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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Like everything with RICE, there is the potential danger for some people to get involved because of the razzamatazz rather than the gospel.
- It seems fitting for some leading figures in Sydney church planting to be an ABC, rather than a white guy.
- 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).
- 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?
9 comments:
As I said in the post, I don't know all the ins and outs of en:trust.
Have just been informed that they'd always planned to have local leaders involved in the coaching alongside the O.S. leaders.
Hey mikey - thanks for the correction. yeah - the en:trust thing is really getting very very exciting! We've had two meetings now with the en:trust guys and we can't wait for the local input to happen - stay tuned! What we plan to do is going to be incredible - we are bringing the best that our aussie church planters have to offer in coaching and putting that alongside the best that overseas has to offer and picking the best from both worlds. Hopefully the learning from the overseas guys seen through the lens of the local guys will make the most robust church planting coaching available to the boys as they get to pick and choose what works for them from the plethora of advice given. What is exciting is that there are already key players in denominations wanting to help these en:trust guys get their church plants off the ground (with some backing) plus getting emails from many people wanting to join their core teams when they are ready to fire. Please pray for them and watch closely!
And Mikey... for the record... I slept in to 11am this morning!! and it wasn't even the year of jubilee. ;) thanks for your friendship - love ya bro.
Great mix Steve, good on ya mate. Know that I'm very prayerful and supportive of you all.
Hi Mikey,
I think you're spot on, both with the strengths and potential dangers of en:trust. I'm also sure your correct about Chong's plans to sleep sometime in 2050.
Having said that, I'm confident the dangers are being addressed. Like you said in your comment, there is tha plan to have local input.
Also, the internationals are aware of their limitations. Dever's second comment at the first training night was something like "We are your trainers, not yo' momma. Your local church is yo' momma."
You've also noted that Chandler is keen to push us to not copy international churches. I suspect all of the international talent will say something similar.
I was pumped to meet 29 other guys who were planting or planning to plant. Even when we're gathered to hear from an international, there are national relationships being formed just in that. I'm also keen to see en:trust make meaningful, vulnerable relationships with other Aussies for support, encouragement and training.
Thanks for your post, mate.
I just refreshed the page to see Chong's comment... I should have just typed "What he said."
Except did you notice that dude is so busy he doesn't have time to put in paragraph breaks? ;)
Hi Mikey
Thanks for the feedback regarding your thoughts on en:trust. I thought I’d respond as the RICE en:trust director, and I’m really thankful for your thoughts and feedback which will continue to help us shape and develop our ministry arm as we go along - we're not an organization :-).
En:trust is still developing and taking shape, and we’re at the coaching stage which will differ from actually applying to be an en:trust church planter who plants an en:trust partnered church plant backed by the RICE movement (that is Reformed, complementarian, led by elders in its ecclesiology and missional) – the application would at that stage be much more rigorous. As such what people need to understand is that we’re starting from the ground up at the grass roots level finding and investing in the best we can find, introducing them to local and overseas coaches, theologians, church planters and missiologist who can prepare them. So we’re looking to find the very best guys who love Jesus, who have a passion for the gospel and God’s glory, and a burning desire to see church planting churches in our city and beyond. Whether they go on to apply to be en:trust church planters who plant en:trust partnered churches backed by the RICE movement is something that they can consider later (or they might even choose to do this with others). En:trust is working to build a church planting network from the ground up rather than starting with an umbrella organization that people apply and join.
Part 2 of my response is in the next comment as your comment section is limited to 4,096 characters :-)
Eugene Hor
RICE en:trust director
Hi Mikey
Part 2 of my comments/response ...
Here’s my response to your thoughts which I hope will better clarify for you and for others. In response to”
2. The video coaching has an extensive list of overseas coaches who have given us their generous support in wanting to see young men coached for the glory of Jesus and his gospel in our city. What people are not aware of is the extensive list of local coaches we have that will be speaking into the lives of the young men we have accepted to be part of the en:trust church planters coaching group in 2010. This is going to be released at the first en:trust coaching meeting this coming October, and will surprise some people as the many ‘local’ coaches we have (from Sydney and interstate) will bring a wider missiological experience in reaching the diverse people groups in our city. Sydney is not a homogenous city as many people think, and when people have spoken to me about local Australian coaches, most of them have only had one perspective of what a local ‘Australian’ church planting/planter coach would look like.
3. There is always the potential for some people to be involved because of the excitement or ‘razzamatazz’ rather than the gospel. The same is true of Acts 29, Geneva or any church planting movement or group that will emerge in our city, or any new church plant for that matter. This is precisely why there will always need to be a rigorous application process for any group looking to raise and equip church planters. A potential danger is something all of us need to be aware of, but should never limit what we do.
5. I think the same could be said of Australians outside of the RICE Network. As an Australian Sydney evangelical who has been raised and been part of and a beneficiary of the evangelical movement in our city, I have to admit that we have ourselves as Sydney evangelicals been a pretty self-contained group in our relationships with others in our city. So I would say that just as RICE can benefit from ongoing meaningful, vulnerable investment in relationships with Australians outside of their network, we could also say that Australians outside of their network can benefit from ongoing meaningful, vulnerable investment in relationships with RICE. I think that en:trust is doing precisely that as many of the young men whom we’ve accepted for coaching that we want to help, encourage, coach for the work church planting in our city and beyond have not come from within the RICE movement, and might not even end up as en:trust church planters. While we hope to raise en:trust church planters who will go on to plant en:trust partnered church planting churches, we believe in generously supporting the wider work of the kingdom in our city and beyond.
Thanks for that bro - always welcome your thoughts as we try to work out how to best serve Jesus and his ministry and mission in our generation and for the generations to come. Pray for us and the young men we'll be working with.
Eugene Hor
RICE en:trust director
Eugene - thanks for taking the time to write some detailed comments! Everything you write sounds great.
A potential danger is something all of us need to be aware of, but should never limit what we do.
Agreed.
[We] Sydney evangelicals been a pretty self-contained group in our relationships with others.... Just as RICE can benefit from ongoing meaningful, vulnerable investment in relationships with Australians outside of their network, we could also say that Australians outside of their network can benefit from ongoing meaningful, vulnerable investment in relationships with RICE.
Well said! May it be so.
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