What's The Link? Looking at Hannaford Sponsorship and ARC

We still have a few more considerations before we can move forward with ARC. First, ARC requires us to secure a "sponsor" church to come alongside us. We've asked Hannaford to be our "sponsor" church through ARC. In this case, a sponsor church is expected to believe in our vision enough to vouch for us both spiritually AND financially.

The sponsor church must really be sensitive to where God is moving and trust that He will complete what He begins. Although ARC will match all the funds we raise dollar-for-dollar (up to $30,000), if the church plant fails,the "sponsor" church will commit to repay the funds that have been provided through ARC. Even if the church plant is successful, these fund must be reimbursed from the new ministry.

With that said, we submitted a proposal to Hannaford in September - and then I had an opportunity in early November to meet once with the elders to explain our passion and how Hannaford can be a part of reaching this un-reached group. Their response was cautious, but we are still waiting to hear more.

Hananford is a great church home for many, but like many churches in Helena it has been largely ineffective at reaching the unchurched and dechurched of this generation. For Hannaford itself to be effective in reaching this generation, there is a good chance it would need to abandon it's core. A specific, targeted approach is required to reach this generation and it would be difficult and possibly unwise for Hannaford to make the required changes.

This is why I have asked Hananford's leadership to partner with us so that we can work together to expand God's kingdom in this way. We are currently preparing a list of specific ways Hannaford can help launch this new ministry of Encounter and are praying they will see the benefit of sponsoring us through ARC.

Even More About ARC

Some other great benefits of partnering with ARC is the networking they can facilitate, both in forming relationships with mentors and other like-minded planters, but also networking for the physical resources we need such as sound systems, children's materials, administration tools, and more.

I mentioned before that ARC has above a 90% success rate in planting churches, where the average church plant survival rate is somewhere in the 60% range. They have now planted 75 churches around the country (see here), and these churches are dedicated to bringing the life-giving message of Jesus to the the unchurched and dechurched in an effective and relevant way.

Two great examples of ARC churches are Seacoast Church and Church of the Highlands who both made Outreach Magazine's Top 100 Fastest Growing Churches in America (see here). In style and approach, these are excellent examples of what Encounter strives to be for this generation in Helena.

What Happened with ARC...

Just wanted to recap the ARC Assessment we attended in Atlanta on December 1 & 2. It was an intense and wonderfully rewarding experience. You can read all about it our previous posts here.

WHAT HAPPENED
In short, we met about 11 other church planting couples from across the country and participated in a number of private interviews and group activities designed to assess our suitability for church planting. All the while, an impressive team of ARC Assessors watched and evaluated our every move. The pace was quick and intensive. The feedback, networking, friendships formed, and encouragement received was immeasurable.

HOW ARC HELPS
Our hope for the assessment was that ARC would agree to partner with us to help us during our path of church planting, and to also help us with funds. ARC can match the funds we raise for the launch of Encounter church dollar-for-dollar. That's awesome because it means that each dollar that someone gives toward our launch is effectively "doubled." In addition, ARC will make sure we meet our budget during our first year after launch as a new ARC church.

THE RESULTS
ARC notifies it's prospective church planting couples within 48 hours of the assessment. The result of the assessment is usually one of three responses:

• Recommended for ARC church planting
• Conditionally recommended for ARC church planting (pending experience, etc.)
• Not recommended for ARC church planting at this time

We got our call from ARC's Michael W. Smith (no relation to the artist) on December 4 and it was a big "yes." ARC recommended us for church planting and has agreed to partner with Encounter Church. It was awesome news!

THANK YOU
We want to send a great big thank you to all who have been praying for us and to those who helped us get through this ARC Assessment process in Atlanta. We never could have done it without your encouragements and without the funds and donations that came in. God has moved through you in a great way.

HELENA WILL BE CHANGED
This is just the beginning steps of a birthing process - a long process of seeing a new faith community in Helena with a specific vision to reach those who don't like, those who have been turned off, and those who just haven't connected with the more traditional approaches to church.

