As a young church planter I wanted a tribe to belong to. So, I started gathering a few other young church planters for mutual learning, accountability, and encouragement. Before long, Mars Hill Church was formally supporting church planters in both the U.S. and India. Then, I met Pastor David Nicholas, whose Spanish River Church had generously supported church planters for many years. Together, we founded the Acts 29 church-planting network.
For the first years, the network offices were housed in Florida, as David served as our president. Then the offices were moved to Seattle when I assumed the presidency. Since that time, David has passed on to see the Jesus he loved face to face, and Acts 29 has grown rapidly, now totaling more than 400 churches in the U.S., as well as ...
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I am eager for the March 28 and 29 to get here. Next week, The Village will host an Acts 29 Boot Camp on church planting and mission, with Eric Mason (Philadelphia), JR Vassar (Manhattan), Matt Carter (Austin), Steve Timmis (U.K.), and myself (Dallas) teaching.
The brotherhood that is present among my Acts 29 co-laborers and friends is one of the great graces God has poured out on me in ministry. The Bible has much to say about the joys of pastoring but minces no words about the difficulties, pains, and sorrows that can accompany being an under-shepherd of the flock of God.
Through the highest highs to my lowest lows in my journey as a pastor, my brothers in Acts 29 have celebrated with me, cried with me, and prayed with me. At some of my darkest hours, some of these brothers flew ...
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It’s my belief that we’re living in a new movement, with the potential to see revival in our generation.
Many people in the United States and around the world have a general feeling that something is happening. There’s an excitement in the air worldwide. The hearts of church leaders from around the globe are pounding from an increased sense of urgency for evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. This increased heart rate was felt by the thumb of Collin Hansen back in 2006 when he penned the article Young, Restless, Reformed. Just a few years later in 2009, this new movement was considered by Time magazine as one of the top ten ideas changing the world.
What Is a Movement?
A movement is an unusual work of God, sometimes called a revival or renewal. During a ...
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Here’s one of the most common questions we get: "Is Acts 29 a denomination?"
We are not a denomination and have no intention of becoming a denomination. But, we love, appreciate, and value denominations. They can provide amazing resources to help train leaders and further the causes of evangelism and church planting. This includes everything from Bible colleges and seminaries to international missions pathways and a host of others resources.
At Acts 29, we don’t create partnerships with denominations because that is not how we are set up. We think denominations should be denominations and we should be a network of churches and church planters. Both can (and already do) exist. As such, we work with churches that are in denominations, rather than the denominations ...
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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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