Please accept my apologies for a long period of silence on the site. It is not as though we have been idle, but we have been preoccupied with other, more pressing things. Many of you will be aware of the changes that have taken place in Acts 29. I want to take this opportunity to explain things from a ‘this side of the pond‘ perspective.
I want to begin with a very big thank you to Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church in Seattle for their considerable and very generous investment to the cause of church planting in Western Europe. It is largely because of funding from Mars Hill that Acts 29 Europe was able to get off the ground. Not only have they given generously they have also given open-handedly. At no time has Mark or any of the leadership looked for control or even direct influence. In this respect, Mars Hill are a model to churches all over the world. Let’s be thankful for such a clear evidence of God’s grace at work in very tangible ways.
Second, Mark has handed over the ‘presidency’ of Acts 29 to Matt Chandler and the organisation is moving from Seattle to Dallas. In a sense, this has no direct bearing on what happens in Western Europe. Seattle or Dallas are both a very long way away: different time zones and different cultures. What is significant is that Acts 29 in general, and Matt Chandler in particular retain an active interest in, and a deep commitment to the gospel cause in this part of the world.
With their history, experience and ‘success’, Acts 29 have an important contribution to make to church planting. Tools such as assessment and coaching are immensely helpful to those wanting to plant and those actually planting. We have had the freedom to take these tools and adapt them to best serve our needs. Those adaptations are continuing as we seek to resource church planting in countries such as Italy, Denmark, France and Germany. We have begun the work of translating the assessment process and we hope to have pages on our site that are in different languages. Once again, the open-handedness with which Acts 29 have released these resources for the work here is exemplary.
Acts 29 in the US has the potential to go from strength to strength as it builds on the good foundation laid by Driscoll and the many others who have served it so well for over a decade. Matt Chandler is a godly and gifted leader with a deep passion for Christ and his gospel. I am confident that the relationship between Acts 29 and Acts 29 Europe will continue to grow and flourish. Our goal should be that we will resource and serve each other as we labour together for gospel growth and the fame of Christ in the US, Western Europe and throughout the world.
Our ambition remains what it has been from the beginning – building a distinctively gospel-centred network that plants distinctively gospel-centred churches throughout the region and beyond.
A Distinctively Gospel-Centred Network Planting Distinctively Gospel-Centred Churches
Please accept my apologies for a long period of silence on the site. It is not as though we have been idle, but we have been preoccupied with other, more pressing things. Many of you will be aware of the changes that have taken place in Acts 29. I want to take this opportunity to explain things from a ‘this side of the pond‘ perspective.
I want to begin with a very big thank you to Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church in Seattle for their considerable and very generous investment to the cause of church planting in Western Europe. It is largely because of funding from Mars Hill that Acts 29 Europe was able to get off the ground. Not only have they given generously they have also given open-handedly. At no time has Mark or any of the leadership looked for control or even direct influence. In this respect, Mars Hill are a model to churches all over the world. Let’s be thankful for such a clear evidence of God’s grace at work in very tangible ways.
Second, Mark has handed over the ‘presidency’ of Acts 29 to Matt Chandler and the organisation is moving from Seattle to Dallas. In a sense, this has no direct bearing on what happens in Western Europe. Seattle or Dallas are both a very long way away: different time zones and different cultures. What is significant is that Acts 29 in general, and Matt Chandler in particular retain an active interest in, and a deep commitment to the gospel cause in this part of the world.
With their history, experience and ‘success’, Acts 29 have an important contribution to make to church planting. Tools such as assessment and coaching are immensely helpful to those wanting to plant and those actually planting. We have had the freedom to take these tools and adapt them to best serve our needs. Those adaptations are continuing as we seek to resource church planting in countries such as Italy, Denmark, France and Germany. We have begun the work of translating the assessment process and we hope to have pages on our site that are in different languages. Once again, the open-handedness with which Acts 29 have released these resources for the work here is exemplary.
Acts 29 in the US has the potential to go from strength to strength as it builds on the good foundation laid by Driscoll and the many others who have served it so well for over a decade. Matt Chandler is a godly and gifted leader with a deep passion for Christ and his gospel. I am confident that the relationship between Acts 29 and Acts 29 Europe will continue to grow and flourish. Our goal should be that we will resource and serve each other as we labour together for gospel growth and the fame of Christ in the US, Western Europe and throughout the world.
Our ambition remains what it has been from the beginning – building a distinctively gospel-centred network that plants distinctively gospel-centred churches throughout the region and beyond.