It’s all over (although my jet-lag isn’t quite yet)! We left the States on the 21st of October at around noon and arrived in Cape Town on the 23rd, around noon (local time). We’ve spent the weekend trying to get our internal clocks back on track.

The final week of the intensive went off well. We were all a little jaded and starting to think about getting home. It was quite sad to say goodbye to the other planters and their wives not knowing when we’ll ever see each other again. We had a send-off lunch with the RCPC staff and then each one went their separate way.

Our way took us to one more stop before the long trip home: St Louis, Missouri. I was in St Louis in February 08 visiting friends and the Journey Church which is one of the more influential churches in the Acts29 Network. On my previous visit I was really impressed with the Journey and the setup they had in St Louis so I really wanted Robin to see it and experience their community a little. So we spent 5 days catching up with friends and attending functions at the Journey. I had the chance to meet Darrin Patrick, the lead pastor, and spend some time getting to know him and talk about church planting both in the States and in South Africa. It was a worthwhile time of building relationships and getting further learning on the subject. We also had the chance to attend the Midwest regional Acts29 quarterly. By this time of our trip I was completely conferenced out and so I was expecting to doze off during most of the quarterly but they had Jeff Vanderstelt out from Soma Communities and he did 2 brilliant sessions that kept me wide awake.

So here’s my thoughts on the whole trip: God seems to be doing something huge through both the ministries of Redeemer Presbyterian and the Acts 29 Network – when you’re around these guys you really get the sense that something big is afoot in the world of church planting. And so in many ways Robin and I are completely humbled by the fact that we get to play a small part in this global movement. We were truly blessed by our time and I can confidently say that we were both affected and changed deeply by it. We come back to Cape Town with new eyes on a number of important issues. We’re also really grateful for the many friends we made along the way and are looking forward to building those relationships in the future.

I’d like to thank everyone, both at home and in the States, who helped make this trip possible. We are enormously thankful to God for all of you.

Two Sundays have come and gone since I last updated you (ya – sorry about that – things have been crazy busy). A lot has happened and this post will turn into an essay if I give you all the details so I’ll pick out the highlights of the last 12 days or so.

From the course point of view we’ve had some important discussions on very practical issues pertaining to church planting. We’ve covered fund raising (the politically correct term is: development), the strains church planting places upon marriages, drawing up church documentation, having difficult conversations with colleagues and thinking through contextualization, both for our preaching and for our styles of ministry. We had another Q & A session with Tim Keller – this time dealing with preaching. This session was hugely beneficial in hearing Tim’s approach both theologically and practically to his preaching. So they’ve kept us really busy – given us a ton of reading – but its all been great and really worth it.

Thursday evening last week was a benefit evening for the church planting center (I got all dressed up)- it was a chance for the center to showcase their work to important supporters. It was truly an inspiring evening to get a sense of the movement of church planting that is literally spreading across the major cities of the world through the help and influence of Redeemer. It’s a great privilege to be part of that movement.

We’ve visited three churches (besides Redeemer) in the last two weekends, Emmanuel Presbyterian, Apostles Church and Forefront Church. All three were plants that have been assisted by Redeemer, Emmanuel was a direct plant from Redeemer. Apostle’s Church is an Acts29 affiliated church and it was great to see what they are doing in the city. I got the chance to have lunch with JR Vassar, their pastor, and some of their elders to hear more about their work and for them to hear about what we’re doing in Cape Town.

From a sightseeing point of view we’ve hung out in China Town, been to a gig in the Village, been up the Rockefeller Center, had cupcakes with a South African diplomat to the United Nations, seen Grand Central Station and the library, eaten lots of Reese’s, drunk lots of Starbucks and had the odd double-quarter-pounder from McD’s.

Today is Wednesday, rest and reading day – I’ve also got a sermon to prepare and a few presentations to tweak. We’re off to Knoxville this weekend so we’ll keep you posted.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Host
JD Senkbile

Location
Jubilee Community Church

Jubilee Community Church Jubilee Centre 21 Nelson Road Observatory 7925 Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town Other

Phone: 082 818 1222

Purpose

To advance church planting in the Western Cape, through bringing church planters,pastors and leaders together for shared encouragement and learning from each other.

Format

We will meet from 11 am to 1pm. The first hour will be content and round table discussion. The second hour will be lunch and fellowship.

Content

Preaching to the Heart

Al Barth, from Redeemer Church Planting Center, will be coming to share with us about communicating the gospel in a way that transforms peoples hearts.

Who should attend?

All pastors, current or potential church planters, and other leaders interested in initiating a gospel-centered, missional movement in their area. You are free to bring your team or other leaders.

Cost

R35 – R50 for lunch.

Directions

PLEASE RSVP JD Senkbile (ASAP) jd@acts29network.org

I think many who are foreseeing something of an evangelical meltdown are right to see it and herald it but I can’t shake the feeling that the Neo-Reformed will be the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes here. I can’t shake the feeling that God is doing something huge here. I know Michael Spencer doesn’t think there’s a second Reformation coming out of this meltdown (and he is the post-evangelical guru) but I’m beginning to think that this Neo-Reformed movement might end up being a little more substantial than we think.

* As an extra point Scot McKnight made quite a bit of noise a month back about why he’s not really enamoured with the Neo-Reformed. I’d like to say that I don’t buy his reading of exactly who the Neo-Reformed are and to be honest I’m not actually sure who he was going after. So for example if you read my own take on the Neo-Reformed and you read Scot’s the two look radically different – surely we’re not talking about the same group of people. If we are then I think Scot is greatly mistaken. To give you an indication of who I see as the Neo-Reformed let me just nail my colours to the mast a bit. I see a group like Acts 29 as being the epitome of the Neo-Reformed movement and I think it would be ridiculous to apply Scot’s critique to the vast majority of Acts 29 churches.