This is an opportunity to see those in this generation and more, go further in their relationship with Jesus. Whether it is exploring faith for the first time, or even if it mean recommitting to Jesus in a deeper way than ever before, we can know that Helena will be changed.

Just Got The Call...

Just got the call. It's official, ARC wants to partner with us to plant Encounter church here in Helena. God has great things in store!

ARC Assessment Reflections

We arrived back home today, met with the kids, and headed out to Hannaford to help with some tech aspects of the Christmas production there. In addition to that, a dear friend's battle with cancer is getting more intense - and so have our prayers for him. It seems like there hasn't been a moment to breath since we flew into Helena this afternoon.

As I sit here tonight, I can't help but look back over the last few days in Georgia at the ARC Assessment. What an amazing experience of growth and encouragement! In addition to the obvious purpose of pursuing ARC's help to partner with Encounter, we've come back with so much more.

WE'VE BEEN HUMBLED
We spent nearly two days with 11 other couples who are on a similar journey. They are each taking the biggest risk of their lives, giving their all, and seeking to follow God and His specific plan for them. Each couple is stepping out in faith to see significant growth in God's Kingdom in their specific community. One plant is a downtown, urban church. One is already holding a worship gathering in a bar. Another is seeing people of different classes and races truly know Jesus for the first time - all in a community wrought with racism.

After hearing these stories, I am humbled to know a God that can start such exciting and bold endeavors. I also know that He will continue to radically supply the strength and provision to help these faith communities grow so that Jesus will be made famous through them.

Finally, I just feel blessed to have met, struggled, and discussed our passions with each couple. All day long in different airports and at home, I have already been connecting with these new friends, encouraging them, and in return being encouraged by them.

WE'VE BEEN MENTORED
Another blessing we've come away with from the ARC Assessment is meeting the individuals of the assessment team itself. The team was comprised of pastors, planters, and ARC associates that were all there for one purpose - to see new life-giving churches come to life. We were blessed with words of wisdom, encouragement, and challenges all designed to make us more "successful" in fulfilling God's vision through Encounter.

WE'VE BEEN CHALLENGED
Finally, Andrea and I were challenged. In participating in the exercises and in our private discussions with the ARC counselors, we were able to identify some key growth areas we need to work on. We were inspired by the vision of the other couples and realize that we, too, need to be able to clearly communicate Encounter's vision. We have realized that Andrea and I make a great ministry team, and should not be ashamed of, nor shy away from that blessing. We were challenged to clearly define the "win." But most of all, we realized that what we've been saying is really actually true: relationship and growing faith are the key to pursuing God's dream.

FINAL REFLECTIONS
ARC is dedicated to seeing new life-giving churches planted. Every new church plant presented at the ARC Assessment was determined to reach the unchurched and the dechurched of this generation - which tells me several truths: 1) those are the types of dynamic and relevant churches that ARC plants, and 2) that is what is missing in many of our cities and towns across America.

I thank God for challenging Andrea and I with this vision, but now we also pray for others to come along side us and become a part of what God is doing in Helena. There is much to be done, there are many needed, and there will be funds required. Please pray whether God is calling you to this vision as well...and if so tell us.

ARC Assessment Day 2

Day two of the ARC assessment was intense, challenging, encouraging, and insightful. One thing I can say...we are exhausted!

THE ASSESSMENT
The day began early with a devotional by pastor Chuck Angel, who hosted most of the day's activities. Angel encouraged us church planters to be as skilled in encouraging and building our relationships as we are in building a church, vision, and structure. Focusing only on the latter can be lonely. And we are most vulnerable when we are lonely.

Throughout the day then, we participated in mostly group simulations and exercises in which each individual planter's character qualities and job tasks were being observed by the ARC Assessment Team.

One exercise was an analysis of a church planting scenario. A potential scenario was presented and the attending church planters were divided into groups to determine the positives and negatives, as well as the pros and cons of the situation.

