Billy Waters knows what it feels like to carry more than one person should.
As Lead Pastor of Wellspring Church, he oversees a congregation of around a thousand people and pastoral responsibility for nearly forty churches across his diocese. For most of his ministry, there was a natural answer to the question of who would carry that weight alongside him in the next season. But over the last five to seven years, the pipeline of capable, mission-driven leaders entering pastoral training has dropped sharply. The needs of the church have not slowed down to accommodate that reality.
Billy knew a traditional hire was not the answer. The budget was not there. The right candidate was not there. What Wellspring needed was someone who could focus entirely on building what did not yet exist: a real pathway for developing the next generation of leaders.
Out of a task force he convened to pray and think through the problem together came an idea he had not considered before. A fractional co-builder could come alongside the church in a focused, flexible way and give their full attention to the one thing that kept getting pushed to the back burner.
Over three years, that relationship produced something Billy did not expect. An initiative called the Three Streams Institute became, in his words, the lifeblood of the church. And the emerging leaders they developed started pouring back into the people already serving. The pipeline did not just get replenished. It started flowing in both directions.
If you are a pastor or nonprofit leader who knows the next season of your organization depends on leaders you have not yet developed, this one is worth your time.