J.R. Briggs

Thinking about planting a church?

January 6, 2010

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Are you seriously thinking about church planting or know someone who is?

If so, then we need to talk!

This is the most exciting thing I’ve written in a very long time.

The leaders of Renew are so excited about this new opportunity that we’ve been developing and want to roll out in 2010.

Over the past year, we’ve found ourselves in several conversations with young leaders who were seriously considering church planting but weren’t entirely sure. They were fairly certain that church planting was in their future at some point and they were quite excited about it. But we noticed that many of them were anxious about taking the leap, noting that they felt a significant lack in hands-on exposure of the ins and outs of church planting. “What if I get into the first year of planting a church and I realize I’m more cut out to be at an established church?” one young leader asked me. “How do I know for sure if I’m going to be church planting material unless I actually try it out somehow in a ‘safe’ environment first?”

After a few of these conversations I wondered aloud if Renew could create a purposeful, focused and formal initiative for possible/potential church planters that included exposure, hands-on training, formal and informal training, leading and continuing conversations of discernment regarding their calling, wiring, passions, etc. What if at the end of the year-long process Renew played a part in the kingdom by helping young leaders receive clarity in order to discern what their future and callings are?

What if at the end of the year-long process we were about to ask questions and provide feedback so conversations like this could happen:

• Do we think this leader is capable and called to plant a church somewhere? Yes, we do. Great! Renew would love to be a part of the birthing and sending process, as we believe that we are called to plant a church out of Renew within the first five years of our existence.

• Do we think this leader is capable and called to lead, shepherd and pastor a faith community, but may not be wired for church planting? Yes, we do. Great! We can help connect them with other established churches around the country and send them with great excitement and our blessing!

• Do we think this leader is capable and called to ministry, but not in a vocational sense? Yes, we do. Great! We get to send them out into the world of business, education, science, art, government, etc. as they seek to be representatives and ambassadors of Jesus wherever they may be.

Either way, we get to be involved in the sending process of Kingdom work. (And personally, I love hanging around and building into young leaders!). Lord willing, this process could be a win-win-win!

And so the Renew Apprenticeship Program was developed. We’re praying that God sends us young leaders that we can enter into relationship with, build into and send out. This is quite different from an internship. Oftentimes when we think of an intern we think of a  young person running around sharpening pencils and refilling coffee mugs. This is not what we’re after. We’re looking for apprentices – young leaders who (a) have had some ministry experience – formal or informal (b) are sensing God’s nudge in their lives that they believe to be towards ministry and (c) desire to learn, process and lead in a focused setting.

We’re pumped that a young couple from Colorado is seriously considering moving to PA and joining the Program in 2010 – but we would love to see more!

I’m excited to pass along this information to you. It can also be found on the Renew website.

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Have you ever seriously considered church planting but wondered what that could look like?

The Renew Community seeks to be known more for our sending capacity than our seating capacity. We’re more interested in asking the question, “How are we blessing the neighborhood?” than “How many people were there on Sunday?” We desire for people – formally and informally, directly and indirectly – to be sent out to be representatives and ambassadors in the name of Jesus.

Which is why we’ve developed the Renew Apprenticeship Program, a one-year learning lab and equipping experience for missional leaders seriously considering church planting. This program provides formal and informal training as well as hands-on opportunities to lead, serve, teach and seek out new kingdom initiatives. This unique opportunity was created with the intention of providing potential future church planters first-hand learning spaces on the ins and outs of missional church planting.

The RAP consists of:

Learning – formal and informal environments of learning, growth and maturity

1. Understanding the ethos and DNA of Renew as well as its core practices and regular rhythms.
2. Learning the contextual elements that comprise a missional church and why it is important in the 21^st century approach to ministry.
3. Reading and studying pertinent books together with weekly discussion and regular implementation into the rhythms of daily life.
4. Attending 1-2 classes per semester at Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, PA in the MA of Missional Church Planting program.
5. Attending The Ecclesia Network National Gathering in Washington, D.C. and The Ecclesia Network Church Planters Training Week in Richmond, VA.

Living –being involved in the lives of the people at Renew in formal and informal ways.

1. Working closely with J.R. Briggs and Tracy Commons, co-pastors of Renew, in helping shape the ethos of Renew and entering into the rhythms of pastoral ministry.
2. Building relationships with The Renew Community family.
3. Learning intentional rhythms of cultivating an oikos (“sphere of influence”) with those far from Jesus.
4. Serving in areas of need in the region that fit with your unique ministry bent (i.e. passions, skills, spiritual gifting, interests, etc).

Listening – opportunities to listen to God and others through various sources

1. Holy Spirit: regularly scheduled retreat days and times of intentional reflection and meditation. Discerning God’s long-term call in your life and if it may involve church planting and/or vocational ministry.
2. Other missional leaders, pastors and church planters: exposure to different church plant models and approaches on a weekly basis.
3. The culture: being a student of the culture and the context of the North Penn region and knowing how to best engage it with the gospel.
4. The voices of skeptics and dreamers in the region: being involved in relationship to hear the heartbeat of those outside of the Church.

Leading – overseeing and providing direction with specific, valuable area(s) of ministry based on giftedness. This could involve – but is not limited to – the following:

1. teaching in Renew gatherings (when appropriate)
2. overseeing new initiatives, ideas and events that engage with the context and culture of the North Penn region.
3. birthing, shepherding and providing leadership to a new house church
4. overseeing, initiating and/or focus on a particular area of need depending upon context and individual passion/gifting (high school students, college students, the poor, the mentally ill, minorities, the large Muslim population in Lansdale, community engagement oversight, economic development, etc).

**Each RAP participant is required to raise their own financial support. This may involve finding a part time job to supplement the support raising process. An approximated budget will be determined with each participant prior to acceptance to the program.

Interested in finding out more? Want to prayerfully consider taking a risk and coming to Landale, PA in the Greater Philadelphia Area to participate in the RAP?

For more information feel free to contact me at jrbriggsis [at] gmail [dot] com or leave a comment here.

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