Editorialising: RICE en:trust

There hasn't been much up in the circles I blog in discussing and assessing RICE's new en:trust church planting organisation. So I thought I'd weigh in with a couple of thoughts as someone who doesn't know the ins and outs. Please feel free to add your thoughts and to correct me if I'm wrong:

  1. It's exciting and encouraging to see new things get started. We have been blessed by Steve Chong's ability to gather, inspire, mobilise and network. He has managed to Chong together a great package here.
  2. It seems to be very focused on coaching from overseas celebrities and with the exception of Steve Timmis, they're all Americans (I think). I don't know if that is ideal, to have a coaching framework built around people who don't live and minister here in Australia.
  3. Like everything with RICE, there is the potential danger for some people to get involved because of the razzamatazz rather than the gospel.
  4. It seems fitting for some leading figures in Sydney church planting to be an ABC, rather than a white guy.
  5. RICE will benefit from ongoing meaningful, vulnerable investment in relationships with Australians outside of their network (not saying that they aren't already - just that it's the risk of any movement to become self-contained).
  6. They've gotten this up and running so quickly - props to the the RICE work ethic! It's a joy to see a group who are able to pull together an impressive program so quickly and get on with getting church planting actually happening. When exactly does Steve sleep - in the year of Jubilee?
Please share your thoughts, but understand that I am writing as a personal friend of Steve and RICE, so I am not inviting or condoning a tall poppy harvest.