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Two Lessons From Munger Church Planting Camp

On Friday evening, June 25, and Saturday, June 26, 90 people attended our Munger Place Church Planting Camp. Our presenters were Jim Griffith and Don Smith, who, between them, have coached and consulted hundreds of new church starts. I was really pleased at both the number and the enthusiasm of our participants. Weekends are precious, and for that many people to commit to giving up part of their weekend is encouraging.

Two points that Jim and Don made have stayed with me. The first was their emphasis on the importance of us being in the neighborhood, in spending time in our "mission field." If we are trying to reach people that currently don't have a church home--and we are--then we cannot assume that those people will come to us. Rather, we need to go to them. We've taken Jim's advice to heart, and last week, for example, we took lunch to the employees at the neighborhood grocery store as a way of introducing ourselves to them.

The second point that Jim and Don emphasized was that church planting is difficult, and that we should expect opposition: spiritual and institutional. What this means is that we need to be praying and fasting and asking the Lord to do a great thing at Munger. As we move closer to launching weekly worship, please pray for us.