Faculty Highlight: Rustin Umstattd

Dr. Rustin J. Umstattd serves as Assistant Dean of Doctoral Studies and Associate Professor of Theology and Ministry at Midwestern Seminary. He received his M.Div. and Ph.D. from Southwestern Seminary. Dr. Umstattd came to Midwestern after serving more than 15 years in student ministry. In addition to his role at Midwestern, he serves on the pastoral leadership team at Northland Church—a church with a passion for planting churches in Kansas City. Dr. Umstattd enjoys playing guitar, riding motorcycles, and watching science fiction shows with his daughters. He has been happily married to his wife Leslie since 2001.

MBTS: How would you explain Northland’s philosophy and passion for church planting?

RUSTIN UMSTATTD: Northland Church has a long history of desiring to see new churches planted in Kansas City. This passion is driven by our understanding that each community needs to have a healthy church ministering to people in it. In the book of Acts we see Paul and others travel around the Mediterranean establishing new churches that then sent people out to continue the work of spreading the gospel. We want to be part of that same mindset where we send people out from our congregation to reach new people by starting new churches. One of our mottos is that we want to multiply churches, not chairs. Given the choice of having one thousand people on our campus each Sunday or having ten churches planted that are averaging one hundred people each Sunday, we believe that those ten churches will have a greater impact upon the city than our one location could have. We, therefore, want to disciple our members to be ready to leave our church and be a part of planting a new one. As those members are sent, room is made in our facility for us to reach a new group of people, who we then want to disciple to potentially be sent out to plant another church.

MBTS: For those interested in church planting, can you give us a behind the scenes look at how to plant a church?

RUSTIN: Planting a church is not an easy task, and there is no cookie cutter method to how it should be done. Our two most recent church plants were done very differently. For one of the plants, we had approximately forty members join together to plant the church. They gathered regularly as part of Northland, but when the day came for the church to be planted, they became an autonomous church immediately. Our most recent plant has been a campus of Northland for a little over a year and will become autonomous this fall.

The common feature between both plants was that the church plant pastoral team served at Northland and was trained before they planted their church. They were also sent out with enough members from Northland to give the new church momentum. We believe that a church planter should begin his plant with a strong group of members who can act as seed and starter fertilizer for the new church plant. Having a strong group of believers as the core of the church plant optimizes the chances of the new plant taking root and thriving in its new community.

MBTS: How can established churches equip future church leaders and planters?

RUSTIN: Established churches are the best place to train future church planters, because the goal of each church plant is to become an established church with deep roots in the community. A key component in training church planters is exposing them to the regular ministry routines of a church. The initial phase of planting a church is different from what is needed a year after planting, five years after planting, and a decade after planting. Bringing a potential church planter on the staff team enables the planter to grow relationships with members that will join him when he plants, as well as allows him to sharpen his ministry skills.

The sending church also needs to have the mentality that any of its pastors could be a planter. What I mean by this is that the church’s culture should be open and willing to send not just its newest pastor, but any pastor on staff to plant a church. Being willing to send out highly effective and loved pastors can be scary for a church, but it also sets the tone that God has called us, as a church, to expand His Kingdom through planting new churches.

MBTS: How have you seen the landscape of churches in Kansas City develop and grow throughout your years at Northland Church?

RUSTIN: I have had the pleasure of being a member, as well as serving as a pastor, at Northland since 2009. During that time, I have seen an increased desire among churches to start new churches, and this is deeply encouraging. Another change that I have noticed among seminary students who are training for ministry is a desire to be part of church planting efforts. These men are not primarily looking to join large, established churches, but want to reach an area of the city that does not currently have enough churches. They are looking to join churches that can equip them and deploy them to plant a new church.

MBTS: Why is theological education important for church planting?

RUSTIN: As a professor I love theological education. I love meeting with students to discuss the deep theological issues they are wrestling with in their classes. As a pastor of a church planting church, I also see the need for theological education from a different angle. It is one thing for seminary students to gather with each other to discuss what they are studying, but it is quite another thing to connect with people who have never gone to church before as you plant a new church and reach people who have no prior understanding of the Christian faith. The questions they ask are deep and profound, but the church planter needs to be able to answer those questions in a way they can understand. To be able to simplify the biblical answer for them requires that you know that answer very well, and this is where theological education pays great dividends. The more you understand your faith, the more you can explain it to others who have no understanding of it at all. Seminary often gets the bad rap of being an ivory tower where only intellectuals discuss ideas that are irrelevant to the average person, but this could not be further from the truth. Midwestern’s goal is to train people “For the Church” and this requires that each student engages deeply with the Bible and their faith, so that they can engage the lost. This engagement is even more pronounced in a church plant because the people you are reaching are mostly unreached people.