Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of our church planters, prayer partners, sponsors, pastors, and likeminded missional thinkers. May the Lord of the universe who became flesh that first Christmas, bless you and yours this holiday season!

The Crossing church plant in Conway

Searcy Church Plant

WHO CAN START A CHURCH?

There are various ideas about who has the authority and responsibility to start New Testament churches. What does the Bible teach with regard to who can plant churches?

• Church planting is implied in the Great Commission. Everything mentioned in Matthew 28:19-20, including discipleship, teaching, baptism, and evangelism, are all responsibilities of the New Testament church. No churches were established at the time of the Lord's giving of the Great Commission, so churches had to be planted to carry out these responsibilities.

• God plants and builds his church. Jesus made it clear that he would build his church in Matthew 16:18. He, through his Spirit, plants churches. All church planting is a result of the missional heart of God. God does not need man, but has chosen to involve him in this significant work. His work is accomplished by his Spirit through God called Christians and the Lord's church.

• Churches plant churches. Ed Stetzer, in his book Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age, states that it is not a requirement that new churches be planted by existing churches, (Stetzer 2003, 75). This method is probably the preferred method, but it is not the only method. Dr. Daniel Sanchez, in his book Starting Reproducing Congregations, says there is no evidence that the Jerusalem church in the first century took action as a sponsoring church to send planters to start a mission or a daughter congregation, (Sanchez 2001, 33-34). Churches should be deliberate about starting new congregations as a method of church growth.

• Agencies, Denominations, and Associations plant churches. The Bible shows no opposition to individuals or churches collectively organizing to fulfill the Great Commission and to start new congregations. The International Mission Board is a good example of an agency of the Southern Baptist Convention starting churches. IMB missionaries abroad start churches on a daily basis, and many of these have no specific sponsoring or partnering churches. God-called missionaries from Agencies, Denominations, and Associations start churches.

• Individuals and Teams start churches. Phillip went to Samaria, and there is no evidence of anyone but the Holy Spirit sending him. He started a church with no help from a partner church. It is frequently noted in the New Testament that teams worked together to plant churches. This was an approach implemented by Paul, and yes, he was commissioned as a missionary by the church at Antioch, but this church was not a sponsoring church which deliberately planted daughter congregations as a missions strategy.

Who can start a church? God uses churches, associations, individuals, agencies, and teams to start churches. He can use you to help plant a church.

Submitted by Gary D. Fulton, Church Planter Strategist on the Missions Ministries Team of the ABSC.

Praying for Places

One of the things that every new church needs, just like any other church, is a place to meet.

New churches are continually having to find new facilities as they grow.

As you are praying this week, please pray for the many new church plants looking for places to meet.
Pray not only that they will find places, but that the Lord would match their personality and needs with His resources.
Pray specifically this week for:

City Church of Little Rock as their present lease runs out at the end of the year and they must find new facilities.

AND

Cross Bar C Cowboy Church in Benton as they have grown and need a new place to meet. Hear from Pastor Greg Spann


Thanks for joining together with us to reach this state with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Asylum - (and any church planters for that matter) network meeting in North West AR - FREE LUNCH!

Hey Guys,

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving and are doing well. I wanted to let you guys know of an opportunity coming up this Friday for us to get together. I know this is really short notice and I apologize for that. This opportunity kind of fell in our laps. 'Almost an M' with the Upstream Collective will be coming to speak and hang out with us. You can check out his blog called “Almost an M” at http://almostm.com/ This guy is really sharp in how to function missionally and build a missional DNA into your church plant. He is also really sharp in how to communicate the gospel in a post-Christian context.

So here’s the plan. Friday Dec. 4th at First Baptist Farmington’s Student Ministry building (589 Rheas Mill Rd., Farmington, AR. 72730) we will meet from 10:00 – 2:00 with lunch provided. We will dialogue about the missional church, our post-Christian Culture and ways to connect the gospel to it. 'Almost an M' will lead our discussion. We will be taking a van up to Farmington leaving from the Arkansas Baptist State Convention building at 6:30 on Friday morning if you would like to ride up together and have someone else be the chauffeur, or you can meet us at FBC Farmington at 10:00. I hope you guys can make it and come and hang out a little bit. If nothing else it’s free food and a chance to spend time with me. What more could you ask?

Give me a shout if you have any questions.
Adios,
Dave

Paul Hudson and One Church, upcoming Conway church plant

Church Planting Essentials Training

This past weekend 15 church planting teams were trained in general principles of starting new churches. ABSC church planting strategists led the event that covered everything from gathering a core group to developing a vision, from evangelism to system design. God is at work in Arkansas starting churches reaching out to bikers, young families, cowboys, unchurched, etc. He is working ALL over the state.



