αγγελος 2010
Bob Hyatt
March 2, 2010

Download the brochure here: αγγελος Brochure

αγγελος is church planting training  that presents a theological and practical trajectory for missional church planting.

αγγελος is unique in comparison to other church planters training opportunities available.

First, there will not be hundreds of people here. More than likely, there will be somewhere between 20-30. This means plenty of room for dialog, conversation, and questions amidst all of the planned training.

Second, everyone stays, eats, and prays together for the week. Most people leave with better friendships, some of which will be life-long, because they started the church planting journey – in this way – together.

Third, there will be a host of different equippers with unique planting stories. This gathering (as in all we try to do) isn’t dominated by just a few individuals or models of church planting. You’ll hear from a variety of planters, both seasoned and new, and learn from their experiences and approaches.

Finally, we hope to provide a good balance of theology, theory, and practicality. Each component is vital
We hope you’ll join us in May!

Topics Covered:

  • Planting Missional Churches
  • Planting Equipping Churches
  • Staying Healthy While Planting
  • Developing a Philosophy of Discipleship
  • Incarnational Ecclessiology: Reading Your City
  • Developing Models & Approaches
  • Developing Your Team
  • Navigating Team Dynamics
  • Fundraising for Church Planting
  • Administrative & Legal Issues
  • Keeping Heart Till the End ….

General Information

Location
Richmond Hill Urban Retreat Center (www.richmondhillva.org).
Richmond Hillis a former monastery, located in the heart of the city of Richmond. Most people will be sharing a room with one other person throughout the week. All meals are all included as part of our stay and will take place on the grounds.

Registration
Email info@ecclesianet.org to confirm your spot followed by payment. A 20% deposit is required within two weeks of registration to qualify for rate and space. Full payment due May 1st, 2010.

Arrival/Departure
You should plan to arrive at the Richmond Hill Urban Retreat Center (www.richmondhillva.org) between 4.00 and 4.30 on Monday, May 17th. Please be prompt because we will start with an orientation to the week around 5.00 that evening. We plan to finish on Friday at approximately 4.00 pm.

What to Bring:
Richmond Hill provides sheets and towels for each guest. You will need to bring all other toiletries with you. In addition, please bring along any relevant documents and resources related to your particular church plant. This could include vision pieces, working budgets, drafts of values, demographic information, etc. Obviously, you should bring a copy of the scriptures with you.

Preparing to Come:
Spend some time in prayer, perhaps asking specific people to pray for you during this week. This will be a very “intense” week with a full schedule, but our hope is that it will launch God’s church planting efforts through you in an effective way.

Pricing

  • Super Earlybird – before Feb 1, 2010 – $499
  • Earlybird – before Mar 1, 2010 – $599
  • Regular – before May 1, 2010 – $699
  • Late – after May 1, 2010 – $799

A Word from a previous participant:

From the moment I arrived, I began to realize – this is a room of like-minded individuals intent on seeing the Gospel spread and healthy, missionally-minded communities planted. And in the lonely world of church planting, I can think of few things more valuable than having a handful of friends like that.

The boot camp itself was a great mix of the theoretical and the practical, the motivational and the devotional. Times of prayer, times of discussion, lots of learning and lots of dreaming. This was a healthy mix of seasoned practitioners and newer church planters all sharing what they’ve learned. And everyone was invited and expected to do the same.

The setting of the Richmond Hill community was wonderful with its rhythm of prayer and contemplative atmosphere. Hard to imagine a better setting for listening to God and seeing what it is He might be birthing through you.

Bob Hyatt , Portland OR

By Bob Hyatt September 15, 2025
A New Ecclesia Network Benefit! 
By By Jim Pace September 15, 2025
In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s shooting, social media has been filled with perspectives, as is typically the case. I am reluctant to add mine as there seems to be no lack one way or the other. To be clear, this is not just about Charlie Kirk, this is about violence across the board. I did not feel led to write this because it was Charlie Kirk specifically, but rather another in a long and winding line of acts of violence, that my ministering at Va. Tech gives me a bit of personal experience with. But as I have just finished teaching two classes on Christian Ethics, and as I was encountering again the spread of responses from my Christian sisters and brothers, I felt led to look at this event through that lens. Ethics, at its base, seeks to answer the question, “What is better or worse? Good or bad?” As a follower of Jesus, this is what seems right to me… 1. We never celebrate harm. Whatever our disagreements, rejoicing at a shooting violates the bedrock claim that every person bears the imago Dei (Gen 1:27). Scripture is explicit: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls” (Prov 24:17); “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44); “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21). I don’t love blasting verses like this, but you cannot get away from them if you are reading the scriptures. 2. Moral responsibility sits with the shooter—full stop . Saying “his rhetoric got him shot” smuggles in a just-world logic that excuses violence. As a contextual theologian, I have an enormous amount of respect for the impact our various narratives have in shaping our understandings of the world around us. They are inescapable. But that is not what I am talking about here. Ideas can be wrong, harmful, or worth opposing vigorously, but vigilante ‘payback’ is never a Christian category. My primary gig is that of a consultant for churches and non-profits. Today, in my meetings and among friends, I have heard some variation of “He got what he deserved,” and “I vote for some very public justice for the shooter.” Both of these views speak of revenge; the follower of Jesus is called to lay these down as our Messiah did. Not asked to, told to. 3. Grief and outrage about gun violence are legitimate; schadenfreude is not . Channel the pain toward nonviolent, concrete action (policy advocacy, community intervention, survivor support), not dehumanization. Here are four thinkers who have had a profound impact on the Christian ethic I try to work out in this world. As I share them, three things are worthy of mention. One, I certainly do not claim to follow their guidance perfectly, and at times I do not even do it well, but they have all given me what seems like a Jesus-centered and faith-filled direction to move in. Second, I do not claim to speak for them in this particular matter; I am merely showing how my ethical lens has been formed. Third, clearly I am not dealing with all the components of our response to these types of violence, this is not a comprehensive treatment, merely the reflections in the moment. Stanley Hauerwas : “Christian nonviolence is not a strategy to rid the world of violence.” It’s part of following Jesus, not a tactic we drop when it’s inconvenient. Stanley Hauerwas, Walking with God in a Fragile World, by James Langford, editor, Leroy S. Rouner, editor N. T. Wright : “The call of the gospel is for the church to implement the victory of God in the world through suffering love.” Simply Good News: Why the Gospel Is News and What Makes It Good. In other words, we answer evil without mirroring it. David Fitch : Our culture runs on an “enemy-making” dynamic; even “the political rally… depends on the making of an enemy. Don’t let that train your soul.” The Church of Us vs. Them. Sarah Coakley : Contemplation forms resistance, not passivity. For Coakley, sustained prayer trains perception and courage so Christians can resist abuse and give voice against violence (it’s not quietism). “Contemplation, if it is working aright, is precisely that which gives courage to resist abuse, to give voice against violence.” Sarah Coakley, God, Sexuality, and the Self. Coakley would say that far too often we react before we reflect. This is the problem that Fitch is getting at in much of his writing, that our culture actually runs on antagonisms, the conflict between us. We need to find a better way.