Another challenge was to create a comprehensive church plant proposal in a short amount of time. Divided into groups again, we were to choose a city from a preselected list, research demographics, develop a vision, strategy, ministry approach, and financial needs. Each group was then required to make the proposal in front of the panel of 15 ARC Assessors who played the role of potential partners and investors.

Comprised of pastors, pastors' spouses, church planters, counselors, and marketplace leaders experienced with church planting and ARC churches, the assessment team uses a predetermined grid of standards by which to record and measure their observations.

Each church planting couple had one more private interview to discuss the passion, vision, and strategy of their church plant. And then finally, there was a special time in which the ARC assessors prayed over each of the church planters for encouragement and God's blessing.

As I said, the day's events were exhausting. Not so much because of the time, but because of the effort and concentration put forth for each of the activities and assessments.

WHAT NOW?
As hoped, Andrea and I were able to identify some of our unique strengths and also some weaknesses. The key now is to build upon our strengths and to intentionally complement our and/or improve our weaknesses.

We will now be looking for the panel to meet together to discuss, evaluate, and collate their observations and impressions from the two days and pre-assessment tests, and then to return one of three assessments:

• Recommended for ARC church planting.
• Conditionally recommended for ARC church planting
• or not recommended for ARC church planting at this time.

The Assessment Team was very clear that ARC's determination does not necessarily reflect God's calling for us to plant a church, but merely whether we are a "fit" for the ARC life-giving model and methodology of church planting.

GOD'S VISION
Andrea and I are assured of God's direction in planting Encounter here in Helena, whether ARC decides to officially partner with us or not. While we feel Encounter may be a good "fit" as a life-giving ARC church, ARC may not. And so that will move us on to our next step in securing the partnership that God has already prepared for this church plant.

Helena needs a faith community like Encounter - a faith community with a vision to engage this generation into a growing relationship with Jesus through an invest and invite culture, authentic small group opportunities, and excellent and irresistible worship gatherings.

ARC Assessment Day 1

Today was the first day of our ARC Assessment. Earlier in the afternoon, we participated in an individual couple interview answering personal questions about our marriage, life experiences, and ministry.

Later in the evening, we gathered with 12-14 other candidate couples. After an initial mixer and then dinner together, each couple was given ten minutes to share their story and vision for a church plant.

It was amazing to hear from the different couples and hear how God has led them down this path of church planting. There were some amazing stories. I wish I could share some right now, but I feel the need to keep some of the discussion confidential.

Each couple's sharing was also followed by an open Q&A time when ARC assessors asked direct questions regarding the couple's vision and life experiences. They had some very good and very difficult questions. Good stuff!

All I can say right now is wow! What an amazing group of people. It will be interesting to see how the day plays out tomorrow as we share more, break into groups, answer more interview assessment questions.

Until then, please keep praying for us!

We're Going to Atlanta!

PRE-ASSESSMENT TESTING
Andrea and I spent most of the day a few Sundays ago completing assessment tests. We prepared a spiritual gifts assessment, DISC and LEAD personality profiles, and some other things for the ARC church planter assessment on December 1-2. Then, we sent out the entire package via FedEx this week.

It was no suprise that my top spiritual gifts results included Worship Leading, Administration, and Leadership. But not all the tests were as straightforward. We're just praying for accurate results so that the assessors can help us correctly identify our weak areas. :-)

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We have been humbled by the response to our prayers for help getting to Atlanta. After we paid the initial Assessment fee, we had 5 different people/organizations step forward with enough combined help to cover all the expenses for the trip. We are so grateful to God, our prayer partners, and those who were able to help.

MORE ABOUT THE ARC ASSESSMENT
We thought you might want to know more about the ARC Assessment itself so that you would be better equipped to pray. Basically, ARC will be assessing us in three areas:

1. The strength and alignment of our marriage. How they feel Andrea and I will stand up against the challenges and struggles as church planters.
   
2. Our possible strengths as church planters. How do our strengths and weaknesses line up with what they have found to be successful church planting situations.
   
3. Our "fit" with ARC's vision as an organization. Are we the type of church planters they want to partner with? Is our vision a "fit"?

