Episode 36: Kingdom Ecclesiology: Interview with a Disciple-Maker

Summary

In this episode of Between Heaven and Earth, Justin and Amy Howard talk with Matt Schneider, a former Anglican priest turned missionary in Springfield, Massachusetts. Matt shares his journey from traditional ministry to launching a grassroots disciple-making movement in a highly post-Christian context. He critiques the North American church model as overly centralized and ineffective at producing true disciples, placing unrealistic expectations on pastors while fostering passivity among congregants.

Matt advocates for a return to a New Testament model of shared leadership through the fivefold ministry and emphasizes equipping everyday believers to actively participate in disciple-making. He highlights the importance of relational discipleship, Scripture engagement, and community-based spiritual growth over program-driven church structures. Addressing concerns about decentralization, he argues that empowered, Scripture-rooted communities are better positioned to guard against false teaching than rigid institutional systems.

Highlights 

• 🌍 Called to Springfield, MA, a leading post-Christian city
• 📖 Seminary lacks practical disciple-making training
• ⚖️ Pastors are overburdened in an unsustainable model
• 🔥 Advocates for shared leadership over traditional pastoral roles
• ⚠️ Decentralization can strengthen, not weaken, doctrinal health
• ✨ Vision: equip ordinary believers to multiply disciples

Key Insights 

• 🌍 Mission in Hard Places: Prioritizing spiritually resistant regions reflects a missional mindset.
• 📖 Training Gap: Churches lack leaders equipped for relational, reproducible discipleship.
• ⚖️ Broken Model: Centralized leadership creates burnout and passive church cultures.
• 🔥 Rethinking Leadership: Biblical ministry is shared, not centered on one role.
• ⚠️ Truth in Community: Scripture-engaged communities help safeguard sound doctrine.
• ✨ Multiplication Vision: Empowered believers create broader, lasting spiritual impact.

About Matt: 

"I've been married to Hawley for 17 years, and we have six children whom we homeschool. We live in Springfield, Mass., which the Barna Group called the most post-Christian city in America in 2019, which is why we moved there. I started following Jesus in 2007, and that came with a calling to become a missionary to Americans. We are on the North America team with Biglife, a global disciple-making organization. Our family strives to be disciples of Jesus who make disciples, and we are laboring to see a powerful move of God in America before Jesus returns. I'm convinced a huge piece of this is for the American church to rediscover what it means to be the church. This is why I also serve as a leader with an initiative called Lampstands, which is a prophetic voice for decentralized ecclesiology. We're helping the church in North America rediscover biblical patterns of gathering and multiplication. To connect with me, visit lampstands.com. There are two downloadable PDF documents on the Lampstands website I recommend: "5 Practices for Following Jesus with Your Whole Heart" and "Decentralized Ecclesiology: Returning to the Roots of the Church," which are both easy to find on the home page. We have a blog that is updated weekly with topics related to being the church in simple ways." 

Connect on Social Media: @belampstands