14550 Lee Rd, Chantilly, VA 20151

Newsletter — August 2016

School is Back in Session

Dale Spaulding, Director, Passion for Planting
Dale Spaulding
Director, Passion for Planting

I’d like to welcome Sean Cronin, our newest member of the Passion for Planting team. Sean comes to us from Buffalo, NY where he was an associate minister at Village Church. Sean holds a B.A. in Christian Ministry with a concentration in Church Planting from Ozark Christian College and an M.A. in Leadership Studies from Cincinnati Christian University. He has helped plant two churches: Renovation Church (2009) and Village Church (2011) both in Buffalo, NY. Sean has previously served on staff at New Life Christian Church in Chantilly, VA where he was on the teaching team and started/led Sphere, a young adult community.

Please join me in welcoming Sean to the Passion for Planting team where he’ll be serving as a Cohort Facilitator for our Church Planter Training Residency and as a Project Manager for new church plants.

We’re making our final push for the Exponential Regional here in Washington DC. We hope to see you there!

As always, we hope our Newsletter helps you on your journey to launch a healthy church! Contact us here if we help you on this journey.

–Dale Spaulding, Director

August 2016 – Contents

  • FREE Ministry Training Courses
  • Why Do We Plant Churches?
  • Gaining Momentum in the Midst of Turmoil
  • Recommended Book: Surprising Insights from the Unchurched
  • Expo Regional at New Life Christian Church

FREE Ministry Training Courses

At Passion for Planting we’ve been busy creating free ministry training courses that inspire and equip Christians leaders to serve the Lord’s church more effectively. We’ve broken the courses into three focuses:

  1. New Church Development (Church Planting Nuts and Bolts)
  2. Practical Ministry in the New Church
  3. Preaching and Teaching in the New Church
Sean Cronin, Passion for Planting

We know ministry is tough and is full of many questions, especially when you’ve had limited training. That’s why we’ve created these courses. We know they won’t be able to answer all your questions and prepare you for every challenging ministry scenario, but they answer some questions and get your ministry started on the right foot and in the right direction. 

The content of our courses derive from a plethora of ministry experts, who want you to learn from their experiences, success and failures. Whether you’ve been in ministry for 40 years or are thinking about entering in the future these courses will enhance your ministry toolbox and magnify your influence for the gospel.

Passion for Planting has teamed up with Exponential to offer these courses FREE of charge. Register for these online courses at: https://exponential.org/resources/school/

Why Do We Plant Churches? 

I encountered the truth and love of Jesus and it transformed my life. And since then, I have also seen the Gospel transform the lives of countless others. That alone, love for Jesus and for the lost people that He loves, so much that He gave His life for them, should compel us to go and plant churches wherever He sends us.

I care about church planting because my world was turned upside down by the Gospel. I encountered the truth and love of Jesus and it transformed my life. And since then, I have also seen the Gospel transform the lives of countless others.

Joel Pazmino
Joel Pazmino, DC Church Planter

I have been involved in several church plants throughout my life, and every time, I have seen the same thing happen, over and over again. People that don’t know Jesus hear about His love, and His sacrifice on the cross, and His triumph over death. And when they hear the message, something happens, they too are captivated by this love, and they repent of their sin and surrender their lives to Jesus, and they are raised to new life in Him. People that did not know Jesus, come to know Him, and it turns their lives upside down, it transforms them.
If you are a follower of Jesus, it is because the same Gospel that turned the world upside down 2,000 years ago is alive and well today. The founding disciples made disciples, who made disciples, who made disciples… And we, as disciples of Christ kept doing the same thing today.

Click here to read the entire post from Joel

Gaining Momentum in the Turmoil of Transition

Transitions can be awkward!

Much is written about the more awkward church transitions – going from one service to two, growing from a school gymnasium to your own building, starting up a new campus. And perhaps the most awkward transitions of all are those that take you from nothing to something – from no youth group to five kids in your youth group; from no children’s ministry to a children’s church comprised of a baby, three preschoolers and a third- and a fifth-grader.

Confidence is a byproduct of predictability-–Bobb Biehl

Shelley Leith, Director of Church Relations for Zondervan
  • How does a young church navigate those awkward nothing-to-something transitions?
  • How do you create momentum when you’re stalled?
  • How do you build confidence when you’re in the turmoil of transition?

In this article, I hope to encourage you to gain some valuable insights that I think will help you in the midst of turmoil.

Read the rest of the story here: Shelley’s Post

The Story and Believe Logo setup

Recommended Book: Surprising Insights from the Unchurched

by Thom S. Rainer

Have you ever wonder what goes through the mind of a guest when they visit your church?

  • Are they pleasantly surprised when they’re greeted at the door or does that expression of hospitality repulse them?
  • Does the worship band amuse them, confuse them, or make them think they’re trying way too hard to impersonate Mumford and Sons?
  • Are they interested in hearing how biblical truth challenges their priorities or are they just looking for an inspiring pop-culture pep talk to get them through their week?

If you’ve been a Christian your whole life you what you might think you know the answers to the questions, but you may be wrong. You know how you would answer these questions, but what if your answers were different from the answers of the unchurched masses your church desires to reach?

In Surprising Insights From The Unchurched, Rainer and his team of researchers, explore the thinking of people who wouldn’t consider themselves Christians and yet found themselves giving church a chance. Through interviews and surveys Rainer’s team has gathered helpful insight revealing what non-Christians think about their experiences at church. What piqued their interest? What drew them back for a second visit? What qualities do they admire in a pastor that overtime elicit their trust? These questions and more are answered in this book giving readers a sneak peek inside the thinking of the unchurched. Read it and consider how your church is positioning itself to reach the people God’s called you to reach.

Take some time and gain some valuable insights from this book!

Exponential Regional hosted by New Life Christian ChurchRegional in Washington DC Area

Register Here

It’s Not Too Late to Sign Up for Exponential Regional Washington D.C.!

You can still join hundreds of leaders for inspiration, encouragement and equipping at Exponential’s Washington DC Regional church planting conference in Chantilly, VA. Exponential Regionals are designed to make the main stage programming at our national events in Orlando and Los Angeles more accessible to church leaders in local geographic areas.

When you register, you can also receive FREE pre-conference programming. Pre-conference sessions are approximately 4 hours in length, before the main conference begins. These training sessions are practical nuts and bolts type content aimed at helping attendees put information into practice. Here are the pre-conference options:

New Life Christian Church and Passion for Planting are excited to host the Washington DC Exponential Regional here at our home church. Join us at the nZone in Chantilly, Virginia. Hope to see you here!