“We have a vision to see 5,000 churches started... We see this as a collaborative effort, and we desire to see a true church-multiplication movement.”
FORM AND FUNCTION
“The center has three venues for training that encompass the process,” explains Briggs.
The first year is a residency for the church-planting family. They are connected with a church-planting coach. Vanguard staff and other pastors in the area mentor them.
The second venue is experiential training, where residents work on a church staff in the area. Some will serve at Vanguard, some at other churches in the area.
The third venue is formal training where participants are involved in focused study and research. They also attend monthly sessions in a conference or seminar-type setting. Frontline had 31 participants attend its first formal training.
“The first two venues are open to the church planter residents only,” says Briggs. “The third venue is open to other people interested in church planting. They may be missionaries, future members of core teams, or people who are involved in church planting but not church planters themselves.”
The open seminars—the Cultivate Learning Track—bring a broader audience to the equation, Briggs adds. “We have leadership tracks and expect to have church-planting teams and launch teams participating eventually.
“We believe we need to start small and see how God will grow the work. It is tempting to want to grow too quickly, and we certainly don’t want to limit what God will do, but we think it’s best to focus on quality, and healthy church planters. We have a vision to see 5,000 churches started through the center,” says Briggs.
Equipping healthy church-planting families is one of the priorities for the center.
“We want to focus on the total life of the planter and his family,” says Briggs. “We want to make sure the wives are involved from the start of the process. It’s important that planters are growing spiritually and that they have healthy lives—spiritually, mentally and physically.
“It’s important to have church planters prepared and placed where they believe God has called them to plant and to have that call confirmed. It makes a huge difference when you have a vested interest where you live, when you are engaged in the community and desire to reach your community with the gospel,” says Briggs.
28 Winter 2012 •
onmission.com
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