Faith and foolishness often appear as two sides of the same coin.
What one person sees as a courageous act of faith, another might view as absolute foolishness. Ultimately, only God knows the true nature of these actions at the moment they occur. For us, their true nature is revealed in hindsight.
Consider the stories of …
- Noah building the Ark against all odds
- Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac
- David standing boldly before Goliath
- Peter stepping onto the water
- Jesus surrendering to the weight of the cross
At first glance, these moments may have appeared foolish, yet they ultimately became profound testaments of faith. They prove the point that…
“…the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:25)
A Foolish Church Plant Experiment
For 13 years, my wife Lucia and I have led a unique church-planting experiment rooted in the world’s largest media and entertainment enterprise. Along the way, we have taken steps we believed were motivated by faith – some later revealed to be disappointingly foolish, while others, though initially considered foolish by others, proved to be divinely inspired. Whether in faith or folly, we continue to press forward in our sacred endeavor, trusting that every act of exploration, expression, and experimentation deepens our wisdom and dependence on Jesus.
A Global Kingdom Movement
Today, our church-planting experiment spans six continents and 12 first languages. We are immersed in a world of imagination and creativity, often feeling like we’re living 15–20 years ahead of the curve. This experience has given us valuable insights that I’m eager to share. You might find them resonant – or perhaps not – since they challenge many conventional church-planting strategies. However, in our context, they have proven effective.
Cast Member Church is a global movement of Kingdom Expressions (I’ll explain later) among those who work in Disney Parks worldwide – Orlando, Anaheim, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. We are not affiliated, endorsed, or supported by The Walt Disney Company, yet we are specifically designed for the employees, known as Cast Members, who work for “the mouse.”
Remarkably, 95% of our CM family had never touched a Bible or had any previous faith experience before encountering us. Many of these young Cast Members will go on to become cultural influencers in music, movies, television, dance, art, technology, business, and more.
Oh, and our movement thrives without a building, a budget, or a paid staff. Go figure.
Challenging the Common Principles and Practices of Church Planting
In the realm of modern church planting, we may be seen as an outlier – something uniquely suited to Disney culture but not applicable elsewhere. However, I believe otherwise. We had to rewrite many of the principles and practices taught in today’s church-planting boot camps, and what we’ve discovered might just surprise you.
Here are three of them:
- Plant the Kingdom (Not the church)
- Start with the Harvest (Not the Christian community)
- Empower for Sending Disciples (Not for Collecting Members)
Let’s unpack them.
1. Plant The Kingdom (Not the Church)
“Seek first the Kingdom of God…” (Matthew 6:33a)
There’s a joke in the Disney company culture that goes like this:
Q: How many Disney Imagineers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: Does it have to be a lightbulb?
By traditional church-planting metrics, Cast Member Church is a failure. Yet, in reality, we are a vibrant and fruitful Kingdom expression, revealing Jesus to thousands worldwide every day.
The Early Days: Facing Expectations
When we first started, we quickly connected with young Christian Cast Members who appreciated the idea of a church designed for them. However, as soon as we shared our vision – that everyone is called to be a disciple-maker among those who didn’t know Jesus – many disappeared just as quickly as they had arrived.
They would politely say things like, “I was looking for a more ‘normal’ church” or “I was hoping for something like my college group back home.”
One conversation stands out. A young woman, raised in a Christian home, educated in Christian schools (K-12), and a graduate of a well-known Christian university, told me she wasn’t called to make disciples.
I don’t know – maybe there were a couple of pages stuck together in her Bible. I wish I could say she was an exception, but she wasn’t. She was one of many.
We realized that the term “church” attracted those with preconceived expectations. For many, “church” did not imply becoming disciple-makers.
A Shift in Perspective
I love the word “church.” It’s still in our name. But one day, in the midst of my frustration, I remembered that Imagineering joke – but I altered it.
Q: How many churches does it take to reach a generation unaware of Jesus?
A: Does it have to be a church?
As silly as it may sound, I believe that answer came from God. This got me thinking, so I asked Lucia, “What if we just planted the Kingdom instead of a church and did not even worry about a church? Let Jesus build it – if He wants to.”
In that moment, Lucia and I made the decision to start from scratch. After all, God loves a good do-over. The immense pressure and frustration we had been feeling lifted away. We shifted from frantically paddling upstream to turning around and allowing the current to carry us wherever it might lead.
