CHURCH PLANTING LEADERSHIP TEAM

SUMMARY OF WORK

1. Conducted the annual Fall Church Planter Retreat, October 17-20 at Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

2. Held a National Church Planting Leadership Team meeting, February 27-28 at the Office of the General Assembly in Orlando, Florida.

3. Created “Architecture to Encourage Church Planting in the EPC” and “Parent, Patron, Partner: An Introduction” resource documents.

4. Introduced a Church Planting Regional Director Model to the National Leadership Team and all Presbyteries.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

The Church Planting Team has no recommendations for the 43rd General Assembly.

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WORK OF THE COMMITTEE

The Church Planting Leadership Team is in transition from a part-time consultant to a full-time national director. Therefore much of the work has been adapting to the new organizational structure.

At our two national team meetings (August 2022 and February 2023, we began to lay out definitions of the new role of Regional Church Planting Directors. This is a work in progress and we are learning as we go. Regional Directors will work for 2-4 Presbyteries in order to get church planting expertise closer to home and to spread the cost so this help is more affordable. We have initiated this in the South Region (presbyteries of Florida and the Caribbean, Southeast, Central South, and Gulf South) and are also rolling it out in the Heartland (presbyteries of the Midwest, Rivers and Lakes, Mid-America, and Great Plains). Plans are underway but not as far along in the presbyteries of the Alleghenies and East, and the presbyteries of the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, and West.

Several church plants became localized in the last year and we have launched new plants in Atlanta, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and Birmingham.

The fall Church Planting Retreat was a success! We resourced more than 25 of our church planters along with 12 church planting leaders from around the country. In May 2023 we signed a three-year contract with Green Lake Conference Center in Green Lake, Wisconsin, for 2024-2026. This will reduce our cost for the retreat by approximately 30%.

By the fall of 2023 we will have completed and published our “Church Planting 101” handbook. This Handbook will give every EPC church the basic understanding of key steps needed in order to become a parent or partner church planting church.

An additional $50,000 has been invested into the EPC National Church Planting fund by two patron churches: Central Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama, and Greentree Community Church in Kirkwood, Missouri. We are very grateful for our church planting patrons!

Key areas of work continue to be in recruiting church planting pastors, planting in underserved and unreached areas, along with training local churches and presbyteries on how to launch successful church plants. Please pray for EPC church planting!

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RECOMMENDATIONS (DETAILED)

The Church Planting Leadership Team has no recommendations for the 43rd General Assembly.

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COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Jack Cathey (Co-Chairman)
RE, Presbytery of the Central Carolinas

Jim Holland
TE, Presbytery of the Central South

Richard Rieves
TE, Presbytery of the Central South

Shawn Robinson (off this year)
TE, Presbytery of the Pacific Southwest

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MEETING DATES

August 8-10, 2022: Green Lake Conference Center (Green Lake, Wisconsin)
February 27-28, 2023: Office of the General Assembly (Orlando, Florida)
October 16-19, 2023: Fall Church Planting Retreat (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Jack Cathey, Co-Chairman
June 2023

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