We are safely home and pretty exhausted, but the trip was well worth it! We packed a ton into the 4 days we were there. The last day really was an awesome surprise!
I had the opportunity to sit down with Sean Sears, a local pastor who planted about three years ago. Grace Church is one of the churches we visited on Sunday. This was a spur of the moment meeting, but it was awesome and, I believe, God ordained. We spent the afternoon together talking about the spiritual climate and need all around the area. We then drove to an area of 4 towns with a large population and absolutely NO presence of churches presenting the gospel!
He shared some great insights and I left there convinced that this was the connection I traveled to Boston to make. I look forward to seeing that relationship grow.
I want to recap several highlights and things we learned this week:
- Planting in Boston is an overwhelming challenge!
- It must be a calling…it cannot be a passion only!
- Boston is the most unlikely city in America you will encounter another believer!
- Many of the towns around Boston were chartered before the Declaration of Independence!
- There have been a lot of gifted individuals and organizations that have failed in their attempt to plant churches in Boston.
- God has given me an enormous vision for what can be accomplished in and around Boston.
- I believe this is the beginning of a church planting wave in New England.
God corrected – or at least made adjustments to my vision this week…I don’t believe God wants us to plant a church in Boston…I believe He wants us to plant 1000 churches in Boston! Too bold? Crazy? You’re probably right! And there is no way we can do it alone. It will take amazing men like Sean Sears and Hank Wilson. It will take the seasoned influence of men like Al Ridley. More than any of that…it will take the unrelenting power of the Holy Spirit!
I will share in a later post how I think God might move to accomplish this. Thanks for praying while we were gone!
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Chris
Can you send me your email address so I can contact you personally. I am a church planter in NC preparing to move to Boston to plant a church very much like you are interested in. I just happened “God thing” upon your blog. I have been preparing for this for 9 years now and I just left me church in NC to plant in Boston asap. Would love to talk with you personally. I will give you me phone number if you contact me back and maybe we can meet somewhere close. I have very close friend at Liberty now.
Scott
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:24 pm
fat finger on the “me” thing