Some people go to London for some spectacular sightseeing; perhaps to take in a show; or maybe for some serious shopping! In June 2009, several Irish Baptists - Gordon Darragh, Alex Campbell, Sharon Campbell and yours truly - travelled to London to attend an "Acts 29 Church Planting Conference". The conference was the first of its kind to be held in London, with over 100 people from various countries attending each day. ‘Acts 29' is a network of people set up to support qualified leaders called by God to plant new churches and re-plant declining churches and would be most recognised through Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill Church).
Acts 29 bravely commence their work right were the mighty Apostle Paul left off, at the end of Acts 28:31 "Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence no man forbidding him."
As a newly appointed Baptist Missions worker embarking in a new church plant initiative at Haypark Christian Centre, I was keen to learn as much as possible on the subject. I was not disappointed.
The talks at the conference were very informal and relaxed and most speakers welcomed questions from the floor at any time. They were clearly passionate on the subject and were extremely keen to encourage and further edify workers already in the church planting field.
Steve Timmis (co-author of Total Church) kicked off proceedings on both days with ‘Acts - How to plant a church' showing how the great commission of Matthew 28 and the promise of Acts 1:8 was, and still is, being fulfilled with successful church plants in Jerusalem and to the utmost parts of the earth. Steve brought out the point that where the "gospel was preached churches were planted". He went on to highlight how effective evangelism "make disciples not converts" is essential in having a successful church plant.
Another noted speaker was Jeff Venderstelt (Pastor of Soma Communities in Tacoma) who spends most of his time equipping leaders to plant church planting churches throughout the world. Jeff spoke on ‘Being a leader who grows leaders' and ‘Being a church that plants churches' (personally my favourite). Throughout his talks, Jeff brought out the qualities of a good leader, touching on the importance of Godliness and a servant's heart - and being a ‘Christ centric' role model with both character and competency. He went further on to unfold, step by step, how churches should go about planting churches.
The good news is that we hope to have both Steve and Jeff to speak (DV) at the Irish Baptist Centre in the near future. Watch this space!
Article by Eugene Galbraith (Baptist Missions - Haypark)