Report from Global Church Advancement and more

I want to follow up on our trip to Orlando for the Global Church Advancement Conference.  First, it was great for me and Erin to be able to get away for a few days without the kids, especially to sunny Florida.  The weather was great, we enjoyed being with each other, and we had a great time.

Now, on to what happened.  We went through what is known as the Foundations Track.  This track is geared towards those on the front end of a church plant.  Each day we had three sessions (each an hour and half long).  In these sessions we had experienced planters speak on: vision, focus, prayer, philosophy, purpose, values, styles, models, finances, launching/planning, and finally on the "main thing" (which was essentially a confessional of the top 8 mistakes made by one guy that he didn't want us to fall into--which was very encouraging).  In each session there was room for much discussion (though not much time given) and much fodder for planning.  Actually, this Thursday I will be getting away in the afternoon for the night to a retreat center to try and process more of what was talked about.  The information was so extremely helpful that it was probably one of the best conferences I have ever attended.  Mainly, it scratched exactly where I have been itching and it gave tremendous vision to the couple that came with us.

I would like to have Erin share as well and hopefully I can get her on this so she can.  We are so thankful for men and women in ministry who have gone before us and can give us counsel.  Not only this conference, but for this past year as I have been interning at North Cincinnati Community Church and rubbing shoulders with church planters in the area and learning from our pastor here who has many years of experience.

I also want to thank all of you who as well have a vision for church planting and specifically for where the Lord has called us.  Your support, both in finances and prayer, is invaluable.  We are still raising further funds and have about $1150/month left to raise to be a full support (that includes our family and the young church plant expenses), as well as the cost of the conference (which was well worth it!).  If you feel so led you can easily give by following the link to the right "Join us in Ministry" or by clicking here.

Thank you again and I look forward to sharing more about this conference as I continue to process and to be able to share the life of our young church plant.