Ian McConnell, who helped to revitalize Grace Bible Church in northeast Philadelphia several years ago, will be one of three speakers at Revive & Plant, "a conference seeking to promote the centrality of the gospel in our churches through church planting and revitalization so that the gospel will be advanced through our cities." From the conference website:
It probably does not surprise anyone that the church in America is struggling for a number of reasons; but, perhaps, the most significant reason is the loss of gospel centrality. However, we have a sure foundation in Jesus who is still building his church. Further, we believe that Jesus through his Spirit is constructing a growing movement that is restoring the gospel to its rightful place within the life of the church. It is through this rediscovery of the gospel that the church is beginning to thrive again.
There are two ways we see God restoring the gospel to a position of primacy within his church at large: church planting and church revitalization. Church planting is needed because of the great disparity between the number of churches and current population growth. In addition, it is typically easier to lay a gospel foundation than to try replacing an existing foundation. However, revitalizing dead churches or churches that are not centered on the gospel is necessary too! Though this route is often longer and more difficult, it is absolutely essential if the church is going to recover and grow in maturity.
The conference will be held March 22-23, 2012, in Chesapeake, Virginia. Visit the conference website to view the schedule or register ($25 for individuals, $35 for married couples).
January 16, 2012 by
Andrew Mahr
Categories: Church planting
Sunday marked the launch of Sovereign Grace Church of Miami. The plant is led by Jose Prado and was sent out by Palm Vista Community Church (Miami Lakes, FL).
The church meets at 11:00am on Sundays at 7130 SW 30 Road in Miami. You can also follow them on Facebook.
January 9, 2012 by
Andrew Mahr
Categories: Church planting
January 8 was launch Sunday for Redeemer Church (Lake Nona, FL), a plant led by Benny Phillips and sent from Metro Life Church (Casselberry, FL).
Benny preached a sermon from Mark 1, which you can listen to at their website.
You can follow the church via Facebook or Twitter. They meet at 11221 John Wycliffe Boulevard in Orlando.
Earlier this summer we confirmed plans with Sovereign Grace churches for two church plants: one in Miami, Florida, and another just outside of San Diego, California.
Sovereign Grace Church Miami is being sent out from Palm Vista Community Church, and they plan to have their first service on January 15, 2012. They’ve been thinking hard about how to use a bilingual model to reach both Spanish- and English-speakers in one of the least-churched cities in the country, and we're excited to see how God uses their efforts. If you'd like to know more, you can watch a video with lead pastor Jose Prado at Palm Vista's website or follow their updates via Facebook.
The church plant near San Diego (in East County) will be sent out in mid-to-late 2012 from Grace Church in San Diego, which also planted Grace Church in Frisco, Texas, several years ago. The lead pastor for the plant is traveling a bit farther, however: Tab Trainor, formerly the senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Church (Oswego, IL), is moving to California to lead the team. Tab planted Sovereign Grace Church in 1998 and handed off the senior pastor role to Josh Fenska at the beginning of this month.
We’re grateful for the faith and sacrifice of these sending churches and the planting teams. And beyond that, we look forward to seeing what role these new churches will play in our shared mission in the future. If you want us to email you when either church is ready to begin public meetings, sign up at our Join a Church Plant page and note your location as being in Miami or San Diego. We will contact you with details when the launch date nears.
Both of these churches are being assisted by start-up grants via the domestic portion of our annual Mission Fund. If you're a Mission Fund donor, thank you for helping to make these two new churches a reality. They are both a work of partnership among Sovereign Grace churches and would not be happening without your prayers and generosity.
In his message at Plant, Mark Dever zeroed in on what is created by church planting–a church. And a church means shepherds caring for community of sheep. In this clip Mark surveys the need for shepherds and the need for sheep to be connected in community with one another.
At the Plant conference in March, C.J. Mahaney challenged church planters to embrace the call and privilege of pastoring God’s people. It isn’t about just loving to preach. Its about loving those to whom we preach.
Next month, Keith Breault is planting Redeemer Church of Charlottesville, Virginia. In part 1 of our interview, Keith talked about the transition from pastoring an established church to planting a new one. Today, he talks about plans for outreach at UVA and how to get in touch with the new church.
Redeemer Church of Charlottesville will be meeting across the street from UVA. What do you envision for outreach at the university?
Right now we’re waiting on the Lord. I envision our outreach at UVA being primarily relational. I don’t see us doing big events and trying to draw a crowd as we’re starting out. Those events have value—people hear the gospel at events like that, and that’s great. But given where we are and the size of our church plant, duplicating a big college ministry isn’t an option for us right now.
We’re looking at relational outreach, hanging around a campfire in our back yard, inviting college students to go to coffee with an older Christian—and I think that is exciting to these students.
