I spent some great time with a group of planters in CO at Lifebridge Christian Church in CO a couple of weeks ago.  We spent time talking through a framework for developing a service based new church.  It seems that most of the planters I talk with lately don’t really consider the idea of being externally focused an option, they believe that building a “other center” DNA in the heart of the new church is a requirement for a healthy relevant church. It was clear to all of us that this new priority creates an interesting leadership challenge.  While the senior “guy” clearly needs to be involved in service and carry this heart, “raking lots of leaves” to quote Rick Rusaw, the senior leader really cannot be the one who coordinates and makes the service activity come together.  Unfortunately, I have seen many new churches that are “born without the capacity to reach out or serve.”  Much of this is due to the fact that we often don’t consider including an intentional service person in our early staff or plant team.