We committed to focusing solely on building relationships with Disney Cast Members who had no idea who Jesus was. Rather than seeing ourselves as missionaries with an agenda, we became Kingdom Expressions – revealing Jesus by speaking value, forming trust, and planting hope in those we encountered daily.
Everything changed – not overnight, but gradually. We noticed a growing openness to Jesus. It became clear that he wanted to create something out of nothing. After all, he had done it before – when he spoke creation into existence. This time, he would form a Kingdom movement out of those who didn’t believe in him.
A New Way Forward
Our dinner table became a sacred space, regularly filled with young people bruised, beaten, and broken by life. Most were strongly critical of organized religion, conflicted about faith, and confused by Christians.
So, we listened.
We didn’t try to correct or criticize their perspectives. It took courage for them to be honest with us, and they deserved our respect for their openness. Their transparency was surprisingly refreshing.
Over time, Lucia and I shared our own struggles – our doubts, fears, and regrets. We admitted that we didn’t have all the answers, which earned us credibility. Something was shifting. Jesus was working.
As our friendships deepened, talking about our friend, Jesus, became natural. Not as a concept to absorb but as someone we knew well and loved dearly – someone we were happy to introduce them to whenever they were ready.
Nothing was forced. It simply flowed from who we were.
Because they knew we valued them, they trusted us. Because they trusted us, they were open to hearing more about our relationship with our friend, Jesus.
From there, Jesus took over and did the heavy lifting. We were simply the signposts.
This dramatic shift ushered in the second dawn of Cast Member Church, which began the day we stopped planting a church and started planting the Kingdom.
Today, we empower Disney Cast Members to become unique Kingdom expressions. No expression looks or sounds the same, yet they all look and sound like Jesus.
Consider This:
- Something we have learned about Kingdom expansion is that not all followers of Jesus can become church planters, but all followers of Jesus can become powerful Kingdom expressions, reaching people and places a church never could.
- Some Kingdom expressions will become churches, and many won’t. That’s okay, and it’s even better because it will take far more than church planting to reveal Jesus to the broken world around us.
This brings me to the next surprising principle we have learned:
2. Start with the Harvest (Not the Christian Community)
“The harvest is plentiful…” (Matthew 9:37a)
In my church planting boot camp, I learned the importance of forming a core community and launching as large as possible so that other Christians could experience the church plant, consider its vision, and possibly decide to join it. The exact mission could be determined later.
When Cast Member Church began, we were like a solo parachute drop.
Looking back on our journey of failing forward into a spiritually disengaged world, I’ve concluded that I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
A Jesus-centered, missionally-driven, harvest-focused Kingdom expression that becomes a movemental network of other Kingdom expressions always begins with the mission, not a core Christian community.
And the mission thrives in the harvest.
Cultivating the Soil
After Lucia and I decided to focus on planting the Kingdom, we began opening our home to larger gatherings for Disney Cast Members. It all started with Thanksgiving. Since many Cast Members at Walt Disney World come from other countries and spend a year working here, we saw this well-known American tradition as the perfect opportunity to welcome them and show how much we valued them.
One year, we counted 143 young Cast Members in our home. That’s a lot of turkey! And no, our house isn’t that big – but we made it work.
These gatherings weren’t about promoting Cast Member Church or even sharing the gospel directly. We simply wanted them to feel valued, to know they had a place where they were always welcome. And in that space, friendships naturally began to grow.
Our home became a host for the harvest, and the joy of preparing the soil was ours to embrace.
At Cast Member Church, the dinner table is our most sacred space. It’s our sanctuary, the place where we gather. This rhythm has become part of our DNA worldwide and continues to bear fruit even as you read this.
The Kingdom Is About Fruitfulness
Jesus frequently used agricultural metaphors. He wasn’t merely speaking to a culture that understood analogies related to fields and farms; He employed agricultural principles because He wanted you and me to know that His Kingdom functions organically and will be messy.
When Jesus spoke of the plentiful harvest and the lack of laborers, the harvest wasn’t the problem. Jesus referred to the need for those willing to go into the fruitful harvest.
I find it both convicting and compelling how the verse before Jesus’ comment on the Kingdom labor shortage describes the harvest:
“He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36)
This should provoke some soul-searching:
- Do I view the harvest the same way Jesus does?
- Am I gripped by the same compassion that Jesus feels?
- Am I willing to go into the harvest and labor for the sake of the Kingdom?
It’s a big commitment to consistently immerse yourself among those who are skeptical and suspicious of what is most important to you. But it’s in the plentiful harvest where the Kingdom treasures are buried. And I am convinced it is where the Kingdom will be most fruitful and vibrant.
