Matt Hatch may not be the best known leader in Newfrontiers, but I think he is one of our best. He has done an excellent job in planting Mosaic Church and is very intentional and thorough in developing new leaders. He is also extremely gracious. Here are his ten questions...
Who is your leadership hero? Why?
I guess it should be someone from the bible, but here's someone you won't of heard of. An unknown church planter called Nate Bobbett. I first met Nate 15 years ago when my wife Philippa prophecied over him that God wanted him to "pack his suitcases and leave". He took this as the confirmation he was waiting for and left to plant a church in Beirut, Lebanon. He would regularly update us with incredible stories of dodging bullets and seeing muslims convert to Christ and the loneliness of working as a single guy in a warzone. He has now handed the church over to his team and now lives in America where he trains up other church planters.
Why do I admire him? He is a loyal and faithful friend that has wholeheartedly given his life to submitting to Jesus. King David calls it "an undivided heart" and Jeremiah calls it the "singleness of heart' but I simply see one of the most determined and intentional men I've ever met who want to live in integrity, Holy Spirit annointing, love and holiness. It is both challenging and inspiring.
How long have you been in leadership?
I dodged leadership for the first 20 years of my life, but God got hold of my life, dealt with my apathy and fear and I've now been in church leadership for around 12 years.
What was your first leadership role?
A five minute prayer time at a small group.
How long have you been in your current role?
4 years
How long has your church been established? Did you start it?
My family moved to Leeds six years ago and we launched the church in Oct 2004.
What has been the growth curve of your church?
We grew from a family of four to around 30 people and then launched the church. It has grown fairly steadily each year to over 300-350 adults and we are launching a second service early in 2009.
What has been your biggest leadership challenge?
Leading myself.
What has been your greatest leadership success?
Probably navigating our first two years of church planting and coming out the other side with a wife and family who love Jesus and a small band of like-minded missional people with a passion for the city and the nations!
How are you developing new leaders?
I'm always trying to think of ways I can see men and women released to use their gifts in the things they are passionate about. So we try to have a very empowering culture in our church community. We also have specific training tracks for people wanting to be discipled, mentored and trained in leadership. One of the things I especially enjoy is our training school. We have around 30 people who meet each week (over good food) to be given the best material I can gather on leadership, discipleship, theology and church planting. It lasts for 18 months and the hope is to build Mosaic's leadership base and raise up church planting teams to be sent out wherever God leads.
How are you continuing to develop your own leadership gifts?
Personally I think the leadership gifts are the easier bit. The hard thing for a leader is the character. This is what keeps the leader in ministry for the long haul. So I find regular retreats and scripture memorisation as the most effective means to lead me into the grace and love of God. It's in this place that the Holy Spirit changes me..though it feels painfully
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