I also think there’s something about diversity of age and demographic that pleases God. It’s like musical harmony—it’s intrinsically pleasing, and you can’t have harmony if every note is the same. So we’re excited about just inviting these students into our homes. I think it will bring a balance to students’ lives and a balance to the church’s life. We’re trusting God that the outreach, Bible studies, etc. will grow organically from what we have now.
College is a busy time of life. What would you say to the student who says, “I’ve got classes, extracurriculars, my part-time job, my campus ministry—I’ll join a church after I graduate”?
I’d much rather answer this question one-on-one, because there are nuances to each situation. But in general, I believe that we need each other. In a church we aren’t gathering just because of our season of life, or because circumstances caused our lives to intersect, but because we’re bound together by Christ. We’re agreeing that we need each other. We’re essentially saying, “I’m part of you and you’re part of me. We need each other for strength, wisdom, and so much experiential grace that only flows to us through one another.”
Now it’s true that there’s a lot of community in college. A lot of that grace does come through our friends in college—encouragement, studying the Bible together, memorizing Scripture—basically having a blast! So if you’re experiencing that, that’s great!
But there is also an authority that comes to us from the local church. We don’t just take it or leave it; my church is a place to which God has called me, and I’m responsible to respond to the teaching and accountability there.
When we join a church we’re saying, “These aren’t just casual friends; this is my church. These are my people, and I need them, and according to Scripture, grace flows to them through me, so they need me as well.”
It’s not about which church you join, as long as it follows Scripture. But by all means you should join yourself to a local church. And this doesn’t just pertain to college students; it pertains to all of us.
As a church planter, what do you find helpful about partnering with Sovereign Grace Ministries?
I just smiled when I saw this question. I can’t even imagine doing any of this apart from Sovereign Grace Ministries.
From the moment my wife and I came through the doors of Sovereign Grace Church in Chesapeake, we had a sense of “this is home.” We were engaged at the time, we knew Jesus, we had memorized lots of Scripture, we had been in church since we were little kids, but looking back, we had no practical theological training as we were preparing to embark into marriage.
During that foundational time in our lives, being part of the local church was a gift. (A big thank you to John Butler, who was our senior pastor then!) We found examples to follow in our church, and then at the Pastors College. It was like Paul said to Timothy, “Join with me in suffering for the gospel..." or "Follow my life and my conduct.” We were—and are—so blessed everywhere we turned to be surrounded with godly people whose walk of faith we can imitate.
And then there’s the instruction we’ve received: through preaching, written materials, and at the Pastors College (and the scholarship that enabled us to be there).
And the financial support has been so generous. As we’ve stepped out in faith to explore church planting, Sovereign Grace has totally stepped out in faith with us. We’ve never been dangling out there by ourselves. Every time the path or the timetable changed, Sovereign Grace guys were caring for us in very personal and practical ways. After the Pastors College, when I needed more training in preaching, Sovereign Grace sponsored that. And it wasn’t an impersonal “Here, we’ll write you a check,” but Dave Harvey was on the phone with me talking about it and asking how we were doing. As we planted this church, because of Sovereign Grace's first-year grant for this church plant, we are freed up to focus on reaching our community instead of worrying about finances.
So from when we were first married all the way up to the details of church planting, we can’t imagine doing any of this without Sovereign Grace Ministries. Christ has cared for us so well through SGM's care, teaching and practical support!
How can interested folks find out more about Redeemer Church of Charlottesville?
It's easy to contact us through the website: www.RedeemerCville.org. From there, I'm happy to speak with anyone and do my best to answer their questions—either by phone, by email, or face to face.
Next month, Keith Breault is planting Redeemer Church of Charlottesville, Virginia. Joining him is a church-planting team from Charlottesville, Virginia Beach, Richmond, and elsewhere.
Keith graduated from our Pastors College in 2000 and has been in pastoral ministry since then. Most of that time he’s been at Sovereign Grace Church (Chesapeake, VA), including four years as senior pastor. Most recently, he completed a church-planting residency at KingsWay Community Church in Richmond, Virginia. Keith and his wife Joanna (pictured at right) have one daughter and four sons.
(And in case you had the same question we did, Keith’s last name rhymes with Salt.)
Where and when does the new church start?
We start officially on June 5. We’ll be meeting on Sundays at 3pm at University Baptist Church, across the street from the University of Virginia (at the Corner).
You spent about ten years at an established church in Chesapeake, Virginia. How did you move from there to church planting?
From the very beginning my wife Joanna and I wanted to plant a church. We always had a sense of call to evangelism, and as a military kid I was used to moving around a lot and meeting new people, so that didn’t intimidate me. It seemed the most normal, natural thing to do.