The ARC assessment is specifically focused on determining planters that ARC will provide financial help with start up funds and post-launch needs. At the Assessment in Atlanta, there will be those who are recommended and those who are not.

In their assessment invitation, ARC was clear in their intention to help church planters whether or not they invest financially. They wrote...

"Whether or not you are recommended to be an ARC sponsored church plant is not a conclusion about whether or not you are called. Nor does it diminish our desire to work and fellowship together."

GOD IS OPENING DOORS
Finally, we have seen the Lord opening new doors of opportunity as it comes to support, partners, and sponsorships. While I do not quite feel at liberty to go into detail yet, please be praying for His continued blessing as we seek to launch this new ministry in Helena to bring more people into His kingdom.

Exciting News! ARC Assessment

We recently received some encouraging and exciting news ... ARC has invited us to be assessed as church planters (read more about ARC here and here and here and here).

This is a great opportunity that could open matching funds for every dollar we raise for the Encounter church plant. It will also help Encounter meet our budget within the first year after our initial launch.

In addition, statistics show that while church plants only have a 68% chance of surviving through the fourth year, ARC church plants have over a 90% survival rate. That's one of the reasons we feel that partnering with ARC is a great opportunity to help get this church plant off the ground.

CAN YOU HELP?
When we first got the invitation, Andrea and were doubtful we would be able to gather the needed funds to travel to Atlanta, Georgia by December 1. But after making our need public, we've had several people step out to help - covering over half the cost of airfare.

While there is still more to raise, we are having faith that God will provide the rest of the funds before we go. Out of that faith, we have confirmed with ARC and will be completing the necessary pre-assessment applications and evaluations as soon as they arrive in the mail this weekend.

We know that things are difficult for many these days, so we are not asking for any one person to "sponsor" our entire assessment. But if we can gather another $400, we can fly to Atlanta and avoiding the hazardous driving in winter weather.

God's plan includes the efforts of more than one person, that is why we feel compelled to encourage each of you to get involved. So in addition to your prayers for God's work through Encounter, if you feel led to help sponsor our church planting assessment through ARC, please let us know as soon as possible.

Stay tuned. There is more to come...

Next Steps: An Update

Sometimes I feel that things are moving forwards much slower than I would like. The truth is, that God is truly in control. I've been keeping this in mind as I've been examining our next steps with Encounter. Here's where we are and what I'm working on...

PARTNERSHIPS
Pursuing a partnership with ARC (see here and here and here) will first require an established church to sponsor us. I just blogged about a potential partnership with our current church. A lot of our next steps depend on how our church-sponsorship proposal is received. Different responses will mean different next steps. For now, we're just kind of waiting. Once we know where we stand we can step up an intentional effort of sharing more about Encounter and developing a Church Planting Team. I'm actually really excited about being able to share this passion on our hearts!

LEGAL STEPS
I've been looking into the legal actions we need to take to officially establish Encounter as a church in Helena. This will eventually be required for gifts to Encounter to be tax-deductible. We've been reviewing different samples of church constitutions, bylaws, and considering trustees. Church planters friends of mine have encouraged us not to rush into any of those, so I was relieved to find that, unlike other states, Montana does not require them incorporation of a religious non-profit.

PLANNING
Since we've already outlined our mission, strategy, and ministry approach in the prospectus, another step I'm working on involves developing a full launch plan, schedule, and budget. I already have an extensive to-do list for Encounter stuff, but a comprehensive launch plan will keep things moving in the right direction and on track.

ARC Church Planting Roundtable Update

Thought I would let you know how the ARC Church Planters Roundtable went last week. Here are some reflections...