But a question remains for all of us: Are we willing to get dirty?
Consider This:
- Beginning with a core Christian community rather than focusing on the harvest means you will always face challenges in expanding outward. Human beings have a natural tendency to turn inward and create tight-knit circles. The church is no exception, as it is influenced by the desires for significance, safety, and security. This is why the mission of Jesus can seem so counterintuitive. Starting with a core community is easier and faster, but the fruit will not be as vast or far-reaching.
- On the other hand, by engaging in the admittedly messy work of preparing the harvest field soil, a DNA for expansion can be established, reproduced, and multiplied repeatedly. In the course of carrying out the mission, a tightly knit community will emerge. But that community will retain its fundamental characteristics that are movemental and harvest-focused. And from out of the harvest will come the fruit of more laborers.
Speaking of moving outward, here is the final surprising principle:
3. Empower for Sending Disciples (Not Collecting Members)
“As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)
The Natural Tendency for Turning Inward
Human beings naturally gravitate toward those who are similar to themselves. It’s no surprise, then, that the church often operates the same way. Like attracts like. As we gather with those who share our thoughts and actions, our sense of communal identity strengthens.
However, there’s a fine line we must be careful not to cross. When our focus shifts – however subtly – from gathering to be sent to gathering to be separate, our mission is compromised.
Jesus didn’t gather people to keep them in one place – He empowered them to go. That’s exactly what we strive to do.
Over the years, every Cast Member from our CM family has moved on to other places. Instead of clinging to them, we celebrate their next steps and equip them to become Kingdom expressions wherever they go. Some will plant churches, some will create faith-driven communities in their industries, and some will carry Jesus into places a traditional church might never reach.
This mindset shift – from collecting to sending – has been the key to our movement’s growth.
This reminds me of a conversation I had with someone interested in Cast Member Church. They told me they were looking for a church where they could “get fed.” I knew this person had been a Christian for decades. I smiled and explained, “Our role isn’t to feed you – it’s to teach you how to feed yourself first, then to feed others, so they can do the same, and so on.”
I lovingly concluded, “We’re probably not what you’re looking for.”
Our Values for a Fruitful Kingdom Expression
To stay fruitful in our mission, we embrace a set of values that allow Jesus to work uniquely in and through each Kingdom expression:
Think SPECIFIC. Think SIMPLE. Think SMALL. Think SLOW.
- Specific: Every Kingdom expression, whether an individual or a group, focuses on a particular missional context. This could be defined by but not limited to a common PLACE, a common PASSION, common PLAY (activity), or a common PROFESSION, or PAIN. (It’s a bonus if they overlap.)
- Simple: Because we are harvest-focused, we assume that those we build relationships with may have no faith background. Everything we do should be understandable and actionable – even for a 10-year-old in their own context.
- Small: Each Kingdom expression should be able to fit around a dinner table. If it grows beyond that, it’s time to multiply. Many small expressions, working together, create a movement – yet without the need for a building, big budget, or paid staff.
- Slow: Discipleship in the harvest takes time. Jesus is not in a hurry, and neither should we be. Relationships develop at the pace of grace. There are no deadlines or quotas for fruitfulness – only a commitment to invest deeply in people and reveal Jesus in the process.
These three key shifts have transformed Cast Member Church from what some saw as a failed church plant into a thriving global movement. None of this was planned or strategized – there was no “plug-and-play” formula. Instead, it is the fruit of trusting Jesus, planting the Kingdom in the harvest, following an uncharted course, and being willing to release it.
Consider This:
- Church planting as we’ve known it is not the only way to grow the Kingdom. It may not even be the most effective way. But here’s what I know for sure: The Kingdom of God is unstoppable, and Jesus is still building his church – often in ways we never expected.
- If you are a church planter who feels like you’re failing, I want to encourage you: Maybe you aren’t failing at all. Maybe God is leading you beyond a model and into something He’s never expressed before, something uniquely suited to this generation, and He’s chosen you to express it.
- Walt Disney once said, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” Walt’s statement is also true for whatever Kingdom expression Jesus has called you to be.
- Remember that your Kingdom expression will require faith AND foolishness. If you’re willing to trust Jesus (FAITH) and be willing to fail several times (FOOLISHNESS), Jesus will get you there.
- Use YOUR imagination. What seed of a Kingdom expression has Jesus given to you? I dare you to plant it.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
