PlantR Breakfast with Phil Miglioratti – Tuesday August 17th, 9am at the Austin Baptist Association
Phil Miglioratti is being hosted for several events by the ABA, and they have graciously provided a time for planters to connect with him as well. Phil is a consultant of sorts who has spent the last ten years of his ministry working with churches and ministries around the country. He leads, coaches, teaches, preaches, facilitates, writes, blogs, networks and prays to help churches and ministries take hold of prayer. Primarily working through the National Pastors’ Prayer Network and Prayer INC, Phil is involved with many organizations who share his vision of connection people to God through corporate prayer.

Prayer is a topic that never dries up and we hope you’ll take advantage of this time with Phil. Please RSVP by Friday, August 13th to the ABA at 454-2558 or by email.

PlantR Lunch at Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood — Thursday, August 26 @ 11am
As a chance to reconnect after summer and get to know planters who are new to Austin, we are having lunch together at Salt Lick. The cost of the meal will be covered by the ABA, but we need to get a count so that Salt Lick can reserve a spot for us. RSVP by Monday, August 23 using the same contact info as above.

Salt Lick would like us all to arrive no later than 11am so they can seat us all together. If you would like to carpool to save gas and share more time together, meet at the ABA at 10am that morning.

Hope you are having a great summer of rest and re-creation. We’re looking forward to reconnecting with everyone as we gear up for fall.

Together for Adoption Conference
October 1-2

Together for Adoption Conference 2010 will be October 1-2, 2010, in Austin, Texas, hosted by The Austin Stone Community Church and Hill Country Bible Church (the conference venue), and in partnership with Hope for Orphans. Our conference theme is “The Gospel, the Church, and the Global Orphan Crisis.” Lord willing, the 2010 conference will be our largest and most helpful conference yet, with gospel-saturated general sessions, longer breakout sessions, and more time to network with other churches, organizations, and adoptive families. We’re intentionally structuring the conference around the gospel and community.
Learn More and Register

GCM Collective Conference 2010
October 28-38

The GCM Collective will be hosting their first GCM Conference in Austin, TX this October, bringing together church planters, pastors, and leaders to collaborate on the practice of missional communities. This three-day conference will feature main and breakout sessions under the theme of GOSPEL, COMMUNITY and MISSION.

You will get to hear from, meet and interact with leaders who are daily practitioners, living in gospel communities on mission in their cities. This is a unique experience that will present the why, what and how-to of starting, leading and multiplying missional communities. Interactive plenary sessions, breakouts and unique training experiences will fill our days both on-site and off.

Big church, small church, multi-site or neighborhood this event is for every church that seeks to effectively expand the gospel in their context.

Learn More and Register

presented by
The Hill Country Institute for Contemporary Christianity
and
Reasons to Believe

Featuring
Dan Heinze, Geophysicist

When: Saturday, June 19, Breakfast Tacos at 9:45 AM and Meeting begins at 10 AM.

Where: Hill Country Bible Church Northwest, 12124 RR 620 North, Austin, TX 78750, Room 4.114

What: A presentation on the methodology and limits of science, leading to a fuller understating of the complementary nature of faith and science. The “Two Books” metaphor has long been a way to express the dual nature of God’s revelation, in scripture and in nature, and this presentation will be helpful for the non-scientist to learn more about the methods and limitations of science in the quest for knowledge.

Who: Dan Heinze is a geophysicist who has been active in the technical evaluation of oil and gas prospects for many years. Dan earned an M.S. from MIT in 1973 and a Ph.D. in geophysics from Texas A&M in 1977. During postdoctoral studies on earthquake prediction at Carnegie Institute of Washington, D.C., in 1978, he and his wife, Judith, started Applied Geophysical Software, Inc. (AGS). Dan was the founder and first CEO of AGS and carried out several other missions over its history including watering the plants and washing the dishes; he exited in 2007 upon its sale to PGS. Subsequently, he and Judith have enjoyed a mix of serving their family, pursuing science, taking a few vacations, and now working to put on the Vibrant Dance series of symposia on the Christian faith and science.