• Colorado Springs is beautiful, even in the rain.
• New Life Church is pretty awesome - great place for the roundtable.
• Met Ross Parsley and Brady Boyd, New Life's new senior pastor. Boyd will be a great spiritual leader for the New Life family.
• Met about 50 people who have a true passion for church planting.
• Billy Hornsby introduced ARC as an organization dedicated to planting churches that look like Jesus - churches through which people can "encounter Jesus." No joke! Billy used the word "encounter" a number of times. Churches need to reflect the personality and attributes of Jesus - Did Billy read our Encounter Prospectus??!!!
• I really resonate with ARC's passion - to plant life-giving churches.
• Billy shared eight characteristics of life-giving churches:

1. Empowering Leadership - Leadership empowers believers to follow God's plan.
2. Gift-Oriented Ministry - Help believers identify and integrate their gifts.
3. Passionate Spirituality - Faith lived out with commitment, fire, and enthusiasm.
4. Functional Structures - Structures must help fulfill the purpose of the church. Cut the fluff.
5. Inspiring Worship - Excellent worship that inspires people.
6. Holistic Small Groups - Encourage groups where people can find intimate community, practical help, and intensive spiritual interaction.
7. Need-oriented Evangelism - Address the questions and concerns of non-Christians.
8. Loving Relationships - Form strong and genuine trust relationships.

I feel challenged by our next steps with ARC. A lot more was shared at the roundtable, including all the different ways they help and come alongside church planters. If you want to know more, just contact us and we'll talk. But here are the basic facts:

1. To continue, we must submit an application - if approved, we must attend a church planter assessment in Atlanta, Georgia. The cost of the assessment is small, but the travel expenses will be difficult. I estimate it will cost nearly $2,100 to travel and stay there for the assessment. Of course, it could be cheaper if we could stay with someone, find some transportation there, or receive a donation of frequent flier miles.
2. We must also secure a "sponsor" church to come alongside us. This sponsor church must believe in our vision enough to vouch for us financially. That means that although ARC will match all the funds we raise dollar-for-dollar (up to $30,000) - if the church plant falls through, the "sponsor" church will repay ARC for all funds provided.

We would like to pursue this partnership with ARC, but we're going to need some help. For now, we're praying for God's direction and working in this situation. If God is moving you to help with any of this, please let us know.

Steps Toward Partnership

Because of your help, we are going to Colorado Springs this week to attend the ARC Church Planters Roundtable (CPR) at New Life Church.

I mentioned the Association of Related Churches (ARC) before as one possible Encounter partner. ARC comes highly recommended by several people I've talked to recently as well as Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv (see his post here).

Just to let you know, ARC seeks to provide encouragement and coaching that includes close mentoring relationships and financial resources for new church planters. There are four components in everything they do - and those four components are what interested us in ARC.

1. They Believe in a Big Start – They want to help us build up to a big start. They coach planters how to build a team, raise funds, develop a worship team and children's ministry, and open our doors with excellence and momentum. If we can start strong, we have a greater chance of growing strong.
2. They are Focused on Reaching the Unchurched — They are focused on finding ways to cross the cultural wall and reach the lost. ARC is all about helping build churches that are culturally relevant with passionate worship, practical Bible-based teaching and dynamic family ministries.
3. They Build Friendships and Do Life Together — They believe friendships and relationships are critical for being successful in life and ministry. As ARC churches expand around the country, there is a group of people that can help us, coach us, and be there for us as we plant Encounter in Helena.
4. They Offer a Network of Practical Resources — ARC offers help on many levels including conferences & seminars, the ARC Intranet (resources for sermon series ideas, outlines, PowerPoint and media), Bible training, internships, missions opportunities, and much more.

This week, we'll be learning more about ARC, and they will be learning more about us. If it is God's will, we may be joining with them to plant Encounter as a life-giving church community in Helena. Please pray for our travel and for the kids as they stay here in Helena.

Church Planting Partnerships

As we've recently reviewed the prospectus, we realized that we may have given the impression that Encounter has already secured a church planting partnership. So we've removed the prospectus from the website for now and we're revising it. UPDATE: The revised prospectus has been posted - check it out here: Encounter Prospectus (pdf).

While we are definitely planting Encounter here in Helena, we have not yet secured the partnerships we desire in this endeavor. Therefore, let's talk about why these partnerships are important and what options we're exploring.

