Todd Engstrom

Author: Todd Engstrom

  • When is a Group a Church?

    Church planting work often begins long before anything recognizable as a “church” exists. It starts with prayer, relationships, hospitality, Scripture, and gospel conversations. Over time, a few people become a group. A group becomes a discipleship community. Believers emerge. Leaders begin to form. And eventually – sometimes slowly, sometimes suddenly – a church is born.…

  • Why Plant Churches

    For much of the early 2000s, the question in Austin seemed to be, “Why not plant a church?” Churches emerged across theological traditions, cultural expressions, and missional instincts. Some flourished, some faded, and some quietly concluded their work. Yet even where churches closed, the fruit often remained. Disciples were formed, leaders were trained, neighborhoods were…

  • 2025 in Review

    2025 in Review

    As Advent began, I started looking back over this year and trying to make sense of all that God has done. It has been a full year for our family, our work, and our hearts. When I think about it, three words keep rising to the surface. Striving. Selling. Serving. They describe more of a…

  • Weakness is Not Inability

    I was on a run today, and I quit. I walked the last quarter of my planned route. And like many of us, the internal dialogue started immediately. One thing you should know about me: I hate making mistakes. As an Enneagram 1, I’m driven by a deep desire for righteousness, which often twists itself…

  • The Church Isn’t a Safe Place

    We live in a time when people long for “safe spaces.” The language of safety has become central in our culture, and in many ways, that is understandable. We have lived through a global pandemic, experienced cultural unrest, and carried personal anxieties. Safety feels good. Safety feels needed. And safety isn’t all together bad. But…

  • Gratitude for Partnership in the Gospel

    Philippians 1:3–6 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will…

  • Revolutionary

    We love to call things “revolutionary.” A new idea, a product launch, even a church ministry model—if it breaks the mold, we call it a revolution. The word has become shorthand for anything innovative or disruptive. But at its root, a revolution is simply a turning. One complete cycle—360 degrees. The earth makes a revolution…

  • Settled

    There’s a word I’ve been carrying with me lately: settled. It’s come up in conversation around our house. We’re getting settled into a new rhythm. Settled in our home. Settled, at least for this season. There’s a kind of peace in that. After a stretch of change—vocational shifts, family transitions, future unknowns—it’s a relief to…

  • The Longing Beneath the Form: Ancient Future and Nostalgic Novelty

    In a recent conversation with a friend I dearly love, we were talking about what people are longing for these days—particularly in the church. He described it as a hunger for the ancient future—a return to something old, something deep and rooted, that can still guide us into what’s next. The phrase stuck with me.…

  • More Than Seen: The Better News of Being Known—and Indwelled

    “I feel so seen.”It’s a phrase I hear often. And I get it—it names something powerful. To be seen is to be acknowledged, understood, even honored. In a world marked by loneliness and disconnection, to be seen is a gift. Language like this evolves to express our longings, and this one resonates deeply. Even in…

  • Why Multiplication Feels So Far Away

    For nearly 20 years, I’ve prayed for and pursued the multiplication of disciples and churches here in Austin, while also supporting the spread of the gospel overseas. I believe multiplication is at the heart of the Great Commission—Jesus calls us to make disciples of all nations, and that work necessarily includes both sending and reproducing.…

  • When Life Seems Strange

    Lately, I’ve found myself caught in a loop of thought: “Life shouldn’t feel this way.” But the truth is—it does. It feels uncertain. Disorienting. Foreign. And the more I sat with that, the more I began to realize: maybe that’s exactly the point. Scripture speaks of us as “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews…