Pre-Winter Conference Workshop “Essential” for Church Planting Success

“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Guided by these words from Matthew 9 35-37, 126 participants attended the "Essentials in Church Planting” pre-Winter Conference workshop January 22 – 23, 2008 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel, Dallas, Texas.

The Essentials workshop was hosted by the new Anglican Initiative for Mission (AIM) and featured church planting coach Glenn Smith. Smith, the founder and president of New Church Initiatives (NCI), walked the attendees through the key questions they should ask and answer when starting a missional church.

Workshop attendees came from across the U.S. and Canada and included clergy, laity, and seminarians who are interested in either being or supporting church planters.  Addressing the gathering, the Rt. Rev. Thomas Johnston, a member of the Anglican Mission’s Council of Bishops, said that the workshop “represents what we’ve been praying for from the beginning. That so many of you would come from all over the country shows that God is doing something extraordinary here to reach the 130 million unchurched people in America.”

In addition to the presentation from Glenn Smith, attendees also heard from the board members of AIM: the Rev. Matt Kessler, the Rev. Clark Lowenfield, and the Rev. Canon David Roseberry, who introduced this new church planting initiative and discussed the process it creates for church planters to confirm their call through discussion and assessment, to be trained and equipped through the Anglican School of Church Planting, and to be sent out and supported via a new residency program that will place planters in established churches for the first-hand experience that will help maximize their success when sent out for their own new works.

The Most Rev. Yong Ping Chung, retired Archbishop of Southeast Asia, served as an advisor to the board and played an instrumental role in the development of AIM.  He encouraged participants to fulfill the vision cast in the workshop.

“This content touched my heart. God is doing something here. He can—and will—do something by using the people who are here. I give thanks to God for you. Now, go and make disciples!”

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