Ed Stetzer kicked off Exponential 08 with a load of new research on church planting. The good news is that it's really good. The bad news is that he went through it at Mach 5 speed. But, his notes and presentation will be on his blog later today.
Stetzer then invited a panel on stage that included Bob Roberts, Randy Pope, Ron Sylvia, and Neil Cole. A few quotables:
B.R.::"North America has yet to see a church planting movement."
R.P.::"When you think Kingdom, you think 'What's the best way to reach our city,' not 'What do we need to do to make our church look better.'"
R.S.::"Our goal is to learn and return to the Kingdom."
N.C.::"Multiplication starts at the smallest level. If you can't multiply disciples, then you can't multiply leaders, churches, networks, etc."
"It's not about whether a chimney or a steeple is on the roof - it's about the relational vitality."
"It's a lot easier to bring the Kingdom of God to lost people...it's what Jesus did."
B.R.::"One of the greatest obstacles to church planting is great preaching. Great preaching can feed the idea that church is an event."
R.S.::"You are doing the greatest work being done on the planet. You are engaged in the X-Treme Sport of ministry."
"Link lives with other planters and leaders in your area. Do not go at church planting alone."
It's hard to blog a panel discussion...but, Stetzer is the master panel discussion leader. Great ideas and stories shared by these guys.
Take some really great notes man... I wish we could be there!
Posted by: Jeff J | April 22, 2008 at 03:46 PM