Church planting is so hot right now! Good. Below is a letter from Andrew Heard and Al Stewart with further information about the new Geneva Church Planting Network.
There is much happening at the moment in the world of church planting. It is exciting stuff! In all of this a number of people have asked for clarification regarding the new church planting network called Geneva. People have wondered what it will be doing and what it might offer.
Geneva will be run by a board of Australian church planters which will include Al Stewart, Andrew Heard and Mikey Lynch. Its purpose will be to help reformed/evangelical networks and denominations recruit, assess, train, coach and mentor church planters for placement back into their various networks and denominations. The passion of Geneva is to establish not just culturally relevant growing church plants but ones that are grounded deeply in reformed theology and so able to be kept from simple pragmatism and fads. This core value is critical for establishing churches that are best able to pass on a vibrant gospel to future generations.
Geneva will have its first conference in Dec 7-9. It will be for anyone who has just started a church or is interested in planting a church in the next three years. That conference will include our first assessment process. This will provide a wonderful place to determine now whether planting is the best path for candidates. Assessment will be via written submission and an interview process with experienced planters and ministers.
Planters who are assessed to have the gifts and aptitudes for planting grounded and growing church plants will then be invited to join an ongoing coaching/training and mentoring program. As well as specialist input from our most experienced Australian planters and Bible teachers there will also be input from some of the best overseas planters and thinkers such as Mark Driscoll.
Additionally, and perhaps most significantly, each Geneva planter will be linked up with an established planter already a few years down the path of planting with the intention that these planters become personal mentors and coaches to walk with Geneva planters through the early years of planting.
Already the church planters of FIEC network have given Geneva their ringing endorsement and are now intending to use Geneva as their assessment and coaching structure. This ensures others connecting with Geneva will have a wealth of Australian expertise to draw on.
Further details will be coming but any queries can be addressed to Al Stewart.
Andrew Heard and Al Stewart
Sunday 16 August 2009.
Letter reprinted with permission
Got no idea what this is all about??? Click & read this sentence (it’s talking about Jesus).
The last thing I want to be is discouraging, but this doesn’t sit right with me.
Does this run the risk of becoming an elite club? Lots of people are planting churches, but you can’t make use of these resources without passing their assessments.
Will support of any form be given to those jars of clay who are not going to pass the test, but are doing faithful gospel work?
Admittedly, we have to use discrimination in some matters. I’m just voicing my thoughts, not submitting my settled opinion, not least because this hasn’t started yet.
PS I guess I’m sick of rock stars. Sorry if that’s discouraging to anyone.
Ben, what’s the alternative? To hand out money/resources indiscriminately to anyone who asks? I’m sure you don’t believe that.
But if you agree they have to be discerning, especially considering how scarce resources are, surely there is nothing wrong with an assessment process?
I don’t know, Craig.
I hope it doesn’t turn into an exclusive club that makes some church planters feel like they’re not cutting it (because they don’t conform to the assessment standards of the church planting training network.
There’s going to be a bit of that, but that sort of thing is everywhere. If someone applies to be an Anglican candidate, for example, they may or may not accept them. Same goes with Presbyterian, Baptist etc. Same goes for any job really.
I know cases of people who have applied to be missionaries and have been rejected, and they have become quite bitter about it. This will happen here as well, I suspect.
There are other church planting options for people – aside from Geneva, there is the new Rice church planting arm, and the SydAng church has started a new department for church planting as well. Someone could also just get their local church to sponsor them to plant.
If all these doors were to shut in someones face, perhaps it’s a sign that church planting is not for them..?
You’re right about those other organisations, Craig.
I’ll think about it.
I think the assessment process is more about making sure that the potential planters will be doing faithful gospel work, not about if they’re awesome enough or not for their club.
If it’s anything like Acts 29, it won’t be simply about whether they teach and pastor biblically.
@ben – i understand what you’re saying. and can see a genuine desire to be biblical. the pic in 2 corinthians is def. one of weakness and vulnerability.
@craig – i agree with what you’ve said and the examples you’ve sited.
at this event: http://davemiers.com/2009/02/20/uluru-church-planting-crew/
al made it clear that church planters are not to be “rock stars, heroes, and highflyers” – but that they are to be hardworking “soldiers, athletes and farmers” (2 Tim 2)
one of the things that has come across in the various church planting gatherings is church planting isn’t glamorous – just hard work!
it’s worth noting that this isn’t Acts 29. it’s a new australian thing. heardy and al have been deliberate in setting up something appropriate for our context.
