A group of us from different cities and denominations have just attended a church planters’ Boot Camp at Mars Hill Church Seattle : Andrew Heard (Central Coast), Steve Chong (Kirkplace- Kogarah Presbyterian), Guy Mason (Docklands Church, Melbourne), and Mikey Lynch (Hobart) from March 9-10.

This was my fourth ministry-related trip to the USA and I think what I'll bring home will be similar to the other three trips, that is - "the vibe".  Rather than 43 detailed points that make up a church planting checklist, it's the Dennis Denuto (of The Castle) vibe of the whole thing that stays with me.

What I mean is that Mars Hill Seattle - like other American churches I have been to - exudes a love for Jesus, a confidence about the future and a great generosity to visitors. They are generous with their resources, their hospitality (food laid on at every turn) and their encouragement. I think this is the thing we can most learn from our American brothers and sisters: they are big-hearted and understand gospel generosity, and they feel a sense of urgency about getting things done.

The church planting "Boot camp" organised by Acts 29, brought together 800 people - church planters and their wives - mostly from across the USA but also including approximately 30 people from other countries. We met people from South Africa, England, India, Congo, Uganda, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and of course Australia. The Acts 29 network, now has over 130 member churches in the USA and is now working in eight other countries around the world. This was one of many boot camps run across the USA this year.

There was of course a "vibe"  about a meeting like this;  enthusiasm of those who are or want to be church planters. It was a pretty blokey atmosphere - I don't mean rough, I mean, young men, black jackets, boots, etc, a heart for the gospel, an excitement about the future, a confidence in the gospel.  (Those of you who know me will be surprised that I loved it. I didn't feel out of place in my boots and black jacket - and I didn't have to shave every day, my face or my head). It was an atmosphere that took Jesus seriously but that I could have brought my non-Christian brother to.

The main talks were from the Bible about how to know if you should be a planter, calls to preach the gospel clearly without the fear of people, and practical advice on the call to endure. These talks seemed to be geared at the level of motivation for planting rather than methodology. Workshops in the afternoon looked at more practical issues, for example "pitfalls of planting". Steve Timmis from Crowded House spoke on the Monday night about their church-planting initiatives in the UK.

Those who are planning to plant in the next 12 months (approx 30 people, I think)  were assessed individually in a two-hour interview by three planters - a mix of young and old. There is a programme of preparation before these interviews: questionnaires to be answered, references from peers and a Bible talk to be submitted, all done online.

I wanted to understand the assessment process, so I went right through the process myself, submitting questionnaires etc, in advance as well as the interview at the conference. Unfortunately my wife,  Kathy, couldn't come to the US this time, but interviews are as policy done with husband and wife together. I expected to be doing this simply to be understanding the assessment process, which was very useful,  but I was surprised at how valuable the interview was to me personally. The panel and especially one of my referees were insightful about weaknesses I need to beware of and areas to work on, all delivered with American generosity and kindness.

The result of these interviews is to provide one of four results - i. accepted i.e. to join the Acts 29 network,  ii. accepted with conditions, or iii. not acceptable (given things to work on for perhaps a year), or simply not acceptable. These last two are not the same as unsuitable for ministry work but saying these men were not gifted for start-up church planting. This assessment process has greatly reduced the burnout or failure rate for those planting.

I thought, what happens at boot camp is not really much different from what has been happening at Club 5 (Challenge Conference) for years. However an obvious difference is that it's focused on church planting, and the assessment process is more intentional and more preparation is involved.

The Future

All five of us are coming back from the conference resolved to work at encouraging the good work that's already happening in church planting in Australia, and build further on that. We're planning to form a national network and invite individuals, existing networks, and denominations to join if they would find that useful.

We plan to help and encourage those already "on the ground" and to pool our resources to better recruit, assess, train and help others to get new things started around Australia.

The Acts 29 network is well known in Australia (Sydney has the 2nd or 3rd largest numbers of Mars Hill downloads, i.e. ahead of all other American cities).

However after discussion with Mark Driscoll and Scott Thomas (Acts 29 Director)  we have agreed that us Aussies will run an independent Australian church-planting network (the name is coming soon)  with partnership and support from Acts 29. Even though we won't be formally an Acts 29 organisation, they have as usual, been very generous in giving us access to resources, assessment info, software etc. We're working on the detail of the network. We expect to have this info released by mid-year and to launch with a big event in November 09. We'd appreciate your prayers!