We are excited to announce that Brandon Kelly has (re)joined the team here at the Churches of God, General Conference. As of the start of this year, Pastor Brandon has come aboard as the Mobilizing Churches and Disciples Consultant. Previously, Pastor Brandon had been the lead pastor of College First Church of God in Findlay, Ohio, for four years but announced his intentions to step away from the role in the summer of 2023. Prior to his role at College First, Pastor Brandon was employed at the CGGC as the Director of Leadership Development & Strategy from 2016-2019. Outside of his new responsibilities at the CGGC, Brandon is a co-director of 5Q, an international organization that aims to help Christian leadership teams develop their gifts, and recognize the A.P.E.S.T. model of scripture (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, Teacher from Ephesians 4). 5Q sees A.P.E.S.T. as “an interpretive key to unlock potential and purposes in disciples, leaders and organizations.”
The team is excited to have Pastor Brandon back in the office and we wanted to give him an opportunity to reintroduce himself to the rest of the denomination. So, we’ve asked Brandon to talk about his goals for the job.
What is it like returning to the office?
I’m excited to come back. It will be good to build upon some of the initiatives that had been done in the past but also, with the dramatic shift and change of the world since 2020, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to help the denomination move forward from such a seismic shift… And I hear there is better coffee.
What would you say is your main objective here?
I’ve been specifically tasked with seeing mobilization take place throughout the denomination. Helping churches to be more missional: church planting, fresh expressions, missional communities, etc. Anything that helps churches take a step out into the community to start new things in new places with new people.
How do you think your experience leading a local church will help you succeed at this objective?
First, like so many others in the denomination, I had to lead a local church during covid, and have experienced the ups and the downs of what ministry has been like in the recent past. Secondly, I think College First has had some really good missional movement in these past few years. We started ministries with international students, a flag football program, and a scout program that were reaching hundreds in our local community on a regular basis. These are wonderful opportunities to engage the community and to be mobilized as a church that’s been around the block a few times. All of that has been really good and I’m hoping those experiences will be beneficial to other churches.
What do you see as the biggest hurdles for churches to be missional?
Probably the most significant hurdle is that the church has gone through a period that was hugely emphasizing survivability, and for good reason. Nobody knew what covid was bringing, everything was different, and there were a lot of unknowns. Moving out of crisis, and a sense of survivability, and into mobilization is difficult. It will likely require churches to let go of current paradigms and ways of operating. That takes a lot of intentionality and desire on the part of pastors, leaders, and the congregation to make it happen.
Recent shifts weren’t just inside the church but outside of it as well. Extreme loneliness has been noted as a prevalent epidemic in our culture. Individuals moved into a survival mode too and that has really isolated people in our community. That presents a hefty challenge to being on mission to a community, but it also presents a great opportunity. What better cure for loneliness is there than communing with God and His Church?
What does the organization of 5Q bring to the table to help you do this job?
5Q’s body of work is centered around APEST and Ephesians 4 as an identifier of calling, as well as a tool to allow teams to work together in harmony and vision. It’s also a framework by which churches and organizations can operate. I think all of those things impact the church’s ability to be mobilized. To know the calling and the giftedness of the people that belong to the church and the opportunity for the variety of callings to work together in a team format to accomplish God’s mission out in community. And for the organization to function healthily internally, as well as externally. To make sure that we are taking care of the needs within the church, but that we are being sent to those that are not part of the church yet. All of it helps to push the mobilization conversation.
What are you most excited about in the role?
I’m most excited for the high potential of fruitfulness and breakthrough that exists within our denomination. We are in a good position to accomplish our mission and vision as a denomination. And the harvest fields are ripe. That just leads to a lot of great potential and opportunity for the denomination to thrive… and the coffee.
Well, you had a chance to try the coffee, what do you think? It’s not quite Folgers, is it?
Anything is better than Folgers.
CGGC eNews—Vol. 18, No. 2
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