Pray about joining some of these or other teams in reaching the lost with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Interest Meeting

A Cowboy Church interest meeting in Pine Bluff last night drew a group of 45 adults and several kids. Organized by Associational Missionary Dewayne Tanton and ABSC Church Planting Strategist Roger Gaunt, the meeting included; barbeque, a horsemanship demonstration, special music, and an introduction to Cowboy Church life - led by Don Jones of Cross Point Cowboy Church in Nashville, AR.

Northwest Community Church

Check out what the Lord is doing in Northwest Arkansas

Life House Church

Life House Church in Texarkana is an new church plant that is only 18 months old, yet it is having a lasting impact on it's community. Listen as Pastor James Ross shares how the Lord is working at Life House.

Can Every Church Really Be Involved With Church Planting?

Greg Penna and Bobby Gilstrap have put together a great strategy that will allow churches of all sizes to get involved in church planting.

"5/52 How Every Church Can Start A New Church" is a great overview of a simple stewardship emphasis for supporting new church starts.

If you, or your church, are thinking about getting involved in church planting, this is a great place to start.

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Invite Them and They Will Come . . .

Not as dramatic as the Field of Dreams "Build it and they will come," but much more applicable to church planting.
This past weekend The Compass Church, in Batesville, held it's first of four preview services. After weeks of planning, advertising and getting the word out, the Lord blessed with over 80 in attendance.
PTL
When asked how many showed up that none of the launch team knew (ie. heard about it via radio or print), Mickey Jones, Directional Pastor, replied "I think that everyone who came did so as a result of a personal invitation."
This is not only typical, but may even be considered a "law" of sorts in church planting and church life over all.
The Lord is working on peoples hearts. There are many in each of our circles of influence who, with a simple invitation, would join us in church or small group meeting.
Invite them and let's see if they will come!

Pray for leaders at Cross Chapel

Join us in praying for Paul Peters and Cross Chapel Baptist Church in Harrisburg, AR.

Like most new church starts, Cross Chapel is continually seeking new leaders for small groups and outreach.

Please pray with us that the Lord would raise up these new leaders to help reach their community with the Gospel.

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Praying for Cowboy Church

Recent Cowboy Church Baptism

Church Starting Awareness Meeting

Thirteen pastors and church leaders gathered together this week to discuss church planting in North East Arkansas. In two area cities alone there are an estimated 20,000 unchurched.

Dave McClung and Tim Wicker with the ABSC joined Charles Lewis from the Mississippi County Baptist Association in leading the discussion.

Besides looking at the demographics, discussion revolved around the different population segments presently not attending most of the established churches and how a group of churches can partner together to start a new work that would reach these with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Please join together with these leaders as they pray and strategize to reach the lost of their communities through planting new churches.

Volunteer Prayer Request in New Church Start

Recommended Reading

"Spin-Off Churches" by Harrison, Cheyney and Overstreet offers a great overview of how your church can 'sponsor' a new church start.

This is a VERY practical, well researched book that answers the critics and offers sound principles. It is a must read for every pastor interested in multiplying his ministry through church planting.
For a brief video summary see - http://www.amazon.com/review/R3VQZ78UB9AWFR?ie=UTF8&videoPreplay=1

Arkansas Church Planting Prayer Network

God is doing some amazing things through new church starts in Arkansas. In order to get the word out about how He is working and to involve others through prayer, we are starting a statewide prayer network.
If you are interested in becoming a part of this network - receiving reqular prayer requests, stories, and updates from these new churches - then email me at twicker@absc.org and I will sign you up!

Church Planting Prayer Request

"Re-Visioning" Church Planter Conference

Friday evening and Saturday six Arkansas church planting teams gathered together to evaluate where they are and where they are headed.
Praise the Lord for how He is working in Jonesboro, NW Arkansas, Bryant, Harrisburg and among cowboys in Glenwood.
Pray for these teams as they go back to their churches and move forward in the ministry the Lord has called them to.

another blog?

Do we really need another blog on church planting?
Do we really need another blog - period?

The answer to those questions is maybe - maybe not.
While there are a multitude of great bloggers out there offering insight, encouragement, deep spiritual meditations, cultural musings, even some cynicism, all mixed with humor and wisdom, I can't help but think that there might be a place for one more blog - one specifically related to Church Planting in Arkansas.

It is our hope and prayer that this blog will offer some of the above - and a little more.

Keep an eye on this site and you will find news, prayer requests, opportunities to get involved and more!