Matt Chandler did not want to take over the First Baptist Church of Highland Village in Dallas, Texas but when they agreed to absolutely every demand he made he had no choice but to see the hand of God in it. The struggling Baptist church of 165 still fought the reforms of the not-yet thirty, loud, charismatic, Reformed Evangelical until they finally relented and a good thing they did...the church of 165 is now a church of 4000+ and Chandler is one of the 20 most downloaded preachers in the world.
In the church it is generally assumed that one must be 40+ to man a church and that most young ones need to be seen but not heard. Chandler, Mark Driscoll, Erwin McManus, Francis Chan and a score of others are changing that assumption. The simple fact is that there is a generation gap that has never been seen before and, as Thom Rainer has proven, the preaching is THE reason why the un-churched or de-churched choose a particular congregation. 18-35 year olds want to hear from those who "speaks their own language" without selling out to the emergent fad. The fastest growing congregations in America are doctrinally sound, making deeply committed disciples and are lead by 40 and unders. May their tribe increase.
To hear more about Matt Chandler and The Village check out this link:
http://www.theresurgence.com/profile_matt_chandler
God bless!
