Over the next few days, I'll be conducting some interviews with characters around the country involved in church planting; asking the hard-hitting questions and getting to the bottom of things. Think of it as Today Tonight, except for Christians ;-)
First up, we have Will Henderson from Brisbane:
Christian Reflections: Do you listen to any sermon podcasts? If so, who are you listening to at the moment?
Will: Andrew Heard – CCEC, Matt Chandler – The Village Church, Gateway Church…
CR: What have you been doing, what are you about to do?
Will: Just arrived back in Brisbane to plant a new church in the city, Engage City Church. Prior to that I spent a year working in U.S. learning all I could. Before that I undertook a four year church revitalization which was blessed to rejuvenate the existing church and plant a daughter, International Church.
CR: What will your relationship be to A29? To RICE? To GENEVA?
Will: I was affiliated as a Church Planter with Acts 29 in 2008. So much has happened since then in Australia! I would love to be in relationship with both RICE and GENEVA and serve in any way possible.
CR: You've been in ministry in Australia in the past, haven't you? What lessons have you learned reflecting on the past?
Will: Jesus. It is all about Jesus and following Him in His mission to seek and save the lost. The mission has been set and we need to be loving and firm as we lead and guide our people to follow Him and join in His work in our communities.
The big battle is to regularly take the time to step out of working in ministry and work on it by defining reality and making the necessary hard calls required to move ahead.
It is my job to gather, equip and resource the team. The buck stops with me.
Church planting is not the goal. Church planting is a by product of following Jesus and sharing Him with others.
CR: In general, churches grow much bigger and quicker in the US than in QLD. How do you think you'll find the adjustment?
Will: No worries mate, I've had a healthy dose of reality working as a leader in an Aussie ministry over the past ten years.
CR: What are three ministries or church plants in Australia that you think are worth watching?
Will: Easy - Acts 29 Australia, RICE and FIEC's Geneva initiative. All of them are gospel centered, Biblically solid evangelical networks desiring to see Aussies reached for Jesus.
