Michael Horton on Church Planting

This is well worth the 5 minutes it takes to watch:

Update on Church Plant in Leith, Scotland

Last year, I had the opportunity to meet Rev. Athole Rennie, a fellow ARP-er and pastor/church planter working in Leith, Scotland. At that time, Rev. Rennie was working to build up a core group in Leith for the purpose of planting a church. God has blessed that effort, and the core group which has been built up is now meeting on Sunday afternoons, and has chosen a name for the church: Grace Church Leith.

I rejoice with them at the success they have had thus far and will continue to pray for the important work they do in the land of Knox and Melville. Please keep them in your prayers, as well. To learn more about the work Rev. Rennie is doing, visit Reformission Scotland or e-mail him at leith@reformissionscotland.com. If you are on Facebook, you can "Like" the group "Grace Church Leith" as well.

Ref21 on Church Plant(er)s

Stephen Nichols has posted a short article about church plants and the pastors who labor therein over at Reformation21. It is worth reading. I couldn't help but think of all the work my own pastor does at our church plant as I read it. It reminded me to pray for our church planters! Hope on over and have a read: Church Planting, Double Honor (and then some).

On Church Planting

I briefly mentioned last week that I had the opportunity to meet Athole Rennie while I was at the ARP Synod. He gave a presentation at the Outreach North America (the home-mission agency of the ARP) sponsored breakfast on his work to plant a church in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. He shared with us some of the history of the town, some of the resistance he has encountered (including resistance from other "churches" in Scotland), and some of the hopes that he has for this work. I highlight the work of Pastor Rennie not only in hopes of bringing it to the attention of as many people as possible, but also because the approach he is taking to planting a church is rare these days.

Instead of starting with a core group of families from an existing church, Pastor Rennie is "starting fresh". The "core group" is he, his wife and their infant son. Pastor Rennie expressed some frustration with trying to reach the point of having a core group. He talked of giving presentations at churches that are friendly to the idea of a new biblical and reformed church in the area and asking members of those churches to join him in this work, but not having seen any fruit from those requests, yet.

I sympathize with Pastor Rennie. Certainly, the work he has been called to is not an easy work (from a human perspective). He is going about things in a way that most denominations and churches would view as "all wrong". And yet, I see plenty of biblical examples of exactly what he is doing. Paul, on his missionary journeys very rarely came into a city that already had a group of believers present. Paul was not used planting a church using a "core group" but more often than not, had to build up to having a core group in the first place. Pastor Rennie's model of church planting is also reminiscent of missionaries going into areas that have never heard the Gospel, that do not have established churches, and trusting God to bless the work and save souls. I suppose the difference is, we do not think of Scotland as being such a place, and yet so much of that nation's Christian heritage has been lost (as Pastor Rennie testified to during his presentation).

Finally, I want to point out another brother taking a similar approach to church planting, but in Texas. Pastor Carl Miller is working to plant two churches: one in Waco and one in Houston, and he is doing so without the aid of a core group. If you are in either the Waco or the Houston areas, go over to these works and give Pastor Miller a word of encouragement. Also, remember the work of Pastors Miller and Rennie in your prayers.

Lest we become too distracted

Taking a break, for the moment, from the Erskine news, I'd like to point out something that was recently brought to my attention. The Northeast Presbytery of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (of which my church is a part) is active in seven church plants at the moment, with two new plants in the works. I am told that this does not take into account the work of our Korean brothers in our Presbytery. The plants are located in Arizona (1), California (1), Maryland (2), Pennsylvania (2), and West Virginia (1).

I hope this little bit of news will be an encouragement to those in the ARP (and others) who feel overburdened by all that is going on with Erskine right now. Christ's Church continues to conquer! Praise be to God!

(HT: Backwoods Presbyterian)