Description

“We started with honor and believe we’ve seen so much favor because of that.”

Earl and Oneka McClellan are the founders and lead pastors of Shoreline City Church based in Dallas, Texas. They started Shoreline with a Bible study in a nursing home in 2012 and have grown into multiple locations, services, and expanded internationally into Guatemala. They’ve been married for over 20 years with three children, and are both visionaries and dynamic communicators who are passionate about cultivating leaders.

Dino visits them in Dallas, where they unpack many aspects of Shoreline’s start as well as their commitment to a healthy marriage and partnership throughout all stages.

They talk about the beginning of their journey and how they planned to move to a highly unchurched area until they felt God’s call to Dallas. Through seeking counsel and honoring local pastors, they were able to find the right part of the city to plant Shoreline. Recognizing they are standing on the shoulders of so many pastors who plowed the ground before them, they committed to honoring local pastors in every step. They also celebrate finding the lost, doing life together, and not just finding people who are already in great communities.

The conversation covers many topics including:

• How to honor and take your time to land in the right place
• Learning how to lead together as a team and overcome your individual insecurities
• Feeding confidence and security into your spouse/co-leader
• How the roles of ‘architect’ and ‘general contractor’ helped them define their own roles
• The one thing they didn’t do when launching that they wish they had 
• Dealing with criticism, skeptics, and the pain of relationships that shift 

They also talk about one of the displayed messages throughout their building which shows the heartbeat of their church:

You are loved. You are valued. You are believed in. 

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The Association of Related Churches (ARC) is a cooperative of independent churches from different denominations, networks, and backgrounds who strategically resource church planters and pastors to help them reach people with the message of Jesus.

Since 2000, ARC has helped to plant more than 1,070 churches worldwide. If you have a dream in your heart to start a life-giving church and reach your city with the message of Jesus, ARC is here to come alongside you in the journey. Attending ARC Launch, a church planter training event, is the first step in planting a church with ARC. You will hear from ARC pastors, coaches, and staff as they share the nuts and bolts of church planting. Discover more and register for ARC Launch at ⁠⁠https://www.arcchurches.com/launch/⁠⁠. 

Don’t Do Ministry Alone - We need relationships to thrive. You need other people in your corner, who have gone through similar things that you’ve gone through, and believe in your dream. ARC provides opportunities for you to build relationships with others in ministry that will support and strengthen you in what God has called you to do. Learn more at ⁠⁠https://www.arcchurches.com/connect/⁠⁠.