Hello friends,
The apostle John wrote of Jesus, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” (John 1:14 – The Message) This is what church planters do – follow Jesus into their communities. Telling of the ‘buzz’ of being involved in their community, Fiona Selvage (from the re:vive church plant in Grantham, England) says, “What else is there to do in life – but church plant!”
You will get some of that ‘buzz’ from this NEWS. And, take a moment this week to write a sentence or two to me on how you are building ‘spiritual friendships’ to extend God’s kingdom.
Be faithful & courageous,
Peter Roennfeldt
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CHURCH PLANTING NEWS – 27 April 06
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In this NEWS …
· ‘40 DAYS OF PURPOSE’ & FaceOUT
· RELIVE EASTER WITH RE:VIVE!
· KORINTA PLANT – VISITS WESTERN AUSTRALIA!
· CHURCH PLANT ORGANIZES ‘EGGCITING EGGSTRAVAGANZA’
· CHURCH PLANTER OLGA – STILL SHARING FAITH!
· 24-SEVEN Ministry Center – MINISTRY IDEAS
· OUR SMALL GROUPS – THE BEST I HAVE EXPERIENCED!
· PRAYER REQUEST FOR CHURCH PLANT LAUNCHING SECOND CAMPUS!
· JEWS DISCOVER THEIR MESSIAH
· 2006 GODencounters CONFERENCE TO EMPHASIZE SACRED SPACE
· ADVENTISTS & MUSLIMS DIALOGUE
· TED CHURCH PLANTING InFOCUS
· MARKET EVANGELISM – A MINISTRY IDEA!
40 DAYS OF PURPOSE & FaceOUT: FaceOut (Denmark) has just completed a ‘40 days of Purpose’ and have formed new relationships with their community. They have formed an alliance with the community social office to network with very young mothers – and with young children from disadvantaged backgrounds – who need support. FaceOut continues to grow – with 60-80 regularly meeting.
RELIVE EASTER WITH RE:VIVE! The re:vive team (church planters in Grantham, England) built spiritual and social friendships over Easter weekend. There will be ideas here that your plant could develop:
· Friday evening: Four seekers joined them for their Friday evening agape feast. “When our friends walked in they were a bit wowed,” says Fiona. Bryan Webster shared the story of the upper room meal and then the capture, trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Some friends took part in washing each others feet – and one commented that “it was a very humbling experience.” “The Holy Spirit was so evident,” says Fiona. “Seeing our friends experiencing Christ and realizing that what He did – He did for them. It was wonderful.”
· For the Saturday Easter Service Dave Selvage decorated the Scout Hall with 2,000 daffodils – and explained the story of Jesus. Fiona says “he did an excellent job.” (We may consider Fiona biased except that retired Pastor Ron Surridge was present and was really excited about how good it was!) One lady attending for the first time later commented that she “really understood it and got it.” 25 participated – including children involved in re:vive kids.
· Sunday afternoon there was a car rally. “This ended at Curtis and Vicky Murphy’s house with an Easter Egg Hunt for the kiddies,” writes Fiona. “Children from the age of 3 up to 33 played football on the lawn and we had a BBQ and most people hung around till about 9.00pm… Community spirit once again. There were about 22 people at this.”
KORINTA PLANT – VISITS WESTERN AUSTRALIA! Juris Rekis from the KORINTA plant in Riga, Latvia was at the large annual Easter Camp (a camping convention) of the Adventist church in Perth sharing the experience of planting churches for lost people. It is reported that during the convention the leader of the Adventist church in Western Australian, Glenn Townend, visited the rooms, cabins, caravans and tents encouraging members from across the state to pray for their new church plants. One said, “It is a very powerful moment when you know that the Holy Spirit is present.”
CHURCH PLANT ORGANIZES ‘EGGCITING EGGSTRAVAGANZA’: ‘Meeting Point’ (a church plant in Llandrindod Wells, Wales) – organized a family ‘egg hunting, egg decorating and egg rolling’ event in the town park on Easter Sunday. 94 people from the community participated in several hours of family fun – hunting for 450 eggs hidden in the park. The Town Coordinator responsible for improving the quality of life in the town, Michael Blease, said, “We really appreciate the contribution that ‘Meeting Point’ makes to the life of the town.” ‘Meeting Point’ launched the event two years ago – and operates Kidz Club and Kidz Church in the community.
