Church Planting: 3 Months In
Three months ago I began my church planting residency at Redeemer Fellowship. Much has happened here and are some of the highlights:
–We have chosen a city to plant a church in: Naperville. This required a lot of research, visits, conversations, and prayer. But after much work and effort, we have come to believe this is where God is leading us.
–We have chosen a name: Cross of Christ Fellowship. More to come on why we chose this name.
-I have attended loads of elders meetings and ministry visits. By participating in these I have been able to learn from the godly men at my church and how to do ministry and pastoral counseling.
-I have shared the gospel and connected with some locals of Naperville. Please pray for more open doors to share the gospel and that I would continue to do the work of an evangelist (Col 4:3-4; 2 Tim 4:5).
-We have written a church plant proposal which outlines the rationale for the church plant, how we hope to do ministry in Naperville, and the vision for Cross of Christ Fellowship.
-I have learned much from living and dead theologians: Joe Thorn meets with me each week and helps me grow in my knowledge of theology and ministry, I’ve read 375 pages of Calvin’s Institutes, Jard C. Wilson’s book ‘The Pastor’s Justification,’ Driscoll’s latest ‘A Call to Resurgence.’
-I have begun the assessment process with Acts 29. This has included the lengthy written portion (at least 30 hours of time), phone interview, and Bootcamp
-I have begun to receive some funding from the Southern Baptist Convention. This has helped immensely and allowed me to devote more time to ministry
–Networking with other pastors in Naperville: I have been been encouraged by other Naperville pastors who are excited to see more gospel-laborers come to town. I’ve also learned much from their wisdom and experience.
–Continued ministry at Redeemer: leading a community group, leading the Welcome/Announcement team, leading Leadership Lab (a monthly leaders training)
In my next post I’ll share more about what the next 6 months will look…
Photo Credit: contemplative imaging via Compfight cc
4 replies on “Church Planting: 3 Months In”
Good update Tom! Things are really rolling!
thanks Dan! yeah its exciting to see where things are headed…
Incredibly excited for the advancing of the gospel through your family, Tom! We pray that our great God would continue draw His sheep, and that He would bless you to feed them well.
Our love and prayers for you!!
thanks for the encouragement brother!