Pastor Kenton Beshore shepherds a 2,100-seat church, fifty-acre landscaped campus of glass and steel buildings arranged around a lake, a stream, waterfalls, and a playground with a climbable Noah’s Ark and a smiling life-sized whale opening its mouth to swallow little Jonahs. Mariners Church, one of the most influential evangelical megachurches in the United States, with more than 13,000 members, four worship centers in Orange County, and a network of global church partners in Kenya, Uganda, Congo, China, Egypt, Haiti, Mexico, Sri Lanka, and Germany.A few years ago, Kenton had a spiritual crisis moment in his heart. He attended a friend’s retirement celebration – a Pastor, and all that people talked about was the buildings he built. Kenton thought,

“If my legacy is about buildings I built, I will be mortified.”

In all the fast growth experience of the church, he felt that he had gotten sidetracked from what he was most passionate about, making disciples.As a Youth Pastor, all he had to worry about was making disciples of students. Then as a Lead Pastor, ministry got more complicated. He had to re-vision a declining church. Then he needed to raise money to build buildings as the church grew. He had to hire staff and plan for the future.Kenton knew that things needed to change in how he and his staff shepherded and discipled people.Kenton decided that he wanted to see for himself where God was working most powerfully in the world. His staff told him that he needed to go beyond the Western Hemisphere. Then a staff person challenged him, “but Kenton, you need to know that we Americans don’t learn anything from anybody else in the world.”So Kenton, acquiesced and said,

“OK, OK, I will humble myself and sit at the feet and learn from those who are experiencing the moving of the Spirit of God, wherever it is happening in the world."

This decision led Kenton to visit Kenya and to be exposed to a 10-week discipleship experience called Rooted.Rooted is an experience designed to impact the head, the heart and the hands. It provides more than Bible knowledge content, it engages the heart, providing a three-hour prayer experience, a session on dealing with strongholds and instruction on dealing with pain in life. Every participant is engaged in a serve experience, not just giving money to a cause.The impact on Mariners Church and hundreds of other churches who have followed suit is impressive. People are getting connected to God, the church and to their life purpose.

• 70% of graduates volunteer and serve more

• 82% increase their generosity

• 90% go on to engage in group life

"This discipleship program is like nothing I have ever experienced."  Stan

Check it out: Rooted