Here is the first audio session from the recent Austin Stone Missional Community Conference. Darrin Patrick gave a solid message on cultivating a gospel-centered community.

This Saturday I will be co-presenting a workshop at the Missional Community Leader Conference on moving:

From Planting to Movements: The Role of City Networks

The purpose of the workshop is to explore and narrarate the role of city networks in facilitating a movement from church planting to a movement resulting in city renewal. We will share from theory and practice in order to inspire and equip people to think beyond their own church plant into movement ministry.

I will post our workshop notes after the conference.

Check out the great thinking and shared wisdom from Drew on eldering in a decentralized movement. Although it’s probably premature to call Kaleo a movement, the vision and movement DNA are certainly present. We are hopeful that similar DNA and vision are building in ACL to contribute to a movement in Austin.

Plant & Thrive looks like it will be an immensely practical conference for guys checking out planting or already several years in. Check out the speaker line-up and topics:

Track 1 – For all potential A29 church planters

• Mark Driscoll
• Wayne Grudem – Gospel Centered Reformed Theology
• Danny Akin – Preaching the Gospel
• Scott Thomas – The Biblical Mandate on the Man
• Andreas Kostenberger – The Effects of Planting on Family & Self
• Mark Driscoll & Wayne Grudem – Q & A
• Tyler Jones – Mission Rises out of Community
• Ed Marcelle – Mission Rises out of Discipleship
• Daniel Montgomery – Our Mission
• Mark Driscoll

Track 2 - For planters in years 1-4

• Jason Roberts and Chris Atwell – Coaching Introduction
• Elliot Grudem – Leadership Development: Elders, Deacons, Volunteers
• Mark Driscoll – Q & A
• Jamie Munson & Nate Williams – Systems & Structures
• TBA – Strategic Planning
• Jamie Munson, et al. – Q & A
• TBA – Small Groups
• Chris Atwell – Assimilation to Membership
• Wayne Grudem – Q & A
• TBA – Children’s Ministry / Funding / Holistic Justice
• Jason Roberts – Debriefing: Long Term Implementation
• Mark Driscoll

Feb 4-5. More info here.

Something tells me that practical missional church resources will abound in 2009. There is very little in book form on how to build, lead, and multiply missional communities. I’ll be doing my part by writing two booklets, one on Fight Clubs and one on City Groups. However, there’s much more to look forward to, in print, social networking, and conferences. I’ll list a few. Please feel free to add to the list in the comments:

Missional Community Leadership Conference

Q Conference

Missional Tribe

Cobblestone

Acts 29 Bootcamps and Conferences

Re-Sketching the Church series by JR Woodward

Organic Leadership

The audio is up for my recent talk at Acts 29 Dallas Bootcamp on Spirit-led Ecclesiology: Following the Spirit thru Church Planting. This talk explores how planters lean away from the Spirit-led center of church planting and addresses how they can practically apply a biblical theology of the Spirit to the challenges of unplanned change in planting churches. Perhaps a timely topic given the buzz over renaming church planting to gospel planting.

Scott Thomas, Director of the Acts 29 network, created this list of 20 characteristics of a church planter. See the master document here.

A couple of weeks ago Acts 29 hosted a Church Planting Bootcamp in Dallas, hosted by the Village Church. The aim of these bootcamps is to assess, equip, and release church planters into planting gospel-centered, missional churches that plant more churches. The theme of the Dallas Bootcamp was Depth.

The were a number of plenary speakers and a variety of breakout sessions (see schedule here). Audio and electronic resources are being released as they are ready (I am trying to figure out how to upload my audio to wordpress). Mark Driscoll’s talk on the Mission and Vision of Acts 29 includes a clear and compelling vision for a church planting movement that keeps Christ at the center and takes the gospel to periphery of the world. My session was Spirit-led Ecclesiology: Following the Spirit thru Church Planting, which critically examined motives and methods of church planters that lean away from the Spirit-led center of church planting. This was followed by a brief biblical theology of the Spirit and practical reflections on how we can follow the Spirit through unplanned change, resistance and barriers. In short, it was a plea to not replace the Spirit with the gospel in church planting.

For now, here are the resources I have gathered:

• Driscoll on Mission & Vision of A29                                 audio manuscript
• Dodson on Spirit-led Ecclesiology                                    audio manuscript
• Dodson & White on Building Missional Core Teams                notes

These guys offer a collection of audio and articles on Triperspectival Leadership as advocated by Drew Goodmanson and David Fairchild. This approach to church and to leadership takes the perspectivalism of John Frame and Vern Poythress and applies it to ecclesiology. Regarding leadership, the prophet, priest, & king offices of Christ and applied to functional and pastoral leadership roles in the missional church. Prophet is teacher/preacher. Priest is pastor/counselor. King is administrator/XP.

I admire Drew and David’s hard thinking and missional leading, and was blessed by their generous, Jesus like spirit when I was in San Diego earlier this summer. I am encoruaged to be in parntership in the gospel with them. This approach to ecclesiology is worth considering and has its strengths and weaknesses. Enjoy.