The Ecclesia Network

a missional church network

General

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June 2014 News

 

Mark Moore Joins Ecclesia Staff as Director of Coaching & Missional Formation!

Mark_HeadshotI am excited to share with all of you that Mark Moore, founding pastor of Providence Community Church (providencecommunity.com) in Dallas, TX will join the staff of the Ecclesia beginning May 1st.  Mark will be assuming a newly created role as Director of Coaching & Missional Formation. In this role Mark will be responsible for helping to oversee the process of coaching within the network.  He will also be working to strengthen the path that new planters move through when they want to start a new congregation within our network.  In addition, he will work with our overall team to care for all the leaders within our family while giving particular attention to networking and developing Ecclesia in the western half of the US.

In addition to his role at Providence, Mark also serves on the faculty of The Leadership Institute (spiritualleadership.com), where he is involved in training leaders through the integration of spiritual formation and leadership development.  His greatest passion is the intersection of spiritual formation, New Testament scholarship, and on the ground missional practice. Some of his favorite authors are N.T. Wright, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Greg Boyd, Robert Webber, and Henri Nouwen.

An important part of Mark’s story is that he served on the board of Acts 29 in another life. In that role he helped oversee Acts 29 Europe, worked with training coaches and assessors, and helped to guide several new church starts.  While Mark’s theoloical dispositions have changed since those days, he brings this experience into his work with Ecclesia.

Cyd Holsclaw, one of the pastors at Life on the Vine in Chicago and an Ecclesia board member, had this to say, “I appreciate the way Mark thinks and talks about spiritual formation being the foundation of any church planting training, assessment, or coaching.  He is a humble, strategic, and extremely motivated leader and I think he would be a fantastic addition to the Ecclesia team.”

Mark and his wife, Lezlie, have a nineteen year old daughter (Logan), and two sons ages sixteen and ten (Cole and Carson).

Fall Coaches Training Dates Announced

September 30 & October 1 @ Princeton Seminary

Coaching is a significant tool for pastors and Christian leaders that enables conversations to be focused, effective and fruitful for the benefit of the kingdom of God. Coaching can make all the difference for leaders and churches desiring to be on mission together.

The Ecclesia Network is hosting a Coach Training Event for missional leaders desiring to grow in the heart and skill of coaching.

If you have questions or need additional information contact Bob Hyatt at bob.hyatt@ecclesianet.org or J.R. Briggs at jrbriggs@ecclesianet.org.

Cost:

  • Ecclesia Coaching Registration w/out Lodging ($199.00) – Includes Lunch on Tuesday and Breakfast and Lunch on Wednesday
  • Ecclesia Registration w/ Lodging ($249.00) – Includes Lunch on Tuesday and Breakfast and Lunch on Wednesday
  • Non-Ecclesia Registration w/out Lodging ($249.00) – Includes Lunch on Tuesday and Breakfast and Lunch on Wednesday
  • Non Ecclesia Registration w/ Lodging ($329.00) – Includes Lunch on Tuesday and Breakfast and Lunch on Wednesday

*cost includes lunch on Tuesday and breakfast and lunch on Wednesday

– See more at: https://ecclesianet.org/event/ecclesia-coaches-training/

Welcome to The Table – A New Online Resource For Ecclesia Churches & Leaders

The Ecclesia Network has recently rolled out an online platform called The Table that we hope will help facilitate connection and the sharing of resources amongst our Ecclesia churches.

You can find it/log on at http://ecclesianet.tableproject.org.

Jump on, join or start some groups and let the sharing begin! A good place to start might be the general resources group where you will find others posting the resources they have developed in their communities and where you can do the same. Also- encourage the rest of your staff to join in as well!

A Lenten Tale from Worth & Beth Wheeler @ Boise Mustard Seed

Mary is a newcomer to our group as of last late-October. She’s a recent widow (about 2-3 years ago) who spent all of last year looking for a church community that she could call home. She’s one of the few people who found us online. As she gradually grafted into our community, she told me she felt like we were calling her to do things that were hard, but that she felt like part of the family immediately and really enjoyed and looked forward to spending time with us. However, she was also looking for a community with more people her age. We’re fairly diverse age-wise, with people in our crew that are in their 40s, 50s and 60s, but the numbers of those people aren’t the largest. We sat down for coffee in January and she told me a lot more about her life story and why she felt like she wanted to look at some other churches. After listening to her for quite some time, I asked her only a few questions of challenge and discipleship, and about how she felt like part of the family at Boise Mustard Seed. She took those questions seriously. A few days later I received an emotional email from her telling me about the significance of our conversation, a few other conversations with other friends and personal meditation readings over the interim days and how through all of this she perceived God speaking to her. She ended the letter by saying: “I’m all in!” And she has been. As we’ve continued the journey, she was able to bring particular insight, as a former Catholic, to our church family’s emphasis on spiritual formation during Lent. She is preaching this Sunday at our worship gathering about personal reflections and lessons learned during Lent this year, and how her understanding of Lent has changed over the years. We are extremely blessed to have Mary join the church family.

