Churches Planting Churches that Plant Churches
I found myself In The Chute this past few days. Not sure if the chute refers to a parachute or waterslide chute -- but in any case, there was lots of momentum. Close to 150 men and women gathered in Melbourne for the National In The Chute church planting conference put on by The Geneva Push. I was truly heartened by seeing so many young couples attending this conference. Some came to be assessed as church planters. Others came to explore where God is leading.
Others came simply to be encouraged. There were at least ten men and women from the CRCA in attendance, with a large representation from Geelong's South Barwon congregation. Brian Vaatstra, Kingson CRC, Tasmania, led one of the elective sessions and shared in a plenary session on the the joys and trials of planting churches. He came with a wealth of knowledge and experience from their Kingston history in the last decade of planting churches. We heard not only from seasoned church planters, but also from those who are just beginning and others who are planning to launch a church plant in the near future. It was clearly evident that a church planting movement is beginning in Australia. Vision 100 and The Geneva Push are clearly frontrunners in steering this movement. Praise God for these developments.
As Jesus reminded us, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth workers into the harvestfield. Well, as evidenced by the past few days, a growing number of workers are passing through the Chute. In the CRCA we are engaging with 13 different church plants all across Australia. More are being talked about. It is so providential that we in the CRCA have a network like The Geneva Push to assist us in assessing and coaching church planters.
In the upcoming newsletters (December) I will share with you a number of the many excellent outcomes of this conference. But if you cannot wait, here is a link to the talks: http://thegenevapush.com/resources/category/audio.
About the author
Jack De Vries was hired on by the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia and began his work as Ministry Training Coordinator in January 2008. In 2012 this role shifted to that of Ministry Development Coach.
Jack came from Canada where he pastored three Christian Reformed churches: Alliston CRC, Alliston, Ontario(1983-87), a church plant: New Life Community Church, Pickering, Ontario(1987-95), and Bethel CRC, Listowel, Ontario (1995-2007). Jack is a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity - 1983) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Doctor of Ministry - 2003) Jack and his wife Jeannie currently live in Petrie, a northern suburb of Brisbane in Queensland. They attend and are members of Bray Park Community Church. They have four adult children and seven grandchildren living in the USA and Canada.
In Isaiah 58:11 we read: "The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Australia has seen times of drought and floods. There is another type of drought in Australia; there is a spiritual drought. But God promises to provide refreshing rain, a never ending supply of refreshing water. The water he provides will satisfy the needs of all Australians. As we take up the missional vision God has given us we extend the life changing invitation of Jesus: "Come! Whoever is thirsty, come, and take the free gift of the water of life!" (Revelation 22:17)