After I returned from the Pastors College to Sovereign Grace Church in Chesapeake, church planting was put on hold for a while because of the season the church was in. They had just finished a building and were in a time of gathering people locally rather than sending out. After the senior pastor (John Butler) moved to Atlanta, I became the senior pastor. Joanna and I love the church family there deeply, but we both had a sense that God ultimately had something else for us.
A few years later Eric Hughes, who had been on staff at Chesapeake, went to the Pastors College with the intention of planting a church afterward. Early in the year he emailed me saying that his heart was being drawn back to Chesapeake and asking where my heart was. Eric and I are really good friends, and for years we had talked to each other about our respective callings and desires. So when his email came, it was kind of a “Yeah!” moment. He had been a teenager in the Chesapeake church and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else, and I’d wondered about church planting for years.
So we prayed and fasted, talked to the other pastors, talked to friends, and eventually sought counsel from the whole church. The church confirmed it, even though they have been through a lot of pastoral transitions. It’s counterintuitive but Sovereign Grace Church, rather than being winded by things like that, has been reminded through this that the Holy Spirit is their head, and he is bearing fruit through them.
We began to pray about the location, and our sense that we would end up somewhere in Virginia was confirmed as we visited Charlottesville and got to know the area. It seemed to match how God has made us—our background, our education (we both graduated from the College of William and Mary), our demographic as a young family, our heart for people who are grappling with the big questions of life, and our desire to reach people from other nations. People move to Charlottesville from all over the world for the university and for big research employers, and a lot of international refugees come here as well. Then people began to email us asking about the possibility of a church plant in Charlottesville.
The church plant will be meeting at University Baptist Church, and we have been welcomed by this church to the nth degree. They’re renting us a facility that will meet all our needs, at a very generous rate. We officially start on June 5.
A reader named John emailed us with a question about church planting in Charlottesville and collaboration with established churches. Here’s his question:
First, let me say that I greatly appreciate the church planting dedication of SGM. However, as a lay leader in a healthy local church here in Charlottesville, VA, I'm wondering what type of collaboration occurs with established churches before deciding to enter a certain area. Our church, for example, wouldn’t align with your ministry on every doctrinal issue, but as a "9 Marks" baptistic church, SGM would certainly approve of our confession, identity, and ministry. My fear is that all too often, we "over plant" in areas before proper due diligence thus hyperdenominationalizing the area and fragmenting the body of Christ more than we unite it.
Humbly,
John
That’s a really good question. Our burden in coming to Charlottesville is to see the church grow through God’s adding new believers to our fellowship—through evangelism and prayer.
Having been a pastor for eleven years, I know what it feels like to have a new church come to town and for folks to start going there. So I’ve been pursuing friendship with other pastors here. When this process started, I emailed several pastors in the area to ask for their thoughts, and they all said, “Please come, we absolutely need laborers here. Come and preach the gospel.” And since coming we’ve had weekly meetings with pastors from the area, communicating to them that this is our intention: we’re here to spread the gospel to people who are currently not saved.
If a believer does feel that they haven’t found their home yet, then we’ll be happy to meet with them and talk about that. But it’s not our focus. We’re not here to try to be the biggest church around. And overall the message from other pastors has been emphatically welcoming.
What are your present needs? How can we pray for the church plant?
- For wisdom! There’s no illusion that we know what we’re doing, that we know all the answers, or that there’s a clear blueprint. Every church plant is different, and we’re waiting on the Lord to know how we can serve the people here best. We are joining a solid group of believers that predates us in Charlottesville. We see ourselves as among a band of men, women, and children sent into the harvest.
- Specifically, for wisdom and fruitfulness in evangelistic outreach. Please pray that every person in Charlottesville would have a chance to hear the gospel, from whatever pulpit or ministry. We’re not the only ones preaching the gospel here, but preaching the gospel is why we’re here.
- That the details would go smoothly as we prepare for public meetings.
- Please join us in thanking God for the many doors he’s opened for us. For example, two families who were moving here for the church plant sold their houses within weeks of putting them on the market. It feels like the Israelites at Jericho—“Wait, wasn’t there a wall here?” “Aren’t we supposed to be in a recession?” We’re grateful for how God is meeting us in these ways.
Check back on Thursday for part 2.
Last year at our Pastors Conference we shared that God has opened a door for Sovereign Grace Ministries to plant a church in North Africa. We are currently in the process of giving additional training to the men who are leading this effort, as well as giving them an opportunity to visit Sovereign Grace churches to build a prayer support network and potentially recruit members to join the planting team. This is the final of three blog posts to answer some of the most frequent questions asked of team members during these visits. Previous topics: "Is this plan a shift in our missiology?" and "Why are we planting a church there, and why now?"
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Who is going and how does someone apply to join the team?