A Good Friday Story From Geoff Holsclaw @ Life on the Vine 

“I’m digging this God stuff”, is a comment I (Geoff) often hear from my friend.  He’s been sober for 30 years, but only when we started hanging out last year did he start learning that God wanted to be a part of his entire life, not just his sobriety.  Now he’s praying for more than staying dry, but for a job, for the people in his life that drive him crazy, and for peace.  His AA friends  have noticed that he is a lot calmer and less angry.  My friend and I get together and talk about God and life and his relationships.  In typical church talk, I would say he is “On fire”.  He has started reading his Bible and is becoming more familiar with Jesus and everything he did.

Most amazing of all, during our Good Friday service (which for us goes through the last 7 statements of Jesus from the Mount of Olives to his death on the Cross), my friend said, “At the beginning of the service I just felt something come into me. It was good.”  Yes, it was a Good Friday, that by His wounds we have been healed.

Easter Soul by Bob Hyatt @ Evergreen Community 

This past Easter at Evergreen Community in Portland we had the privilege of holding our first ever Easter Baptism!  We borrowed a baptismal from another local community and set it up on the sidewalk outside of the Pub in which we meet.

We baptized Devin, a young woman who came to our community with no church background to speak of. It’s been wonderful to see her journey from someone who was interested to someone who is committed to following Jesus with her whole life.

Evergreen has a special niche in connecting with people who have left church or faith and are just now coming back, but as joyful as that is for us, one of the things we love most in community is seeing the lives of those who know nothing of Jesus transformed as they encounter Him in our community!

 

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December 2013 News

Dates for Church Planters Training Announced & Registration Opened!!

This year’s rendition of Genesis: A Theological & Practical Trajectory for Missional Church Planting, will take place from May 12-16 in Baltimore, MD. Join Bob Hyatt, Cyd Holsclaw, J.R. Briggs, Don Coleman, and many others who share a dream of cultivating a vibrant Christ-centered community among an unreached place or people. This year’s training will take place at Holy Trinity Spiritual Center (www.trinitarians.org) and will provide the important foundation for those in the early stages of the church planting journey. Download the flyer and register here.

Plenary Sessions @ Upcoming National Gathering

You may have missed the early-bird deadline, but there is still plenty of time to join Scot McKnight, Mandy Smith, Al Tizon, and William Webb at this year’s 2014 Ecclesia National Gathering. Our theme this coming February is “Bringing the Word to Life: Reading, Understanding, and Proclaiming the Bible in Changing Times”. You can see a full list of plenary sessions here and a developing list of workshops here. Check back for updates and be sure to register sooner than later as space is limited.

More info and registration for the National Gathering

Welcome New Board Members

Ecclesia is pleased to announce the addition of 3 new board members who are helping to govern our common work. Give them a shout and say hello.

Aaron Graham
Aaron serves as founder and lead pastor of The District Church in the heart of our nation’s capital. The District Church is a quickly growing church with a heart to grow and multiply leaders who have a heart for the city. Before moving to DC, Aaron started the Quincy Street Missional Church in a low-income neighborhood of Boston where he served for five years. He is a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School and recently completed his doctorate at Fuller Theological Seminary in missiology. Aaron and his wife Amy are both pastors as well as adoption and foster care advocates. They recently founded DC127 with the mission to unite churches to reverse the foster care wait list in DC. They live in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of D.C. with their two adopted kids Elijah and Natalie.

Keas Keasler
Keas Keasler is a pastor and DJ in Miami, FL. He serves as the teaching pastor of Rhythm Church, works with athletes at the University of Miami, and spins records in various places throughout the city. With degrees from Baylor and Princeton, Keas is currently working on a PhD in theology, but also is helping shape a new model of theological education in Miami to bridge the gaps between the seminary, sanctuary, and street. Ordained as a Baptist minister, Keas’ theology and praxis have been shaped by various streams within the Christian family. He has a deep love for the global church, having traveled and done mission work in over forty countries and preached on six continents.

Jeanette Staats
Jeanette Staats has been on staff with New Life Christian Fellowship since 2000. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from Virginia Tech in 2000 after dabbling in Accounting and Interior Design – three majors that obviously have a lot of commonalities & overlap!

Her role at [nlcf] is called Director of Community Life. She spends time co-overseeing the campus Engage Groups as part of the Spiritual Formation team, developing & leading New Life Kids! ([nlcf]’s kids ministry), and overseeing church-wide events as well as other various administrative tasks.

In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with family and friends, teaching piano, organizing and decorating her home, being craft, and watching HOKIE sports! She is a foster parent when the need arises. In addition, she is also pursuing a Certificate of Theological Studies from John Leland Seminary.

Her desire is to love God, love the people He places in her life, and live. “The world is full of people who will go their whole lives and not actually live one day. She did not intend on being one of them.” (quote from curlygirl designs)