“Geneva will be run by a board of Australian church planters which will include Al Stewart….”
I understand that the letter constituting most of the post was not written by you, but could you please provide some information as to Al Stewart’s qualification as a “church planter”?
hey chris – you’re right – i didn’t write the letter – so i can’t speak for geneva or al stewart…
you’re right – from what i understand – al hasn’t planted a church. al has been part of significant ministries – but he hasn’t done what heardy has done in planting a church that keeps planting churches.
2 things:
1) maybe al might plant a church next year???
2) the letter might be sloppy in its wording… regardless – al is the type of guy that many young guys would follow into a battle. he’s wise, godly, ballsy, has a track record in ministry. so i personally don’t think he needs to be a church planter to help lead a church planting network.
do you think it’s a problem??
peaceout
I do think its a problem that Al is being referred (by Al himself, it appears from the letter) to as a church planter if he’s never planted a church. Likewise, the MTC Church Planting Conference website calls him one of “Australia’s proven church planters” (http://www.moore.edu.au/1066/) when in actual fact, it seems that he is completely unproven.
I agree that he is a gutsy guy that blokes will follow, but I wonder how qualified he is to give guys a real sense of the difficulties they will most likely face.
While he is having face time with Driscoll, hundreds of other church planters around the world are busy telling non-Christians about Jesus and likely having doors slammed in their face. The Resurgence blog reports that 80% of church plants will fail (source: http://theresurgence.com/church-planters-stop-wasting-Gods-money) but I wonder how much people realise that in the midst of the sexy image the movement has developed.
I think it’s great that church planting is now seriously on the agenda of many churches and denominations, but I’ll be more convinced when it actually takes the next step and results in new churches being planted (especially in areas of Sydney without churches). Even the timing of Al’s appointment to head the Sydney Diocese church planting agency is not ’til next year makes me to wonder just how serious we are about doing hard work.
Thoughts? Comments? Rebukes?
“If it’s anything like Acts 29, it won’t be simply about whether they teach and pastor biblically.”
In my limited experience, vocational ministry involves so much more than biblical teaching and pastoring. They are very important to vocational ministry, but they are not the whole of vocational ministry.
I think that the gifts of leadership and wisdom are of utmost importance, and perhaps we in Sydney don’t give those gifts much thought: consider the wisdom that Solomon asked for, for his role in leadership; Proverbs seems to be the perfect practical outworking of a healthy fear of God. So Soli didn’t turn out so great, but he was known for his wisdom.
hey chris – i’ve got a bit more info on al’s credentials as a church planter…
-started a night church in Mt Druit with only 10 or so young guys. grew it to 50-60 in two years.
-at st matthias – participated in the starting of 7 or 8 new congregations and personally headed up a team that planted a family congregation.
-not all the plants worked so he has seen both sides of the planting experience.
-in the city he was the start up preacher for City Bible Forum which then built up to 300.
-he’s facilitated the planting of 4 churches in Wollongong region.
-he hasn’t had the kind of planting experience heardy has had in starting and staying long term with a plant. but he has a broad experience at a range of areas.
i actually don’t have a problem with someone heading up a church planting network who hasn’t planted a church… but it doesn’t matter!!! while al hasn’t done the type of plant that heardy has, his credentials look legit!!!
hope this extra info is helpful
soli deo gloria
This is a pretty helpful discussion. Does anybody know if Geneva (which I think is a kind of goofy name) will only be assisting brand new plants? Or will they be looking at replants/revitalisations where a dying church essentially calls in fresh blood and fresh thinking?
That would seem to be the order of the day particularly for the older denominations where the church population has seen a little decay but a faithful core exists.
It’s pretty hard for these backstreet churches to get excited when there’s all these new kids on the block. It’d be great to see this geneva momentum ‘n synch with other, broader strategies for reestablishing and reequipping old churches (see what I did there, I referenced three boy bands).
hi – interesting thoughts re assessment. i have seen 100’s of churches planted in “Asia”. most of our leaders would never qualify or pass any western church planters assessment. This would be true of the Samaritan woman and the domoniac too! The more complicated you make it the less churches will be planted. I speak from experience.
Sorry, the Samaritan woman and the Gadarene demoniac were church planters? I thought they just told people about Jesus.
Technically yes they did tell people about Jesus so you are right. However my point is that very simple, messed up people (in the world’s eyes) can plant churches. china and india are great examples of very ordinary, unschooled people but those who have been with Jesus – Acts 4:13 type people. God bless you as you seek to see Australia filled with churches.