CHURCH PLANTING LEADERSHIP TEAM

SUMMARY OF WORK

1. Produced EPC Church Planting 101, in introductory resource for EPC churches that aspire to become a multiplying congregation

2. Held the Fall Church Planting Retreat with over 80 attendees at Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs

3. Recruiting and placing church planting regional directors around the country. 1. Elizabeth Gibson, Atlantic Seaboard, 2. Marc De Jue, Northeast 3. Richard Rieves, South 4. Hunter Bailey, Heartland, 5. Shawn Robinson, Pacific Southwest

4. Our Regional Directors established regional cohorts and planting seminars along with 1 v 1 coaching for church planters.

5.  Reviewed and updated the church planting assessment center. EPC now has its own assessment for church planting and will no longer subcontract this work. Three assessments per year beginning in 2025. Spring, Summer & Fall: Locations East, Central and West

6. Held two leadership planning meetings, one in August, in Orlando, and one in February in Central California

7.  Launched new church plants in the East and Midwest.

8. Completed a search for a new location for the annual church planting retreat. Green Lake Conference Center in Wisconsin is an excellent location that will save us over 30% in costs.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

The Church Planting Team has no recommendations for the 44th General Assembly.

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WORK OF THE COMMITTEE

Our team is committed to doing our part in the work of our four gospel initiatives. Our entire focus is helping local churches plant new congregations. We provide the knowledge, coaching, and understanding to bring planters and local congregations together to parent and partner in church planting. If you are willing, we can help you learn all you need to know to grow through church planting. Our regional directors focus solely on their region usually made up of 2-4 presbyteries. Bringing this expertise to bear locally will be a huge part of successful EPC church planting as we move forward. These folks are here to help presbyteries and local congregations plant new churches. An entire portion of our fall retreat is dedicated to this model. With strong leadership this close to local church planting work, we have an excellent opportunity to thrive in church planting. Finally, we continue to grow in our hope to be a church-planting denomination that is rich in diversity. We are planting in ethnically mixed communities and neighborhoods that are populated by ethnic minorities. Underserved and under-resourced communities are included in our church planting vision. God is bringing us a more diverse church-planting community, than ever before, in the EPC. We have a long way to go, but our growth and learning in multi-ethnic and mono-ethnic minority church planting is beginning to take root and grow.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

There are roughly 50 active EPC church plants from coast to coast. We continue to grow relationships with seminaries and college ministries to grow our church planter pipeline. Revamping our approach to church planting assessment will allow us to offer a better and more timely service going forward. A good deal of solid groundwork has been laid and in the process, many new churches have been planted over the last 6-10 years. We prayerfully expect our church planting footprint to grow significantly, provided the EPC continues church multiplication through Church Planting and all the gospel initiatives.

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RECOMMENDATIONS (DETAILED)

The Church Planting Leadership Team has no recommendations for the 44th General Assembly.

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COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Jack Cathey (Chairman)
RE, Presbytery of the Central Carolinas

Jim Holland
TE, Presbytery of the Central South

Richard Rieves
TE, Presbytery of the Central South

Shawn Robinson 
TE, Presbytery of the Pacific Southwest

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MEETING DATES

August 1-3, 2023: Office of the General Assembly (Orlando, Florida)
October 17-19, 2023: Fall Church Planting Retreat (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
February 3-5, 2024: Sonoma, California

Jack Cathey, Co-Chairman
June 2024

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