answers

I get a lot of email from church planters/prospective church planters. It's been a really busy couple of months and I've been filing them in a folder to answer later. But then I dropped my PowerBook... So, after spending a couple hours Saturday sifting through the 1300+ emails I was able to recover from the server (from March on), I am committing to getting back to some of these. I'll answer here so we can all help, eh? Kenny writes:

Hey Bob, I just read your article on the ooze. I wanted to tell you how much it blessed and encouraged me. I'm a 23 year old seminary student at Southern Seminary in Louisville Ky. This is my first year and I recently graduated from Campbellsville Univesity in Ky with a bachelors in Educational Christian Ministry. My heart is no doubt in Revival and Evangelism. Though seminary is cool and all it's actually been a very burdensome time for me here.

Sometimes this place seems like the walking dead. But beyond that God has really been laying a lot of stuff on my heart about church planting. I recently found out that Georgia is 85% unchurched and thats been on my heart a lot. I've been talking to people about it a lot and been thinking about it. I've preach for a while now and I know the need for relevancy and a genuine move of God. I see the revolution going on and I can see how God is moving. do you know of any suggestions tips organzations etc. taht maybe i can get hooked up with. Thanks man Preciate the Encouragement Kenny

In terms of organizations, my first tip (and others are free to disagree!) would be to plant without one. Get connected with other pastors in the area for emotional/professional encouragement. Organizations offer money, but with that money comes strings. If you are planting in an area where you have ties/connections, all you really need is a core group of people committed to community and committed to giving. Start small, go simple on equipment, focus on creating family rather than spectacle and things will come together.
My (limited) experience with church planting organizations is that they really won't commit to helping you until you have that core group of people, have demonstrated stability and some "stickiness" , at which point, I wonder if they are really needed.
All that being said, there are some organizations out there to check out. Probably most are regional, so you should ask around for those working in the area in which you want to plant. If you are down with where they are at theologically, check out Acts 29. They are a good group of church planters committed to biblically sound, relevant and missional church planting. We didn't end up affiliting with them over the issue of women in leadership, but for some that's less of an issue...
Also- check out the forums at NextChurch Network... I've allowed them to go a bit dormant, but I'm going to do my best to be a presence there again and create some good community for church planers/potential church planters...
Who else can we point Kenny towards?

Comments

[Drew Caperton]

Kenny: Where do you call home, theologically speaking? Who are the people whose books/blogs/articles are influencing you? If I knew that, I might be able to tap into some contacts I have [all three of them]. Otherwise, I'm just guessing on your behalf. Why don't you email me [drew at vox church dot org] and let me know.

Bob: It seems like Kenny's story highlights the thing NextChurch is missing- a relational web of emerging-type pastors available to help others through some first-year stuff. Maybe we could start recruiting pastors for this... well, to do THAT, we'd need a way to get the word out... any ideas, Bob?

FYI, Vox Church in Lafayette just made one year alive! Woo Hoo!

[Chris Marsden]

The only church planting "association" that I know anything about and actually like any of what they are doing is the NewThing Network. www.newthing.org I have had the chance to meet and talk with Dave a little and I have also had the chance to meet and talk with other Church Planting organizations. I don't know a ton about them, but they are genuine about reaching people. They focus mainly on multi-site churches but also do a lot of Church Planting as well. For them it is not an either/or but a both/and.