CHURCH PLANTER OLGA – STILL SHARING FAITH! Olga Murga who spent some years planting new groups in Israel is now planting new churches in the former Soviet republics. She recently baptized 63 people in Cherkasii – saying “It is a new church.” She and husband Michael now move to Bucha to share their faith.
24-SEVEN Ministry Center – MINISTRY IDEAS: 24-SEVEN is a church plant in Seattle (USA). Their Teaching Pastor / Life Coach, Matthew Gamble [[email protected]] says that The Path is their discipleship track. The following classes are taught for a couple of hours after church or in a weekend retreat.
1. The Path 101 – Basic Christianity and Church Members
2. The Path 201 – Spiritual Gifts and Ministry Placement
3. The Path 301 – Christian Disciplines
4. The Path 401 – Outreacha. The Path 402 – Mission Trip
5. The Path 501 – Advanced Leadershipa. The Path 502 – Pastors Assistants
OUR SMALL GROUPS – THE BEST I HAVE EXPERIENCED! Steve & Melissa Leddy have planted three churches in the last 9 years – and Steve ([email protected]) is now the Lead Pastor for the 24-SEVEN plant. “Our small groups are the best I’ve ever experienced,” Steve says. “We have ONE – our new youth group; The Well – our collegiate group; The Open Door – post-collegiate thru 30-somethings; & ABC – for adults of any age.” 24-SEVEN launched “almost a year and a half ago” – without the support of a mother church – and are now averaging 100-130 in weekly attendance. “In our first full year (2005) we had 12 baptisms, 5 re-baptisms and brought into our family numerous individuals who had stopped attending church,” writes Steve. “We strive to offer strong biblical teaching/preaching in a way that today’s generations can understand and relate to… We are reaching an ever growing group by ‘podcasting’ our sermons.” (For more information: www.24-Seven.org )
PRAYER REQUEST FOR CHURCH PLANT LAUNCHING SECOND CAMPUS! The 24-SEVEN team is planning to launch a second campus in Seattle. Steve Leddy is requesting that we pray that they will God’s leading throughout this process – “including if He says ‘no’!”
JEWS DISCOVER THEIR MESSIAH: Richard Elofer continues to report the growth of new fellowships to reach Jewish people. Valentine – who works with Hebrew speaking groups in Tel Aviv (Israel) reports two more baptisms in the Jordan River.
2006 GODencounters CONFERENCE TO EMPHASIZE SACRED SPACE: This year’s conference – featuring speakers, leaders and artists including Michael Card, Terry Hershey, Matthew Gamble and Elia King – will be held 26 May – 3 June at Forest Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church, 515 Harley Lester Lane, Apopka, FL 32703-6129. Young adults are especially invited to this free event to explore spiritual disciples and Sabbath renewal through worships, prayer rooms, community and musical expression. For information and free registration are online at www.GODencounters.org
ADVENTISTS & MUSLIMS DIALOGUE: Adventists and Muslims met together at the Islamic Center of England (in Maida Vale, London) on 23 April to share their perspectives on last day events and the promised second coming of Jesus. Presenters included Dr Jerald Whitehouse and Oscar Osindo of the Global Center for Adventist Muslim Relations; Sheikh Bahmanpour, head of the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Department of Islamic Studies at the Islamic College, Willsden, London; and Sheikh Ali Al Hakim, researcher for the Islamic Center of England.
TED CHURCH PLANTING InFOCUS is name of a newsletter being launched by Janos Kovacs-Biro, church planting coordinator for the Trans-European Division. Church planters in Europe will want to subscribe to get the latest information. Contact Janos on
MARKET EVANGELISM – A MINISTRY IDEA! Roger Goodwright from Hamilton (New Zealand) says that Market Evangelism is simple and low cost. They get permission to set up a display table on a busy street or in a market area and offer a free DVD holding six biblical and life presentations – “and the public comes to you!” They have the opportunity to answer questions and share the gospel. A simple and effective idea!
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CHURCH PLANTING NEWS
Peter Roennfeldt
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Hi Peter,
I have been reading through church planting news…Wow! There are some really committed folk out there. It’s inspiring to hear people’s stories on an arena very near and dear to my heart. I haven’t come across ‘Is there a church in the house” yet. Let us know how to get the 10 page “Church planting journey’ to you.
Blessings
Matt