Church leadership is a rewarding path, but for many senior pastors it’s a lonely one. Whether you serve in a megachurch or a rural community, building like-minded relationships is vital. One Pennsylvania organization is tackling this issue head-on: The Advantage.
Founded and led by David Ashcraft, former senior pastor of LCBC (Lives Changed by Christ) Church in Manheim, Pennsylvania, and current president and CEO of the Global Leadership Network, The Advantage helps pastors thrive personally and professionally.
“As we were developing the concept that became The Advantage, we wanted to create something that would complement all the great content existing pastor networks and consultants were already delivering,” says Pat Murdock, executive director of The Advantage. “Rather than focusing on creating new content or a new network, we chose to major in relationships.
“Our goal was to invite senior pastors from the largest gospel-teaching churches across Pennsylvania to meet together in twice-per-year roundtables, creating a safe place for first-seat peers to celebrate their wins, but also to help each other with their challenges and the ‘next hills’ that the churches they lead were planning to pursue.”
The Heart of The Advantage
After 32 years of leading LCBC Church, Ashcraft was considering his next steps in ministry. He had seen his church grow from one location of 150 people to 19 locations serving 20,000 across Pennsylvania. With 8 million individuals statewide still unchurched, he wanted to broaden the gospel’s reach by supporting pastors. That’s how the concept of The Advantage was born.
“David came across Acts 18:27, which described a man named Apollos as someone with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, a great defender of the faith, but most importantly, someone who was a great encouragement and help (or advantage) to the church,” Murdock shares. “Our goal was to be approachable, empathetic, strategic, generous and humble. This story from Acts 18 seemed to best capture the heart of what we aspired to be: a great benefit or ‘advantage’ to the pastors and church leaders we are being called to serve.”
The team at PlainJoe, A Storyland Studio, worked alongside the team at The Advantage not only to determine the ministry’s name, but also to define their brand personality, visual identity and unique offering.
“Our logo includes a group of chevrons moving up and to the right together alongside an understated name that inspires kingdom-mindedness, service to one another, and generosity that unites us in this leadership collaborative,” Murdock explains.
A New Support System
Since its 2023 launch, The Advantage has welcomed 65 senior pastors of the 76 largest churches in Pennsylvania. According to Murdock, each participating pastor has committed to pay the support forward by identifying 10 to 12 other pastors with whom they’ll form a cohort. Participants share encouragement, best practices and prayer, lifting one another up in their work for Christ. In total, this core group will serve 650 to 780 additional senior pastors.
“Getting our pastors to see each other as collaborators versus competitors, and seeing them step out of their silos and into kingdom-minded, shared-mission relationships has been life-giving to all involved,” Murdock continues. “It has been a John 13:35 experience for our communities and our state.
“By creating a safe place where pastors working in the same missional geography can come together and freely discuss their challenges, they are encouraged to learn that they are not alone, that others are wrestling with the same or similar issues,” Murdock adds. “They walk away with not only new ideas and strategies for working through these issues, but also with renewed spirits and deep encouragement.”
Blazing a Trail
Today, The Advantage is strengthening and equipping ministry leaders across Pennsylvania with support, strategies and strong personal relationships with peers. Participants have access to roundtables, one-day workshops, a podcast, an annual all-access event, and a digital sharing platform called The Advantage Resource Library. Most importantly, peers can support one another throughout the year.
“These peer groups, who face common challenges, are helping to strengthen each other, so that their churches are stronger,” Murdock underscores. “Ultimately, more people will be introduced to Jesus across our shared mission field of Pennsylvania.”
The Advantage is funded by LCBC Church, its partners and other contributors to this missional effort. Participants’ only requirement is to pay it forward by investing in other church leaders across the state.
“We are seeing this spirit of generosity and kingdom-mindedness grow across Pennsylvania through these leaders,” says Murdock.
While the team primarily focuses on serving Pennsylvania, they hope to create a simple, replicable model that other churches can implement—not just across the U.S., but globally too.
Learn more at TheAdvantage.org.