Establishing a Church Planting Movement

We had three session today with Steve Childers which were all incredible. I really love Steve Childers and Bart Thompson. Those guys are great. Bold, ballsy, humble, direct, gentle, and other qualities that indicate they’ve spent some time soaking in the Gospel.

Ok, let me give you a summary of Steve’s first session with us on “Establishing a Church Planting Movement.” In the second session (which was a continuation of the same topic), my battery died on my laptop, so I aplogize for not having more to share. I jotted down some random quotes and thoughts that I hop you’re able to decipher. The third session was just with Steve and the A29 regional captains, so I can’t comment on that meeting, but let’s just say it went well and we’re excited about GCA.

Paul at Ephesus was making tents, conducting a great course of apologetics for Christianity, fulfilling the function of the pastor, watching over the flock, admonishing with tears and teaching from house to house. But he was also directing a great missionary enterprise to that whole region round about Ephesus.
-G. Campbell Morgan, The Acts of the Apostles

We need to:

1) Develop a Church planting network
2) Build Church planting alliances
3) Birth church planting movements

God takes pleasure in manifesting his presence and pouring out his power on those who radically align their purpose with his. His key purpose is not for you to have a really great church planting network but to be glorified by those who have allowed their agenda to die as they take on His for this world.

We should start a network with the intention of aligning ourselves with other types of plants and gospel-ecumenical (the qualifier here is “gospel”) alliances to reach the diversity in the city.

Missional networks exist for the city not the city for our network. We need to pray a reformation of the city- a spiritual awakening so that the invisible Kingdom is made visible.

“Do not pray only for you own spiritual renewal. Pray for a springtime of the Spirit which will enrich the church and the world, an awakening for which all earlier renewal movements have been only rehearsals.”
-Richard Lovelace

You need to work for the Goal: Network and Alliance
You need to pray for the Desire: Movement

We need to repent of the sin of our salvation complex. Why do we think we are the personal saviors of this city? We need to build a unity around the cross. We need other people and groups to fulfill God’s desire to make his name famous in the city.

“A church-multiplying and impacting movement takes time-at least 20-50 years. Revival becomes widespread in the first generation bringing hundreds into the Kingdom of God; in the second generation Christians rise and make their influence known. The third generation really begins to see the full harvest of a multiplication movement.”
-Tim Keller

We need to find people who will commit to a city with love for it for the rest of their lives. You have to love the city so much that you are willing to die to establish a movement to convert the city. Are you willing to give your life to see the church advance in your city for the next 50 years of your life? If not, find a city you are willing to commit to and love and work there.

A clergy centered network will never become a true movement. All great awakenings need to be driven by the laity.

We need to communicate over and over again that we are not a church, we are a city changing movement.

There are certain components that make up a healthy church, and planting a network is like planting a church, you need the same healthy components for the network to succeed.

Here are the components of a healthy network:

Leadership: Unifying leaders around a master plan
Vision: Developing a regional vision and comprehensive strategy
Renewal: Implementing gospel renewal dynamics and kingdom prayer
Coaching: Coaching church planters
Training: Training church planters and coaches
Resourcing: Mobilizing the laity for kingdom mission
Assessing: Assessing church planters
Farming: Raising up church planters from the harvest for the harvest
Parenting: Equipping churches to plant churches

I’ll post more later, for now this will have to do saints.

Much love from Orlando.