our friendship would deepen. We both share a passion for church planting and have served multiple districts as Directors of Church Planting.
It was now May of 2019.
Dwight had recently taken a step of faith to launch 1000 Churches, and I was wrestling with a calling of my own to start a new ministry called Groundswell.
However, with a recent cancer diagnosis of my youngest daughter and an uncertain future, I hesitated to launch a new non-profit.
We both saw the wisdom in launching Groundswell under the umbrella of 1000 Churches and hit the ground running in January 2020.
In the first few years, Groundswell and 1000 Churches worked as two separate ministries with one non-profit and one board of directors.
We also shared the same strategic goals and philosophy of ministry, a Mobilization Pipeline we developed at a conference in Chicago.
Groundswell would serve the lower levels of the mobilization pipeline. 1000 Churches would serve near the top.
Mobilize the Church
This arrangement worked well as our partnership continued to strengthen. In early 2022, we took a step to reorganize and change the name of our non-profit to Mobilize the Church.
We also created a guiding document, a Philosophy of Ministry, that we printed and shared at Exponential 2023. At that conference, God also began to stir our hearts toward greater alignment.
God is leading us to merge Groundswell and 1000 Churches into one organization. Moving forward, we will operate as Mobilize the Church.
Our mission is to partner with pastors and network leaders to mobilize a growing wave of disciple makers, pioneer leaders, and church planters. Our logo is shaped like an “M” for mobilization and symbolizes a growing wave.
Moving forward, Mobilize the Church will consist of…
One staff
One board
One budget
One philosophy
One ministry
While Dwight and I will serve as co-founders and share overall direction, he will provide leadership as the Executive Director, and I will serve as Strategic Director.
His role will be to give leadership to our Board of Directors, finances, legal issues, fundraising, and development. He will also serve as a “Network Catalyst” and specialize in the top levels of the pipeline.
My role will be to provide leadership to our Staff Team, launch new initiatives, align programming, and help with communications. I will serve as a “Ministry Architect” and specialize in the bottom levels of the pipeline.
Our Incredible Team
Finally, we want to introduce our incredible team of people joining us as we move forward with Mobilize the Church.
Dwight and I are joined by four Mobilization Directors. Jeremy Summers oversees the Pioneer Training Center and Spiritual Formation, Shari Nash leads in the area of Development, Cody Tupps oversees the Awaken Network and Church Planting Residencies, and Aimee Pratt is leading in the area of microchurches through Next Initiative.
We also have a growing group of trainers, prayer warriors, donors, partners, and incredible support with finances, graphic design, and communication.
Finally, we are building a larger “Family of Ministries” providing oversight for Global Cities and Good News Communication!
A Final Word
If you desire to activate the body of Christ to make disciples, pioneer new ministries, or start new churches, please drop us a line at jwiest@mobilizethechurch.com or dnash@mobilizethechurch.com. We believe hundreds of thousands of workers are sitting in local churches waiting to be mobilized for ministry.
We recently launched a new website at www.mobilizethechurch.com that will be a place for training, resources, and stories of mobilization.
Finally, our growing team will continue to send out fresh articles 2X a month on the challenges and opportunities of mobilization, and if you would like to see past articles, visit our Substack home page.
We look forward to sharing more!
Jon and Dwight
Two amazing men of God with a "walking talk" of Kingdom impact worthy of partnership! This ministry "marriage" is a win for the Church - can't wait to see all the new and better ways lives are transformed and new Kingdom locations are launched. Way to go gents!