Review of Planting Conference

This weekend my wife and I attended a planting conference at Liberty University. This conference was sponsored by the NEXT Initiative. This 2 day seminar was an incredible time. We learned about the PD model and how we can “launch large”. Not only that there were tools that were discussed that were spot on to where we are right now.

Currently we are in the first 3 months of the 12 month launching phase. We are tightening up our vision, mission and values, along with praying about our team. The conference, hosted by Randy Smith (Discovery Church, NJ) and Hal Mayer (The Church at the Bay) was a practical time of learning how to build and launch a team.

If you are thinking on planting a church in the near future, I would recommend this conference to anyone.

Filed under: Church Planting, Uncategorized , church at the bay, Church Plant, discovery chruch, liberty university, purpose driven, purpose driven planting, relevant church, Relevant Church Charlotte

Vision

Vision is a great thing. The Bible talks about it and how important it is to our lives. Right now I am in the process of taking the things that are in my heart and in my head and trying to creatively put them on paper. I am a terrible writer, but I have a great imagination. Why is it so hard to put thoughts to paper?

Filed under: Church Planting, My Journal , Bible, Church Plant, Church Planting, creative writing, God, Relevant Church Charlotte, Vision, vision casting

The Research Begins

I am now back from our 3 day planning and strategy retreat and I am beginning to focus on certain areas of ministry for the church plant. Right now I am focusing on recruiting a worship leader. I feel that this is one of the most vital parts that we need.

This is a call to all who read this blog that if you have any ideas on where to look for people who are called to lead worship. We are currently looking into CFNI to see what they offer, but we are open to any ideas.

Filed under: Church Planting, Uncategorized , CFNI, christ for the nations, Church Plant, Church Planting, leader, recruiting, Relevant Church Charlotte, Worship

It’s Here

Well it is finally here. I finished my first 2 days on staff with Grace Covenant and let me tell you, I felt overwhelmed. I felt like a new kid at a new school. I already knew everyone, but being on the other side of the fence gives you a different perspective. We have been working on the church plant for over a year now with some of the vision and direction, but know that I have 3 full days to devote to it, I kinda felt lost. Weird huh?

Anyway, I love it. I will be there for the next 12 months working with the staff doing some projects, and building a team to launch the church. The fast tract has started. I would ask all my readers to pray for us. As we start this process we will need God’s direction and favor to open doors. Please also pray that we are strategic in the process, but also do not lose sight of the relationships during the process.

Filed under: Church Planting , Church Plant, Church Planting, direction, God, god's will, prayer, Relevant Church Charlotte, Religion, Vision

The Drive Home

We were able to take a well needed vacation last week. We all went to Orlando to see the great Shamu. Let me tell you, this was awesome! I definitely recommend this to everyone with children. Anyway, we were able to stop through Jacksonville and visit a church that we really enjoy. The church is called Celebration Church.

Being a future church planter I am always looking for creative ways that people do church. I am really passionate about worship style, how the church is affecting the community it serves, and not watering down the Word of God just to being people to the church. At Celebration we found a few of these things happening. We were only able to see from a visitor’s standpoint, but what we saw we really liked.

This began a thought process for me on the way back home from Jacksonville. As we talked about the service and what we enjoyed my mind kept thinking about what God has wired us to do and be? On the top of our blog I have the name of Relevant Church. This is by no means a name that is set in stone, but as I was driving, there were two names that kept coming up in my mind. The first one was Generation Church, and the other was Relevant Church. After thinking about it Relevant Church began to stick with me and I began to process what it meant to me. The tag line that I put under the name says it all (real…consistent…relevant). I feel that no matter what we need to be real with people. The world is tired of fake Christianity and watered down messages. The world also wants to see consistency in the lives of believers and in the way the church functions. Lastly, people want to be able to take something away from a message that they can apply to their lives today. To me that is relevant.

So let me know what you think about the name, thought process or any other thoughts you may have.

Filed under: Church Planting , Church Plant