I wish you could personally meet each member of the team and spend some time getting to know them—it’s a godly crew who love the gospel. For most of them, joining this team represents serious sacrifice—leaving family, uprooting from an otherwise comfortable life for a more risky one, career shifts, and the list goes on. And while the team is already formed, we are still in the process of securing visas and processing other necessary paperwork for their relocation. Sharing information about these members could endanger their safety and require a major shift in the timing of the church plant. Not only that, but it could also have serious consequences for the safety of the Christians in the region to whom they’ve previously ministered. Please pray for this team even though you don’t know their names!
What I can tell you is that we are still looking for one to two more families or singles to join the team. If you want to explore this possibility, contact the senior pastor at your church and ask him for the team profile (which describes some of the things we are looking for in candidates) and the application forms. With those documents in hand, you can begin the process:
- Examine the profile and invite others to do this on your behalf as well
- Fill out the application
- Ask your pastor to fill out the pastoral recommendation
- Contact us for instructions on submitting the completed application documents
If you have questions about the application process, or if you're not a member of an SGM church but want to apply for the team, please contact us.
What will ongoing care look like for the church-planting team?
A primary reason the team is taking time to build a partnership with SGM is because they wanted to deepen the care they receive as they work there. By developing a larger church-planting team, they will be able to more effectively care for each other. There are also some local believers in North Africa who will extend fellowship and care to those on the church planting team. The prayers and support of SGM churches will also play an important role in the team’s care. Finally, Kenneth Maresco is responsible for providing the team with care and counsel after they launch.
Ultimately, of course, our greatest comfort is found in knowing that God himself will care for the team. The Savior has promised that he is with us in our going, so as we labor to make disciples in North Africa, we have the promise that he will be with us always, to the end of the age. With confidence in the unrelenting faithfulness and goodness of God, we eagerly entrust those we send to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build them up and give them an inheritance among all those who believe.
How can I pray for the team?
For the church in North Africa: that the Lord will strengthen the faith of believers, increase their hunger for his Word and fellowship, and use the present turmoil in that region for the building of the church. And pray for the work of the gospel: that the team would be completed and assembled, that God would strengthen them with faith and courage, protect them, and raise an army of prayer warriors who long to see God glorified in North Africa and among the nations.
If you want to get more regular prayer requests, please contact us.
Last year at our Pastors Conference we shared that God has opened a door for Sovereign Grace Ministries to plant a church in North Africa. We are currently in the process of giving additional training to the men who are leading this effort, as well as giving them an opportunity to visit Sovereign Grace churches to build a prayer support network and potentially recruit members to join the planting team. This is the second of three blog posts to answer some of the most frequent questions asked of team members during these visits.
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Does this plan represent a shift in our missiology, and will we be recruiting other missionaries to send to unreached people groups?
Is it a shift? Well, yes and no. "Yes" in that it represents an additional shift of resources and attention to unreached people based upon our relationship with this team. But "no" in the sense that we have already taken other encouraging steps toward unreached people groups. We have done this through our financial support of certain ministries, our training and support of church planters in certain parts of India, and our work among unreached people in Burma through a Pastors College graduate named David.
Yes, it is a shift for us to take men without a history of leadership in our churches and send them to foreign soil. It is also a shift to send an American team into another country to plant a church, but it appears to us that God has ordained this relationship for a time such as this. And this venture doesn't represent a fundamental shift in our missiology; our missions strategy continues to emphasize these principles:
- Identifying and sending men who appear to have a proven gift in apostolic-type ministry
- Planting churches rather than sending individuals
- When possible, training indigenous leaders rather than transplanting those who don't know the language, would be perceived as cultural outsiders, and may face greater geographic, cultural, or linguistic barriers than an indigenous leader
- Maintaining association with a specific denomination or family of churches (in our case, Sovereign Grace Ministries), rather than interdenominational mission work
These same principles have informed our planned involvement in North Africa:
- The team leader appears to have a proven track record of planting and supporting churches in Asia and North Africa
- The existing team has requested a larger church-planting team than what they previously had in North Africa, so that they are not alone
- Certain team members are in many ways established in the culture and language of the country to which they're going
- These men have expressed their deep desire to be trained doctrinally, sent, and supported by Sovereign Grace Ministries
At the same time, we also want to be quick to acknowledge that having a primary strategy for missions does not mean we rule out everything that falls outside this strategy. Our primary strategy will be carried out most effectively with methodological flexibility, not methodological snobbery. If Christ is proclaimed, in that we rejoice. This is all the more true when it comes to working among unreached peoples and other situations where the ideal methodology cannot be perfectly maintained. When gifted leaders with years of experience and proven effectiveness in other nations are interested in partnering with us to plant churches in those nations, we are always interested in exploring the possibilities. (Spread the word!)