Plant! is an upcoming conference on church planting organized by Sovereign Grace Ministries that features a diverse group of speakers who will teach and dialog together about the gospel, the church, and the need to start new churches. It looks great. Check out the deets:

Date: March 24-26, 2011
Location: Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA
Cost: $99/person
Who Should Come?: Church planters, pastors, pastors who desire to see their church plant churches, members of churches who desire to be a part of
planting a church some day.
Why Should Someone Come to the PLANT Conference?:
What’s unique about this conference is that Sovereign Grace Ministries is gathering church planting thinkers and doers from different denominations and church planting movements (Acts 29, SGM, the PCA, 9Marks and SBC) for three days of teaching and dialogue about planting and building churches on the gospel.

Hit the Plant! website and register today.

Darrin Patrick’s new book, Church Planter, is the most important book aspiring church planters and pastors can read. Clear enough?

Over the years I have been encouraging young men who are looking at pastoral ministry to read several classics. The more they lean into it, the more I have them read. They need to read Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor and take note of his perspective on the conversion and calling of ministers, the pastoral care of the body, and his approach to bringing the gospel to bear upon the souls of those under his charge. And, they should read Charles Bridges’ classic, The Christian Ministry. All of it. Read it up, think it through. And, John Angell James’ An Earnest Ministry. And select chapters of Spurgeon’s Lectures to My Students (esp. on calling, earnestness, and the ministers’ self watch). And, there are others, both older and newer than all of these, that should be read. Books like these don’t deal with systems and paradigms and launch teams, but are even more important because they deal with the the men, their calling, and the ministry itself. I will still encourage men to read these books, but in Darrin Patrick’s Church Planter we have one volume that covers much of this material in an easily accessible book. Easily accessible, not necessarily easy to receive. Darrin’s book, like Baxter’s, will be hard to read and apply, because it will force the reader to deal with himself and the gospel. And, like Baxter’s and Bridges’ classics, it will help to confirm that the readers either are, or are not, called by God to lead and plant a church.

Church Planter is divided into three sections: The Man, The Message, and the Mission, hitting the most critical issues related to the calling and ministry of church planters. Of course, most of this book is applicable to those in pastoral ministry, and not just those planting churches. In fact, I would also encourage those currently serving, those who have been at pastoral ministry for years, to read Darrin’s words. They are biblical, sobering, challenging and encouraging words.

Get this book, and share it with others. Check out the promotional video for the book below. It’s well worth 5 minutes of your time.

The next Acts 29 Bootcamp is going down November 10-11, 2009 in Louisville, KY at my second favorite church in North America, Sojourn Community Church. If you haven’t been to a bootcamp before, you need to go. If you have been to a bootcamp, you need to go. Thinking of planting a church? Go. Pastoring? Go. Do you serve in a church? Then you need to be there.

The main speakers are Matt Chandler, Darrin Patrick, Ed Stetzer, Kevin Cawley, Bob Thune, Dave Harvey and Steve Timmis. The conference is also offering six separate tracks with several breakout sessions, and a diverse group of worship leaders. Note that the days early enough to allow for good fellowship and networking.

Tuesday, November 10th

General Session

8:00am Registration
9:00am Welcome: Scott Thomas
9:10am Worship
9:30am Session #1: “The Gospel & Ambition” – Dave Harvey
10:30am Session #2: “Church Planting & Ambition” – Ed Stetzer, Testimony: Kevin Jamison
11:30am Lunch (provided)
12:30pm Workshops Begin

Choose a Track (12:30-1:20)

- Church Planting from the Ground Up track: Kevin Jamison (Core Development)
- Total Church track: Steve Timmis (Total Church)
- Wives track: Jani Ortlund, Mandy Montgomery, and others
- Worship track: Tim Smith (Worship that is Missional, Contextual, and Gospel-Centered)
- Executive Pastor track: Jamie Munson (Mars Hill Church) , Phil Taylor (Terra Nova Church), Bryce Butler (Sojourn Community Church), and Nate Williams (Vintage21)
- Pastor as Resident Theologian track: Ray Ortlund (Revival-When God comes to Church)

Choose a Track (1:30-2:20)

- Church Planting from the Ground Up track: Keith Watson (Vision & Values: Great Church or Great City?)
- Total Church track: Steve Timmis (Total Church)
- Wives track: Jani Ortlund, Mandy Montgomery, and others
- Worship track: Panel Discussion on Worship Ministry featuring Tim Smith, Kevin Twit, Marc Heinrich, Mike Cosper, and Chip Stam.
- Executive Pastor track: Jamie Munson (Mars Hill Church) , Phil Taylor (Terra Nova Church), Bryce Butler (Sojourn Community Church), and Nate Williams (Vintage21)
- Pastor as Resident Theologian track: Joe Thorn (How Theology Can Kill Your Church)

General Session

2:30pm Session #3: “The Church & Ambition” – Steve Timmis,  Testimony: Matt Adair
3:30pm GCM Presentation, Logos Presentation
4:00pm Break
4:15pm Session #4:  “Leadership & Ambition” – Darrin Patrick, Testimony: Nick Nye
5:15pm End of day 1

Wednesday, November 11th

General Session

10:00am Welcome: Scott Thomas
10:10am Worship
10:30am Session #5: ”Decoding your City & Ambition” – Kevin Cawley, Testimony: Keith Watson
11:30am Session #6: “Discipleship & Ambition” – Bob Thune, Testimony: Rick Long
12:30pm Lunch (provided) – Q&A with Scott Thomas about A29

Choose a Track (1:30pm-2:20pm)

- Church Planting from the Ground Up track: Rick Long (Calling to Commitment: establishing elders, deacons, and members)
- Total Church track: Steve Timmis (Total Church)
- Wives track: Jani Ortlund, Mandy Montgomery, and others
- Worship track: Kevin Twit (Singing Theology)
- Executive Pastor track: Jamie Munson (Mars Hill Church) , Phil Taylor (Terra Nova Church), Bryce Butler (Sojourn Community Church), and Nate Williams (Vintage21)
- Pastor as Resident Theologian track: Greg Allison and Reid Monaghan (Church History)

Choose a Track (2:30pm-3:20pm)

- Church Planting from the Ground Up track: Matt Adair (Forming strategic partnerships)
- Total Church track: Steve Timmis (Total Church)
- Wives track: Jani Ortlund, Mandy Montgomery, and others
- Worship track: Panel Discussion on Songs and Songwriting featuring Sandra McCracken, Kevin Twit, Neil Robins, and Tim Smith
- Executive Pastor track: Jamie Munson (Mars Hill Church) , Phil Taylor (Terra Nova Church), Bryce Butler (Sojourn Community Church), and Nate Williams (Vintage21)
- Pastor as Resident Theologian track: “Mystery Theologian”

General Session

3:30pm Session #7: “Preaching & Ambition” – Daniel Montgomery, Testimony: Dustin Neeley
4:30pm Break
5:00pm Session #8: “Ministry for the Long Haul & Ambition” – Matt Chandler
6:00 pm End of day 2

I’m honored to be invited to speak at one of the breakout sessions in the Pastor as Resident Theologian track.

It’s going to be a great conference and I hope to see you there.

Acts 29 Website
Conference Website

Most of the audio from the A29 Bootcamp in Chicago is now online at the Acts 29 website.

Church Planting Evangelism by Mark Dever
Kingdom-Focused Church Planting by Ed Stetzer
Leading the Mission in Church Planting by Darrin Patrick
Preaching the Mission by Mark Driscoll
Missional and Biblical Church Planting by Ed Stetzer