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How To Plant a Church: Five Principles from Steve Timmis

"All the churches that were planted by Paul were planted because Paul was ... explicit in preaching the gospel ... a number of contemporary churches think it's insightful to quote 'preach the gospel and use words if necessary' but this has no connection with what we find in the life of Paul." In 2009, Western Europe Acts 29 Director, Steve Timmis, taught two sessions at the London Boot Camp on "How to Plant a Church." In How to Plant a Church - Part 1, Timmis taught that the book of Acts is a church planting narrative. In Part 2, he laid out five specific principles needed in order to plant a church - which we are sharing here. 1. Preach the Gospel. The apostle Paul gathered believers by preaching the Gospel, “Almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the ...

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Why is Church Planting So Important? Scott Thomas Takes the Mic

"Church planting is the most effective way to evangelize and make disciples. So much great fruit comes out of church-planting. So, our goal is to make disciples, not necessarily to make a church. But in order to make disciples we see that creating new churches is a great tool to accomplish that," says Scott Thomas, Acts 29 Director, in his interview last week. Last week, after Scott Thomas had interviewed the UK Coaches, Dai Hankey (bottom right) turned the microphone around to interview Scott with these questions:   1. Who are you, what do you do, and what does that all entail? 2. What are you doing in the rainy UK right now? 3. Had you ever heard of Wales before you came here? 4. What are your dreams for Acts 29 in the UK? 5. Why is church planting so important, in ...

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First Western European Church Planters

First Western European Church Planters!   We are excited to announce that we assessed and approved our first church planters in our newly formed Acts 29 Western European Network. Stuart and Rachel Dean are starting a church in Haywards Heath England in West Sussex (39 miles south of London).   On a few occassions in the past, our church planter assessors have emerged from their assessments by stating, "We have just been to church!" I didn't know what they really meant. I do now. When we assessed Stuart and Rachel, we experienced a Holy Spirit enriched, God-glorifying assessment. Stuart and Rachel blew us away with their love for Jesus and commitment to His call in their life in spite of their personal struggles with Rachel's health.   New Western Europe Director Steve ...

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Acts 29 Expands into the UK – Brilliant!

Acts 29 Expands into the UK – Brilliant!By Pastor Scott ThomasMay 4, 2009  Steve Timmis, co-author of Total Church, will direct a new Acts 29 Network in Western Europe beginning today. Steve is handing off The Crowded House duties, an alliance of gospel communities in Sheffield, England to focus on establishing a wider network of churches planting new churches all across Western Europe. Steve and I first interacted when he graciously sent his Total Church manuscript to me to review. Not having any reference for Steve, I set it aside for a week and then something prompted me to read his chapter on Church Planting. I was thrilled at the theological clarity combined with the gospel-oriented praxis. I then read his chapter on World Missions, which was equally intriguing, fresh ...

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