I am a husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, friend, and follower of Jesus. Above everything else, I love God and am committed to His Kingdom and helping people discover and fulfill the purpose for which He created them.
I began preaching in 1988 and pastoring in 1998. Today, I serve as Lead Servant of The Launching Pad Worldwide (TLPWW), a network of disciple-making missional communities and microchurches. Our journey has taken us from a traditional, prevailing-model church toward becoming a movement of ordinary people learning to make disciples wherever they live, work, learn, and play.
I am a co-vocational disciple-maker, author, equipper, coach, teacher, preacher, and podcast host. Whether I am teaching in a church, coaching a leader, speaking in the community, sitting around a table with a small group of disciples, or serving alongside people in their neighborhood, my passion remains the same: equipping people to become who God created them to be and empowering disciples of Jesus to make disciples who make disciples.
Over the years, God has allowed me to serve and lead initiatives throughout Greater Chicagoland and beyond—from community transformation and leadership development to missions and disciple-making. I have had opportunities to teach, preach, facilitate workshops, and serve on mission throughout the United States, the Dominican Republic, and South Africa. Yet I remain convinced that some of our greatest opportunities for Kingdom impact are already right in front of us.
I often say, “Every problem is a discipleship problem.” I believe Jesus changes people, changed people change families, and changed families can transform communities. That conviction fuels a BIG dream God has placed in my heart: to help make 100,000,000 disciples in 10 years.
I am the author of Bloom Where God Has Planted You: It’s Time to Fulfill Your God-Given Purpose and host of the Bloom Where God Has Planted You Podcast. I am also completing my next book, Take Off: How We Transitioned to Become a Disciple-Making Movement.
Academically, I hold a Bachelor of Science in Advertising from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Arts in Missional Church Movements from Wheaton College, along with additional training in Christian education, evangelism, leadership development, and discipleship. In 2019, I was honored to receive an Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from St. Thomas Christian University.
I am also co-vocational, serving professionally as Director of Commercial Clearance for a multinational communications company. That experience continually reminds me that ministry does not begin when we enter a church building. Our everyday lives are our mission fields.
Most importantly, I share life and ministry with my wife, Felicia, and together we are blessed with our family and the privilege of serving others.
Thanks for stopping by. My prayer is that something you read, hear, or experience here will help you bloom where God has planted you, become all God created you to be, and help someone else do the same.
Thomas Clark, IV
The First Book By Thomas Clark, IV is Now Available!
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