ARE YOU INTERESTED IN CHURCH PLANTING?
Church planting is “joining in God’s mission to plant and multiply disciple-making churches in every context.”(Asbury Center for Church Multiplication*)
The ACNA West seeks to resource a church planting movement in seven dioceses across the western Anglican Church in North America, through partnership, collaboration, and mutual relationship. Church planting is a necessity across our dioceses to fulfill the Great Commission. While we desire to thoroughly assess, equip, train, and support church planters, church planting is a call of all God’s people. It is not a separate ministry of the wider church, nor is it only a work for specialized professionals.
ACNA West is currently working in two specific areas:
Assessment:
​The purpose of assessment is to affirm the potential vocational call to plant a new church. This discernment is best done in person at a retreat with the assessors, the resident, and their spouse if married. During the discernment retreat, between year one and year two of residency, the resident or couple is assessed for a call to gather, disciple, form, and deploy new and maturing Christians in a geographical context to which the Lord is calling them. The discernment retreat will be a corporate and individual time to mutually discern the four values of a church planter – gather, disciple, form, deploy. The goal at the end of the retreat is to provide for the resident or couple a clear recommendation of their vocational call.
Residency
After initial assessment and acceptance into an ACNA West residency, the resident will be trained in the art of church planting in the context of a local church. The local parish will train the resident in matters of ministerial and church planting formation, in partnership with the diocesan church planting team.