WHY WE'RE PURSUING PARTNERSHIPS
There are a number of characteristics that are common in many successful and healthy new church plants. A few of these factors include:

• Launching with multiple staff members
  
• Launching with the church planters working full-time in ministry, and
  
• Launching with support from a sponsoring church, denomination, or church planting network.

These indicators alone convince us that Encounter needs to launch with the help of one or more sponsors. Here's what we're currently exploring...

PARTNERSHIPS WITH ESTABLISHED CHURCHES
We desperately need to connect with those of this generation and those who are far from God - there are no churches in Helena that are wholly effective at leading this population into a growing relationship with Jesus.

LifeChurch.tv pastor Craig Groeschel says “to reach people that nobody is reaching, you have to do things that nobody is doing.” Encounter’s goal in our style and strategy is to “do church differently” in order fill the gap that currently exists in Helena.

We want to partner with existing churches, local and beyond, to further the expansion of God’s Kingdom. In such a partnership, a local church can continue reaching the population that it is effective at reaching, while joining with Encounter to reach ALL of Helena. So we will be challenging existing churches to support us primarily through prayer, people, resources, and finances. For further information on how a church can sponsor Encounter, please contact us.

A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH NORTH POINT MINISTRIES
If you know our story, the idea behind Encounter first began with God's calling – and then with North Point Ministries as a catalyst to move forward. And while there have been discussions regarding Encounter as strategic partner of North Point Ministries, this partnership may or may not happen. Regardless, we have been influenced by their mission, strategy, values, and beliefs.

If a strategic partnership with North Point is established we would adopt a number of things from North Point, including the same environments, curriculum, logos, and teacher (Andy Stanley) – but we would remain a separate entity. Additionally, North Point would provide invaluable coaching and financial support. To find out more about how North Point strategically partners with new church plants, see northpointpartners.org.

ASSOCIATION OF RELATED CHURCHES (ARC)
The Association of Related Churches is a church planting network that brings together people and organizations with a passion for planting and growing life-giving churches. They oversee a larger membership of churches which partner with the ARC to financially and personally support the growth of new ARC church plants.

Since 2000, the ARC has planted 60 life-giving local churches in America in 26 states. Over 120 churches, and growing, have teamed up with the ARC to share resources, develop lifelong ministry relationships and help plant more churches.

ARC is all about planting life-giving churches that grow and reproduce, and then plant life-giving churches themselves. New or potential church planters get started by attending ARC’s Church Planters Roundtable (CPR) especially designed to address the concerns and needs of church planters.

ACTS 29 NETWORK
The Acts 29 Network is a peer-to-peer network seeking to influence and shape the church planting culture through both rock-solid theology and contextualizing the gospel. Network churches possess a very high view of scripture on the one hand, and a total commitment to engage contemporary culture with the gospel on the other hand, using every effective means of communication. It is their desire to plant 1,000 new churches in the next 20 years.

Like minded denominations, churches, and organizations that partner with Acts 29 provide various resources for church plants such as men, funding, facilities, planting team members, etc. Essentially, assessed and approved church planters are given access to the network community to make a connection and develop relationships with existing partners. Then local churches of the network distribute directly to the church planter that they decide to assist.

OUR MOST IMPORTANT PARTNERSHIPS
Encounter's most important partnerships will be with you – the individuals who will join with us as planting team members, prayer partners, and financial partners. And while sponsor churches and church planting networks will help Encounter with essential prayer, coaching, resources, and funds - you will BE Encounter.

It will be individuals like you who are investing in peoples lives and inviting them to our entry environments. It will be individuals like you who are strategically serving in one or more environments to see others pursuing growing relationships with Jesus. It will be people like you who will make up the LifeGroups where we will "do life together" and experience life change.

These are the "early moments" of a movement within Helena to lead a generation into a growing relationship with Christ. If you haven't already thought seriously about it, we challenge you to consider being one of our most important partners. You can partner with us in prayer, you can partner with us financially, or you can partner with us as a planting team member of Encounter. If you feel that God is calling you to any of these, please let us know by contacting us now.