For more information, visit the event page on the Hill Country Institute website.

We began by reviewing some of the key data that came out of the demographic study commissioned by ABBA. There was a general consensus that most of us weren’t surprised by the data. While many in Austin might name themselves Christian by religion, that isn’t consistent with a much smaller number who would say they have faith in Jesus. And a few of the anecdotal examples that were shared line up with that.

One metaphor that Ed Stetzer shared in the presentation the data rings true. Austin, as a whole, has just enough exposure to the Christian message to be inoculated. Many have experienced church first or second hand — just enough to feel that they understand what Christianity is. But those understandings, more often than not, fall short of a holistic gospel and the giving of one’s self to be a disciple entering into a life more abundant.

As PlantR seeks to be a church planting movement, there is, of course, a desire to help see more and more church planted in and around Austin. But another emphasis emerged as well yesterday. How do we do all that we can to help the churches that are already going survive and thrive? How can we partner with each other and established churches and organizations to this effect?

As we brainstormed those questions, these were the thoughts about how we can partner with each other to help existing churches build a sustained movement:

• Be a truly collaborative network of planters
• Encouragement for each other
• Helping to equip each other and other leaders
• Constructive criticism of our models and character
• Being financially wise
• Train missionaries to Austin
• Coaching
• Share and identify with more stories of local planters
• Identifying and strengthening our theological calling
• Soul care for planters

Let’s carry this discussion on in the comments. How have you seen the above list working itself out already? How, as a network of co-laborers, can we develop and provide these things to each other?

• What does it look like for the church to engage the arts in a city
  known for creativity, artistry, and originality?
• What does it look like to be both a Christian and an artist in a city
  that celebrates the artist, yet views the Christian as narrow minded,
  uneducated, and unoriginal?
• In Austin how can the Church really engage artists, and can a
  Christian artist be relevant and on mission?

THE PANELISTS

NATE NAVARRO – Nate is the founder and co-director of Austin non-profit Music for The City, a movement of artists and Austinites bringing together music and charity to aid the poor, sick, and the helpless. He also serves as City Group Director at Austin City Life.
musicforthecity.org
twitter @natenavarro

STEVEN BUSH- Steven is a photographer and musician based in Austin, Texas who has a heart to see justice and hope brought into this broken world. He specializes in Music, Portrait, Documentary, and Travel photography. His work has been used to brand bands and musicians as well as to bring awareness to the work of non-profit organizations.
stevenbush.org
twitter @stevenbush

JJ PLASENCIO- JJ Plasencio is the Dove Award Winning, Grammy nominated bassist for the the groups Sixpence None the Richer and Plumb. He is the founding engineer and producer at Hot Pepper Studios where he produces national and local acts. He was the founding music director for Gateway Church for eleven years and now serves and the worship pastor at Fellowship Bible in Cedar Park. He is married and has two kids.
twitter http://www.plantr.org/?p=535 From Zac Allen:

I met Pastor Charles Buregeya in January when I went on a Vision Trip to Rwanda. Charles pastors a church as well as leads an NGO called Africa New Life Ministries consisting of Orphan Care, Church Planting, and Theological Training. Charles is one of those rare visionary leaders who is playing an integral role laying gospel foundations in a rebuilding country. Charles will be in town this coming week (preaching @ our church this Sunday) and I hope you can clear 12-130 this Monday and worship to hear about the gospel in Rwanda.

Monday, April 12, 12-130 PM @ Austin Bible offices

Lunch is provided. You are welcome to bring other staff or key leaders. We just need a head count for food.

Please leave a comment below to RSVP.

]]> http://www.plantr.org/learn-from-rwandan-pastor-charles-buregeya-this-monday/feed/ 1 http://www.plantr.org/a-muslim-world-connection/ http://www.plantr.org/a-muslim-world-connection/#comments Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:42:37 +0000 admin http://www.plantr.org/?p=530 Do you work in, have skills in, or interested in serving in the fields of…

Healthcare?
Business?
Sports?
Education?
College Ministry?
Orphan care?

