Same Team

Recently watched the documentary Pearl Jam 20 by Cameron Crowe (I love you Cameron Crowe!), and I thought it had a ton of lessons for church planters. Here’s one…

In the 1980’s there were a bunch of bands in Seattle (wearing lots of plaid). Two of the up and coming bands were Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. But rather than view the music scene as a zero sum game, the two bands formed a friendship and supported each other. In the documentary there’s great old footage of them performing together.

When Eddie Vedder (singer for Pearl Jam) moved to Seattle from San Diego he was new not only to town, but also to fronting a band and performing publicly, and so Chris Cornell (singer for Soundgarden) mentored Vedder. Cornell even wrote a song (“Hunger Strike”) that he ended up singing with Eddie, which became Vedder’s first recorded song.

How cool would it be if churches followed that example? Too often pastors are territorial and churches feel threatened if a new church gets started in their area. Seriously? That’s the way of Jesus’ Kingdom? What if churches partnered together? What if more experienced pastors took in the new church planter in town and mentored him?