Posted on March 3, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

States Reflection #1 – Church Planting

So I suppose its time for me to share a few reflections from my time in the USA. I thought I’d do it by looking at a few topics that came to the fore as I travelled through St Louis and Seattle. The first and most obvious thing that struck me, and was part of the reason I was over there, was the enthusiasm for church planting that seemed to be abounding in certain places.

Being at place like the Journey and then finding out that its only half a decade old really made me marvel at the desire of many young gospel workers in the States to see new churches planted and developed. There was an infectious enthusiasm portrayed by every single person that I met with who was involved in Acts 29 every time the subject of church planting was on the table. They were also always super keen to hear about potential planting opportunities in South Africa. If I can in anyway be used by God to bring some of that infectious enthusiasm to the young gospel workers here in South Africa then this trip will have been entirely worth it.

I was especially delighted to find out how rigorous the assessment process is at Acts 29 for prospective church planters. These guys are determined to see church plants succeed and that means that they want to see real evidence of godliness, gospel-centeredness, theological depth and leadership in any individual that is applying to plant churches with them. In many ways I came away worshipping God for the way he is spurring young men into action for the glory of his name as displayed in his church.

I would really like to see Acts 29 have a presence here in South Africa bringing like minded people together, across denominational lines, to plant gospel-centered and culturally engaging churches and I’m hoping that the meetings I had with various people will have gone a long way to making that a possibility. We still have a way to go but the ball is rolling now.