At this Austin Stone 100 People Network Event: A Muslim World Connection, you will hear stories of how God uses people in these fields of work to impact Muslim peoples for Christ! You will have the incredible opportunity to connect with ministries to specific Muslim people groups from all over the world that need people in these fields of work to join them!

You will also hear from Carl Medearis, an international expert in Muslim-Christian relations and author of Muslims, Christians, and Jesus as well as Tea With Hezbollah (with Ted Dekker). Carl has had an incredible ministry in the realm of politics and development among Muslims. He will speak on what God is doing in the Muslim world.

REGISTER HERE.

Dates: Friday, Apr 30: 6:30 PM – 9:30PM
Saturday, May 1: 8:00AM- 5:00 PM

Location: Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church (Google Map Directions)

Registration Cost: $30 per person

WHO SHOULD COME?

You should come to this event if you fit any of the following descriptions:

• You feel God may be calling you (and your family) to GO to the nations to serve
• You feel God may be calling you to increase your role as a SENDER of others to the nations.
• You are looking for opportunities to GET PLUGGED IN with God’s work in the Muslim world
• You have SKILLS (e.g., in sports, business, education, etc.) that you want to use for God’s glory, but you are not yet sure how to go about that
• You are interested in LEARNING MORE about the Muslim world.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS EVENT?

We are aiming for 2 specific objectives for this event:

• For every participant to learn about the Muslim world, specifically at least one unengaged Muslim people group.
• To provide every participant a relevant opportunity to connect either as a GOER or SENDER with a ministry that is working in the Muslim world.

SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS

Detailed overview of what God is doing in the Muslim world.
3 presentations by Carl Medearis, an international expert in Muslim-Christian relations and author of Muslims, Christians, and Jesus as well as Tea With Hezbollah (with Ted Dekker)
Extensive time to connect with ministries working in the Muslim world. These include ministries working in orphan care, education, sports, business, and healthcare!

REGISTER HERE!

]]> http://www.plantr.org/a-muslim-world-connection/feed/ 0 http://www.plantr.org/march-plantr-meeting-talkback/ http://www.plantr.org/march-plantr-meeting-talkback/#comments Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:17:24 +0000 admin http://www.plantr.org/?p=521 Our March meeting will feature a new format this coming Thursday, March 25 at 10am. As usual, we will be hosted by the Austin Baptist Association (3811 Harmon Ave, Austin).

Because so many of us value the learning that comes through our conversations and relationships with each other, we are going to carry that learning into our meeting time. We will have a facilitated talkback time with each other, focusing on two main points of conversation:

• Best Practices in Church Planting in Austin
• Hard Challenges in Church Planting in Austin

Our hope is not only to learn from each other, but to form new levels of connection as we identify others working through, or who have worked through, some of the issues we are each facing. Please come ready to engage in the conversation, ready not only to learn, but to offer your own experiences too.

]]> http://www.plantr.org/march-plantr-meeting-talkback/feed/ 0 http://www.plantr.org/greenhouse-intensive-training-a-few-spots-remain/ http://www.plantr.org/greenhouse-intensive-training-a-few-spots-remain/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:55:41 +0000 admin http://www.plantr.org/?p=518 Neil Cole and CMAResources will be in Austin this Friday and Saturday for the Greenhouse Intensive Training: Story One. Visit the CMAResources happenings page for specific details and registration links.

The “FIRST Story” is a 3-day intensive that focuses on missional living resulting in new “organic” churches. An initial “download” if you please, of the philosophy and concepts of organic church planting.

ORGANIC Church Planters GREENHOUSE- The First Story: Starting organic churches that reproduce

The sessions in the FIRST STORY Training will be:

Session 1: Foundations for Organic Church Planting
Session 2: Cultivating the Soil of People’s Hearts
Session 3: Sowing the Kingdom Seed
Session 4: Growing the Life of the Kingdom
Session 5: Organic Church Planting Q&A–Go & DO it

]]> http://www.plantr.org/greenhouse-intensive-training-a-few-spots-remain/feed/ 0