by Wayne Guinn
What a great Ignite Church Planting Forum we had at Boston Baptist College on November 16-17! We would like to thank Dave Melton, Ken Gillming, Randy Ward, and all the students and staff for being great hosts for our two-day event. We also appreciate Grace Snavely and the college ensemble for their special music.
Ryan Bevin, who pastors Lighthouse Baptist Church in Chillicothe, Ohio, got us off to a great start, bringing a tremendous challenge to start new churches. Ryan shared his journey of how God used him to start his church and his continued endeavor. He was also a part of our breakout sessions along with Duke Hergatt, Rob Willis, Keith Gillming, Terry Kizer, Tim Robertson, and Matt and Stacy Burns. We appreciate all of those who took of their time and money to be a part of the success of our Ignite Church Planting Forums.
The highlight of our Forum was hearing from Nelson Searcy, author, pastor, speaker, and church planter. Nelson pastors The Journey in Manhattan, New York. They now have several other locations around New York City as well. He was able to share a three-hour interactive workshop with 40 to 50 pastors and staff on the eight church systems he has developed and is now writing books about. Even in three hours, Nelson wasn’t able to cover everything he wanted to. However, those attending received great information. Nelson also handed out copies of his books to those who didn’t already have one and offered several free resources that would be sent via email. He then had the opportunity to speak to the students on Tuesday morning, giving them a brief testimony about how he started The Journey and what is happening with the work now. He wrapped everything up by bringing a challenge and call for commit¬ment to church planting.
If you would like to hear some of the sessions of our Ignite Church Planting Forums, you can listen to the podcasts on our website at www.bbfincpo.com.
We also want to make you aware of two events coming up. Please do everything you can to attend the February National Meeting in Savannah, Georgia. We thank the Baptist Bible Tribune and Keith Bassham for allowing us to use this meeting to focus on church planting. It is our goal to get as many of our church planters there as possible. You won’t want to miss being there February 15–17.
Our next Church Planting Candidate School will be held at Canyon Creek Baptist Church in Richardson, Texas, in conjunction with the Texas State Fellowship Meeting and Conference April 19– 23. We will give more information about both of these events during that week as they become available. If you know of anyone that is interested in planting a church or getting ready to, please have them contact the NCPO at (417) 889-1017 or office@bbfincpo.com.