Facilitator for Emerging Faith Communities Chris Scott shares his personal journey and calling into church planting.
Chris Scott never set out with a neatly packaged plan for ministry. Even before seminary, he found himself pastoring and planting churches. At first, he thought this drive was something most believers shared. Over time, through prayer, honest conversations with friends, and the quiet leading of the Holy Spirit, he recognized it as a unique vocation — a specific call to help birth new communities of faith.
He pursued a Doctor of Ministry in church planting at Asbury Theological Seminary (2018), mentored by Professor Emeriti Art McPhee. While serving on staff at a Methodist church during his studies, Chris discovered a deep theological home in the Anabaptist/Mennonite tradition and made the transition. Guided by that sense of call, he planted a church in Winchester, Virginia — the exchange — a scrappy, Spirit-led, justice-centered fellowship that began with informal Bible studies, community events, and genuine relationships in the local arts scene.
For Chris, church planting is not about copying old models. It’s about joining what God is already doing in a particular time and place — creating spaces for authentic connection, contextual gospel communication, and tangible expressions of God’s love, justice, and shalom. It’s about welcoming people who may have been hurt by church or who know little of Jesus beyond a children’s story, and inviting everyone to contribute — sharing hymns, Scripture, reflections, and life together in the spirit of the early church.
Calling on the whole of Christ
What stirs Chris most deeply is the vision of building a wider “culture of call” across Mennonite Church USA and partner groups. Church planting and emerging faith communities are not just for a few “special” leaders. They are an invitation for the whole body of Christ — through prayer, mentoring, financial support, service, or simply showing up — to participate in what Jesus is doing today.
This is mission at its most hopeful: ordinary followers of Jesus discerning God’s voice together, walking with one another through messy faith, and living out the peaceable way of Christ in their neighborhoods.
How you can be part of this
- Your financial support helps emerging faith communities in their crucial early stages.
- Your prayers sustain and guide those stepping out in faith to plant new communities.
- Your presence and gifts — whether through mentoring, volunteering, or exploring a call yourself — can help birth something new.
- Your voice can help cultivate a culture where more people feel free to say “yes” to God’s invitations in their own contexts.
At Mennonite Mission Network, we believe God is raising up new expressions of church that reflect the diverse cultures and neighborhoods where people live. Chris Scott’s journey reminds us that the call to participate in God’s mission is open to all of us.
Thank you for joining in this holy work
Connect with Chris and the Emerging Faith Communities team to learn more about church planting, discern your own call, or explore ways to get involved. Together, we can help nurture communities of hope, healing, and discipleship in our changing world.
