Two years ago—today—a group of us launched Grace Church of Dover in the Tri-City area of the New Hampshire Seacoast. Two months into the plant, I wrote a prospective philosophy of ministry called Simple, Small, and Strategic. In it I shared our distinctives, laid out expectations, and charted our course as a new church. I laid out a vision where culture eats strategy and maturity beats momentum. In other words, when it comes to church growth, depth is more important than breadth, and conviction is more essential than ingenuity. I explained that the truth-and-love, Gospel culture of deep doctrine and deep relationships we aimed for could not be fast-tracked without bypassing the hard, consistent groundwork that needed to be done. I’m humbled and happy to report the extraordinary fruit that God has provided in spite of our many insufficiencies and despite myriad obstacles. He has rewarded our ordinary faithfulness.

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