Planning for Church Planting

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Benjamin Kreps:

Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Mark Prater podcast where our aim is to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director. Mark, you guys have a Leadership Team retreat next week, I believe. And while you're at that retreat, one of the things you're going to be talking about is church planning. And Eric Turbedsky  is now our Director of Church Planting and is leading us in some ways to think about moving forward. Maybe it's a weird time for some of us to think church planting. We're just trying to get our Sunday gatherings going again. But perhaps this is the best time in the world to think about church planting. So, what are your thoughts about church planning and the way forward in Sovereign Grace?

Mark Prater:

Well, we do have a retreat next week. It's via zoom, which is very disappointing for us because we're so geographically spread out as a leadership team. Those retreats every three times a year are so important in building relationships and having time to linger over strategic discussions. We're going to miss those. But we are going to talk about church planting. And I'm so glad that we are because no pandemic is going to stop Sovereign Grace from planting churches.

Ben Kreps:

Yeah. So what are the kinds of things that you're wanting to encourage us in, you'll be discussing next week? And just the way we're thinking about moving forward as pastors?

Mark Prater:

Well, the thoughts I'm going to give really are coming from our Director, our new Director of Church Planting, Eric Turbedsky. He's been putting a lot of thought into this and working with the guys that have been a part of the National Church Planting Group. So their input has been very, very helpful, as well. But what we're looking at church planting and really trying to study it in how it will work best and Sovereign Grace. So we've benefited from evangelicalism in terms of how to identify, equip and deploy a church planter.

So one of the things I think we're going to probably just tweak a little bit or maybe put more of an emphasis on, I think historically in church planting, what you see is a man who has a burden to plant a church. This is a wonderful thing and we still want that. And then he's sent from a church to go plant a church and we kind of just want to tweak that a little bit.

We want guys to have burdens to plant a church, but we want their eldership that they're being sent from to have a burden to plant churches. We think that sort of represents who we are a little bit more. It fits our emphasis on local churches and local churches planting local churches. We also think it honors our polity. So it's not just one guy who's got a burden. it's an eldership who's saying we want to go plant an hour away and, and, and see the gospel proclaimed there to the loss because we're going to plant a church. That's one of the differences we're talking about.

Benjamin Kreps:

So a more robust partnership in the planting that endures beyond that initial first year or two of planting.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, exactly. I think the other thing that Eric is, and sort of in relation to that beyond the first year, that Eric is starting to talk about and put an emphasis on is there are a number of ways to equip church planters and we've benefited again from the evangelical world in that way. But to make sure that guys understand our values, it's important as you think about planting churches and you think about the long-term churches that endure over time are those that we want to embody and really celebrate our gospel values that we share. So looking to make sure that training is not only a part of what they experienced if they go to the Pastors College, but a part of their equipping as a church planter as well.

Benjamin Kreps:

That's great. So we're looking to not only see doctrine duplicated, but sort of our spiritual DNA and the gospel vibe of Sovereign Grace Churches duplicated wherever we plant.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, that's exactly right. Let me just say one thing. If you guys will get this podcast on Monday of next week. I think that's June 1st. Our Leadership Team retreat is June 2nd and 3rd via Zoom, again. So pray for that, but do this, pray as an eldership about where you could plant a church. Just begin to have those conversations. Ask the Spirit of God to lead you. And I just think that out of this pandemic, we're going to see wonderful opportunities to advance the gospel and some of those are going to happen through church planting that your church may very well be a part of. 

Benjamin Kreps:

Yeah. Don't limit what God could do through your church, even in the middle of a pandemic.

Mark Prater:

Exactly. 

Benjamin Kreps:

So thanks for your encouragement. We'll be praying for you guys and we look forward to seeing you back here soon, right on this podcast. Bye for now.

Mark Prater is the Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches and has served as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church since 2002.