Dreaming Big, Discipling Deep: Christina Lowery on Leadership, Legacy & the Next Gen

May 21, 2025

Christina Lowery, Associate National Director for Church Health and Development at Vineyard USA, shares her insights on leadership and discipleship. She emphasizes the need for developing future leaders and the importance of succession planning within the church. Christina discusses empowering younger generations and resources for new pastors. The conversation also covers post-pandemic church dynamics, the significance of relational discipleship, and highlights transformative programs like Project Timothy, which fosters growth among high school students.

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INSIGHT

Leadership Development is Vital

Leadership development is essential for the survival and flourishing of the Vineyard movement.
Raising leaders who raise leaders ensures long-term health and growth of churches.

ANECDOTE

Personal Connection with Mark Batterson

Christina Lowery deeply relates to Mark Batterson's long-term faith approach and dreamer mindset.
She has personal connections with his ministry which enriched her appreciation for their leadership and community impact.

ADVICE

Multiply and Release Leaders

Churches must not only develop leaders internally but also willingly release them for broader Kingdom work.
Producing leaders who multiply other leaders is crucial to avoid crisis in pastoral succession.

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In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Jay and Christina Lowery discuss last week’s episode with Mark Batterson, including what Christina loves about their ministry approach. They also talk about why leadership development and succession plans are vital for the Vineyard today, how and why they created Vineyard Leadership Essentials, and some other effective pathways for discipleship. Christina shares about some of the new stuff coming in the Fall for pastors who have just come in as successors, some of what’s happening with NextGen and how she’s working to resource what God’s doing, and what she’s encouraged by as she meets with Vineyards around the country. Christina Lowery is the Associate National Director for Church Health and Development. Early in her ministry career, Christina served as the Events Director for a large student internship at Teen Mania Ministries (Acquire the Fire) in Tyler, TX. In 2001, she and her husband Joel joined a local Vineyard Church there, and served on the pastoral team for several years until they were called to move back to Virginia and plant Crossroads Church. Christina and Joel have co-pastored Crossroads Church in Fredericksburg, VA since 2008. As a Lead Pastor, Christina has been a big-picture thinker and creative visionary, responsible for communicating and driving the vision and mission of the church forward. She finds great joy in preaching and teaching, leadership development, and building systems that foster church health and growth. In addition to her local leadership at Crossroads Church, she has served in other leadership roles with the Vineyard, such as an Area Leader in Northern and Central Virginia for ten years (2009-2019) and on the Vineyard Women in Leadership Team for the past three years (2018-2021). Joel and Christina have been married for 23 years and have 3 amazing kids – Hannah, Caleb, and Zoe. The Lowery family loves to travel and so far, their favorite destination is Maui, with its warm sun and beautiful island beaches. Show Notes: Register Now for Vineyard USA’s 2025 National Conferences Listen to Christina’s previous episode Listen to Mark Batterson’s episode Vineyard Leadership Essentials Project Timothy