We're excited about the future of Acts 29. In a recent letter to the network, Pastor Mark Driscoll detailed some changes to the network leadership that will position us to plant more churches and make more disciples. We've posted the letter below.
February 6, 2012
Dear Acts 29 Members,
This letter is intended to provide some clarity about where we are, and Lord willing, where we are going. I hope you find it encouraging, compelling, and unifying.
Under the leadership of Pastor Scott Thomas we just completed our most amazing year of God’s grace yet. In the US alone we are now over 400 churches! This is a wonderful gift of God. I want to sincerely and personally thank Pastor Scott for juggling so many duties so graciously.
Our prayer is that this tremendous momentum continues, ...
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MULTIPLYING MEN “Multiplication As Spiritual Gardening”
By Chris Atwell
Many church planters want to play the role of church planter rather than live the role of spiritual gardener. Enjoying the results of the harvest requires faithfully attending to the crops in the field. The Bible’s major metaphor for spiritual growth is one of vine, branch, and fruit (John 15, Galatians 5). Jesus Himself is the Vine. God is the Vinedresser. Oh, that as pastors we would see our role to faithfully tend God’s garden. And in God’s garden, He’s growing fruit-bearing people.
Ministry is still a people business. Many of the church planters I know look the part. If I were to make a church planting action figure, he would come equipped with graphic tee, Italian ...
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by Scott Thomas, President of Acts 29
I often say that every church leader needs a coach. Below are thirty reasons the participants of Gospel Coach Training have shared:
Coaching helps to remind a leader of the Gospel
Coaching exposes a leader's blind spots
All leaders are capable of succumbing to sin's deception
Leaders are models for faithful obedience
Coaching is preventative maintenance for a leader
The stakes for a church leader are high
Coaching models biblical community
Coaching provides a prayer partner for the leader
Leaders can be prideful
Leaders are often lonely
Coaching is a practical means for a leader to pay careful attention to self
Coaching brings encouragement to the leader
Coaching can protect the flock from a leader’s mistakes and bad decisions
Coaching ...
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By Pastor Scott Thomas
After 46 years, Penn State football’s head coach Joe Paterno was suddenly fired. The once great reign of the NCAA Division I football’s winningest coach had come to an abrupt and tragic end. 83-year-old Joe Paterno (endearingly known as “JoePa”) achieved 409 wins, five undefeated seasons and two national championships. But suddenly, none of that mattered anymore. In one week, after the arrest of a former assistant coach on child sexual abuse charges, everybody's favorite grandpa was removed from the sidelines for the first time since the Lyndon Johnson Administration.
The Apostle Paul said, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). Finishing with honor for the glory of God is the goal. It ...
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On September 25, 2011, two Acts 29 churches, Coram Deo Church and Core Community Church, merged together. These two churches, which have been pacesetters in the work of urban, missional church planting in the Midwest, joined forces as one church. Below is their story or you can watch the video they made, describing how they came to merger together and talking about the implications of doing so.
by Bob Thune
Core Community Church was founded by Ethan Burmeister in the fall of 2000. It was only the fourth church to join the Acts 29 Network. Ethan was, in many ways, a man ahead of his time. Ideas like “missional church” were not yet commonplace. Conversations about the intersection of missiology and ecclesiology were just beginning – in places like Seattle and ...
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