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Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Church Planting in the Christian Chronicle

Church Planting in the Christian Chronicle. I tried to link this page, but it kept not working. So, at the end of this post is the full article.


Also, this is why we need to plant new churches and not just wait for the existing church to change.

In other words:

1. It takes longer for an ocean liner to do a 180 than it does to hop in a speed boat and zip around.
2. You don't just change DNA.
3. You can't grow a forest by making one tree really big.


Folks, we need to fund these church planting efforts. The Southwest Church is giving $1,000,000 to church planting. That is great, a really great drop in the bucket. Let's belly up to the bar and find a way to support church planting.

OR

Maybe you are a church planter at heart. Could it be this is your thing to do. But, maybe you are someone who is not a church planter but desires to participate in a church plant. You might join a recent church plant and be some energy for them. "I'm not an evangelist," you might say. Fine, be something else in that church. Support them with your time and money and confidence and faith and prayer and presence and so forth. Be you in a new and exciting arena.

ARTICLE
Kairos, Mission Alive, Focus Northeast : Church plants boom
By Lindy AdamsSenior Associate EditorJanuary 19, 2005
The Christian Chronicle - The names are varied — Kairos, Mission Alive and Focus Northeast — but all point to a passionate belief. That tenet is simple — the church must grow or it will die — losing its chance to spread the good news of Jesus.
The ministries’ philosophies are varied, but all aim to reach America’s unchurched.
In recent years, mission groups in churches of Christ, such as Continent of Great Cities and Eastern European Mission, have emphasized international work, driven by church members’ experiences in World War II.
Perhaps more than any time in recent years, mission leaders are looking homeward. Three ministries are giving momentum to a growing interest nationwide in church planting.
Stan Granberg is the executive director of Kairos, founded in 2004. Kairos, which means “the right time,” will target the Northwest United States with specific, timed objectives.
By 2016 Kairos plans to be ready to send out 12 “church multiplication teams” each year, Granberg said. The ministry will help mature congregations plant sister churches.
In late November, the Southwest church, Jonesboro, Ark., dedicated $1 million of a capital campaign to Kairos, future church plants, and the support of Granberg and his wife, Gena.
Gailyn Van Rheenen, with his wife, Becky, began Mission Alive, based in Dallas, in early 2004. Van Rheenen describes his ministry’s model as one that “incarnates God’s eternal gospel within local cultural contexts.”
They will view their work as a cross-cultural ministry, drawing on their long-time African mission experience.Three families were accepted as church planters in October.
Focus Northeast, the oldest of the three, began in the mid-1990s under Sunset International Bible Institute (SIBI). It is directed by Charles Cook, with his wife, Tamara.
Church planters, including SIBI students, have posted significant progress as they plant “reproductive” churches “in every major population center” in the Northeast, Cook said.


1 comment:

Greg Brooks said...

the link's no good