Author: Jonathan Dodson

Austin PlantR Network

plantrcard

This is a promotional card for the Austin Area Church PlantR Network. PlantR for short! The PlantR Network exists to catalyze a Christ-centered, context-sensitive church planting movement for social and spiritual renewal of Austin and beyond.

PlantR is a trans-denominational network committed to helping church planters plant and reproduce healthy missional churches. In 2009, we will be implementing more of the vision as we seek to catalyze a Christ-centered movement in three primary ways: networking, resourcing, and encouraging planters among all peoples in the greater Austin area.

Network: We are committed to networking planters through monthly meetings, online forums, and annual conferences in order to promote shared learning, resources, encouragement, and the mission of Christ.

Resource: We are committed to resourcing planters through up-to-date demographics, missiology, best practices, monthly speakers and resource swapping.

Encourage: We are committed to encouraging planters by facilitating a community of planters that care for one another through regular prayer and encouragement.

plantr-card_page_2

Keep an eye on our website as we increase the content and morph the site in the weeks and months to come.

PS: Design by Ben Hansen and photography by Jen Cota

Why is Christian Culture Bad?

This weekend I was in San Antonio Texas to cheer my wife on in her second marathon. She finished strong and I am so proud of her (more to come on that)! It’s weird being out of Austin and seeing so much bad Texan Christian culture. The notion that Christians should have their own sub-culture is a very interesting topic. One that we will only briefly address here by way of your commentary on some case studies.

Below are some pictures of several Christian T-shirts my wife and I found while we were on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, a place where a wide array of ethnicities and cultures of the world converge. Embedded in this cornucopia of cultural diversity, I found the following shirts. As you look at them, share why you think they reflect good or bad Christian culture. Have fun!

xnhappyhour

xnmyspace

xnstarbucks

Yes, I bought all of them and will start preaching in them each Sunday. Just kidding.

Church Planting Models

There are a variety of Church Planting Models. If you think you don’t fall into one of these, you’re probably ignorant or arrogant. I wanted to break the mold when I started planting. Then, I realized that God uses all of them. All these models, correctly or incorrectly assume that the planter is gospel focused. My hope is that, by laying these out, you will get a sense of where you are and how you might need to correct in the planting process to plant a better church, to cultivate a more missional people.

  1. Program-driven: mission by program, by generation
    Southern Baptist Churches
  2. Purpose-driven: mission by purpose, by paradigm
    Saddleback Churches
  3. Community-driven: mission by people, by relationship
    House, Cell, Missional Communities
  4. Seeker-sensitive: mission by profile, by target group
    Willow Creek Churches
  5. Ministry-driven: mission by mission, by ministry
    Community Development, Evangelistic/Gatherables

Which do you identify with and why? Are all of the models missional? In what sense?


[1] Adapted from The Church Planting Village, North American Mission Board: http://www.churchplantingvillage.net/site/c.iiJTKZPEJpH/b.784555/k.D77/Church_Design_Models.htm