JANUARY OCPN GATHERING RECAP
Click through our slideshow & read the blog post below!
January 19th - Pastors and Planters Luncheon - The King's Church (Lakeland)
This time we went to Polk County and met in a beautiful building. We were glad that Pastor Ian Thomas welcomed us at The King's Church.
We received more than 50 Pastors and Planters from Orange, Lake, and Polk County. During lunch, we had Gabe Forsyth share the vision for the OCPN and how we want to see Central Florida saturated with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the whole reason why we meet every month.
Here is what one of the attendees said about the meeting:
"My first OCPN Church planters meetup felt like a breath of fresh air from my normal busy week. It was so encouraging to be able to have Christ preached to my soul by such a faithful, longtime Christ-follower. I also loved being able to meet and sit with fellow pastors and church planters. To be able to have a community of fellow ministry leaders surrounding me is an invaluable gift."
Matthew Armbruster – Pastoral Resident at Mosaic
In the beginning, we had a short word from the Mayor of Lakeland, Mr. Bill Mutz shared how happy he was to see many pastors with a heart for church planting. He encouraged the pastors to fight for this cause because the fruits are eternal. Once he encouraged us, we prayed for the cities involved in church planting in the room.
One of our high moments of the day was having Dr. Tony Merida with us. He is the Executive Vice President of Acts 29. (acts29.com) which is a great partner and model for us of what church planting looks like nationally and globally. We are honored to partner with them for the Gospel.
Tony shared a brief overview of his book: The Faithful Church Planter – Eleven Essential Competencies for the work. Here's where you can get the book:
He worked on the eleven competencies of a church planter from his book in three main topics: Personal (5), Ministerial (5), and Interpersonal (1).
The primary competencies are related to character. He said, "We minister best and longest out of a healthy soul." That is why we need Romans 12:2 "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." We need to recognize that apart from Christ, we can't do anything. The first business of my day is to get my heart happy in the Lord, and if you're not healthy, your unhealthiness will hinder you from helping other people. He mentioned all of that when speaking of Spiritual Vitality, Healthy Marriage.
"I was encouraged to hear the emphasis on the heart and character of the planter. Too often, character is overlooked for competency… While competency should never be overlooked. We are admonished in Scripture to live a certain type of way concerning God. Pastor Tony made this a non-negotiable in the life of the church planter because it is non-negotiable according to the Word of Truth. A minister's conduct must reflect the truth of the Gospel."
Ryan Walker – Pastor at Crosspointe Downtown Orlando
When we talked about Ministerial Characteristics, we emphasized theological clarity; we are all theological driven and must never export a false Gospel. There is an excellent need for Faithful disciple-making people. These people believe that the pulpit is not the only place to teach and make disciples. We need to be able to teach, which means that we are biblical, situational, and devotional.
One of the last points Tony brought us was: Do you like people? Do they like you? People will watch how you treat the kids of the church, greet people, check in on people, and connect to different people. We were called to plant churches but never forget that we are their pastors.
We hope to see you there next time we meet to work together to saturate Orlando with the Gospel.
Blessings,