I’m on my way back from a couple of days at the June 2008 edition of the Northern New England BootCamp. These events are very energizing to me. It’s simply amazing to be around a bunch of folks who are serious about being with Jesus on His Mission!  I especially appreciate the commitment of the entire Northern New England Executive Leadership Team to church planting. Superintendent Dennis Marquardt (who may be THE most tech savvy District Superintendent EVER, seriously check out his website!), Assistant Superintendent Dan Abbatiello (it was just announced that Dan is going to become the District Church Development Director, overseeing Church Planting and Revitalization) and Secretary Treasurer Greg Randall  (Greg is in training to serve as a BootCamp Facilitator) have been backing up their words with actions for years. They provide leadership in one of the most challenging mission fields in America. And slowly but surely they are getting it done. Northern New England is also blessed with one of the leading assessors and assessor trainers in the United States. Roland Ludlam (Pastor of Church on the Rock in St. Albans, Vermont) has been a great blessing to numerous districts and leaders over the years as he has provided highly competent assessment services and outstanding training experiences all across the nation. NNED and the Assemblies of God is blessed to have him on the team!

It was also a blast to be with an outstanding facilitation team. The Church Planting side was anchored by Roger Stacy who was assisted by Terry Broadwater and Tony Fundero, with Greg Randall in training. The Church Health side was led by Jim Armpriester, Roland Ludlam and Jim Risner. Both sides were well supported by a great team of coaches. Debbie Armstrong did her usual outstanding job of administrating the BootCamp. By the way, last week Debbie celebrated another trip around the sun! Happy Birthday Debbie!! Wednesday night the facilitation team went out for dinner together at Newick’s in Dover, New Hampshire. Most of the facilitators (and especially Jim Armpriester) really enjoyed some freshly caught Maine lobster. Go to the “rest of the entry” to see some more pictures. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, June 3, 2008 at about 2pm in the afternoon, the Executive Presbytery of the Assemblies of God voted to launch the new Church Multiplication Network. Over the next five years, the Network will emerge as a service organization deployed from a national platform to resource, catalyze and facilitate all manner of planting new churches in America.

Initially, the Church Multiplication Network will be deployed in the form of seven systems laser focused on resourcing all manner of church planting in every “corner” of the fellowship. When the Network is fully deployed, Districts, parent churches and planters will all find relevant and substantial support for every aspect of their efforts to multiply communities of disciples in America. The systems that will be developed by the Church Multiplication Network plan include: Read the rest of this entry »

I just got a note from Daniel McNaughton, planting pastor of Spring Valley Community Church in Royersford, Pennsylvania. He recently returned from leading a BootCamp in Zambia, Africa. You can read about it by clicking here. (The Zambia BootCamp posts were uploaded on April 21-24, 2008). This is not the first BootCamp in another country. Certified AG BootCamps have been held in Mexico, Scotland, South Africa and Romania. In April, two teams, one from Sweden and one from Germany attended the Potomac District BootCamp to investigate the possibility of adapting the BootCamp process for their countries. As a result, we are actively planning to assist our German friends in making the BootCamp a part of their process for facilitating new churches.

One myth about BootCamp is that it is a “training” event. That probably used to be the case, but not any longer. BootCamp is now a strategic “discovery” event built on an adult learning model that is dynamic and totally adaptable to absolutely any style or model of church. As a result, the BootCamp process is a “state of the art” tool for any church planter planting a church anywhere. If you haven’t already gone through the process, now is the time to do it. The price of BootCamp has never been lower. Check out the Church Multiplication Network website to find out more and view a schedule of upcoming BootCamps.