by John A. Gross
“The more you know the more you begin to realize how much you do not know.”
I am sure that statement is true when you begin to start a new church, but it is imperative you learn as much as you possibly can about planting a church before you begin. The momentum is building as we move forward.
We continue to see progress as we visit pastors across the country within Fellowship meetings. We had opportunity to visit with several pastors on the West Coast in a meeting hosted by Lewis McClendon in which Brian Moore was speaker on Monday evening. We followed that with a round table discussion on Tuesday morning with several pastors from the area. John Markum was our moderator for the meeting, and Dan Greer and I fielded a number of questions about APEX. It was a time of information gathering and strategy discussions for the future of our church planting efforts in that region. We recognize the potential, but we realize there is a tremendous challenge as we develop the church planting efforts in the West.
Dan and I have just returned from another meeting with several of our pastors on the East Coast. We met to discuss some possible programs needed for church planting in the Baptist Bible Fellowship. Two full days we considered several areas that demand our prayerful and utmost attention. When we consider the elements that represent church planting, we are made to understand that it is not something that can be put together with just a few thoughts over a cup of coffee but rather a determined process and complete commitment to developing a program that could spread across the nation.
We spent the time discussing and trying on ideas for the church planter assessment process, training, coaching, mentoring, and funding, just to mention a few. It was a great time of recognizing the potential within the BBFI. Pastor Sean Sears hosted the meeting at his church Dan Greer, Keith Harrington, Doug Dameron, Anthony Milas, BBFI President Eddie Lyons, and myself all taking part.
I have just returned from Indiana where Scott Johnston is the chairman of that state’s fellowship. Charles Howard, pastor of South Point in Whiteland, IN, hosted the meeting. There was a round table atmosphere, with young church planters participating in a “free zone” discussion established for their questions and our answers. It was a wonderful time for some to reconnect.
We want to encourage all of our church planters to make plans to attend the BBBI Fall National Meeting in Springfield at High Street Baptist Church where President Eddie Lyons is the pastor and host. Church planting and church revitalization are the main subjects for the speakers and breakout sessions. I hope to see many church planters come for challenge, ideas, and encouragement. Be sure to seek out Dan Greer (BBFI Vice President Church Planting) or myself to see how to connect through APEX.