After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Luke 10:1-2
Greetings!
Welcome to MNA Church Planter Development. As director of this ministry for MNA, I work in identifying and recruiting potential church planters for the PCA. Through extensive personal networking and time spent on seminary and college campuses around North America, I hope to fill a pipeline of potential church planters who can interact with me and other MNA staff, explore their sense of calling, and be exposed to healthy biblical church planting principles and congregations where God’s Spirit is at work as they discern God’s will for their ministry in the future.
Identifying and Investing in Future Church Planters
While it is only the power of God’s Spirit that builds a church, from the human point of view, church planters are the fuel that drives a church planting enterprise. Everything seems to depend on finding the right man for the right situation. The PCA has a vision for planting hundreds of churches across North America; even more, to see a church planting movement ignited by the power of God across our continent. There are dozens of groups of people looking for a church planter in their community and dozens of communities proactively identified by presbyteries and church planting networks throughout the PCA. There are growing ethnic and immigrant people groups among whom we wish to minister and thus become a more diverse denomination as the many people groups of North America respond to the Gospel. The words of Jesus ring true for the PCA today:
“The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send laborers into the harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).
Essential to the recruiting of church planters is the prerequisite of developing a large and growing pool of prospective church planters from whom to recruit. This is of great strategic importance if the PCA is going to see the qualified manpower necessary to fuel a church planting enterprise as large as we envision.
How This Plan Will Be Carried Out
As Church Planter Development Director, I will be visiting seminary and college campuses around the country seeking to meet potential church planters. I will host Ministry Skills Assessments and Church Planter Readiness Seminars at seminaries and network with others in PCA ministry to develop contacts for follow-up and potential future church planting ministry. There will also be a serious effort to locate candidates within the broader context of parachurch ministries who may already be seeking an avenue of involvement in church-based ministry. The mentoring and coaching of church planters and pastors will also comprise part of my responsibilities. In addition, I will assist the Church Planting Coordinator in recruiting church planters for specific church planting opportunities.
We ask that you prayerfully consider participating with us through your financial support. You can make a tax-deductible contribution to this ministry online. You can also mail contributions, made payable to Mission to North America, to:
Mission to North America
PO Box 890233
Charlotte NC 28289-0233
Designate: Church Planter Development
I welcome the chance to speak with you personally if you are currently considering church planting or want to know more about how you can be involved with MNA. You can contact me directly at jhatch@pcanet.org or 314-308-4226.
Gripped by His grace,
Jim Hatch
Church Planter Development Director