My wife and I are in Dallas, TX attending the Acts29 Network “Boot Camp” for prospective church planters. I haven’t written anything about them in the past, although I did mention that my wife and I were going to be going to this conference. Nevertheless, I recommend spending some time on their site, as well as their parent church Mars Hill in Seattle, Washington. They are living the church planting model, that’s for sure.

The first night of the conference was spent on introductions and expectations for the week. Our main speaker was Dr. Ed Stetzer from the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board. Surprise! A Baptist leading off on an independent denomination’s church planting conference!

Dr. Stetzer is a young guy – 38 years old (compared to my 34). But he’s definitely “been there” and “done that” before. There are about 150 folks here from all over the country. Some have come with teams ready to plant a church, some have come alone. Many have their wives with them, although some men are by themselves.

The average age of the audience is about 30, which makes me a little older than the average. As for experience, it seems like there is a wide mix there as well. Some are already pastors looking to be more “cutting edge” in the world of church planting. Some are frustrated ministers looking for a new life at a new work. Some are just average people feeling the call of God in their lives to plant churches.

Which one am I? A little of everything, I think.

There is a timidness about the crowd as we mill around and meet each other. There is the usual “sizing up” of the others in the room going on, I want to feel more mature and experienced than the others, but I don’t want to LOOK like I know that I’m more mature and experienced. Most are a little too friendly – like we’re trying too hard. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.
Anyway, the first talk is coming up. Stay tuned.