Could you be one?

“Oh, I could never do what you do!” People often say this to me, when I tell them that I’m a church minister. Even some of my friends from my own church shudder at the idea. They could be carrying loads of responsibilities in the home, workplace or school, yet when it comes to church, they somehow feel disempowered or put-off.

In reality, it does not feel like a ‘job’ to me, it is a vocation which I love, something which I feel God has called me into and equips me to accomplish with His abundant grace, and the help of my church family and team. I didn’t begin life as a church minister. I followed God’s winding path in obedience, and I pursued the passions He laid on my heart, and I played to the strengths of my personality and gifts.

How do you feel about the idea of church planting?

If you’ve read this far, perhaps you feel a spark of excitement at the idea of helping to begin a new community of faith, who follow Jesus’ ways together and seek to introduce others to the same.

You don’t have to be a superhero to lead a church. I’m certainly not. God plants the seeds of His kingdom into each of us, and gifts us with His creativity and abilities. In the New Testament church we see all kinds of normal, everyday folk taking on the leadership and discipleship of newly planted micro-churches. Like Lydia, the wealthy tradesperson who opened her home in Philippi (Acts 16), or Barnabas, the young adult sent from Jerusalem to plant and lead the church at Antioch (Acts 11).

We all believe in church growth for the sake of the gospel, and Jesus loves his church in all its forms. The local church is still the primary tool of God to reach our region, where our contexts are all different. We are free to reimagine church together for the unique context and challenges of our 21st century. We need more communities of faith in the years to come, led by a variety of folk called by God, in strong relationship with other churches.

“At least potentially, every believer ought to be considered a church planter and every church should be thought of as a church-planting church” (Alan Hirsch, author and church planting coach).

Are you beginning to think differently about church planting?

A collaborative church planting course for the Sheffield region

Launching Summer 2023 is training and support to help predominantly lay-led churches to be planted in our region.

Open to all denominations/streams, a collaboration of experienced church planters in Sheffield and nationally will invest in people who are pursuing the mission of God with a vision and intention to begin new communities of faith for their contexts.

If you are an existing church leader, you may know of gifted potential leaders but you don’t currently have the capacity or experience to train them. This Hub exists to train leaders from your midst, under your oversight, so they can be effective in your context.

What does ‘church plant’ mean?

It means a team, with leaders, creating a cohesive community of faith with outreach at its heart, which reflects the Biblical markers of ‘church’ in a culturally appropriate way, dependent upon its local context. New churches will be in good relationship with existing local ones, and often connected to national networks/denominations.

It could be smaller groups and missional initiatives away from traditional buildings and Sunday services. Equally, it could be the renewal of historic models of church to be missionally fit-for-purpose in the twenty-first century.

Who is it for?

This is for anyone who feels called to start a new church community but hasn’t yet worked out what that looks like and how to go about it. And for those who have recently started a new church community (e.g. within the past 12 months) and need training and support.

We require that the person and their application are supported by an oversight minister.

You’ll join with a number of other teams to form a learning community that will explore the tools and capacity you need to establish new church communities. These churches will look different, be connected to different church streams, but share the same DNA consisting of devotion, discipleship and mission.

When

Taster event Saturday 18 March 2023 at The Well Sheffield. Open to all those exploring church planting: come as an individual or with a team. Meet the course hosts and see if this is suitable for you.

Visit here to register your interest (no obligation): https://shorturl.at/biTV3

Are you, or people you lead, interested in church planting? Looking for inspiration and support to begin a new micro-church in your particular context? Sheffield’s collaborative church planting Hub launches Summer 2023.

A Myriad Church Planters for Sheffield

Re-imagining City Mission Church

Whirlow Spirituality Centre