As we approach a new year, the following is a short list of things to anticipate that will be happening with church planting in Montana.
New Churches – We anticipate new churches to be started in Missoula, Bozeman, and Roundup in the upcoming year.
Church Planters – Currently, we have new planters in the assessment process with the North American Mission Board. The assessment process is a great tool that helps planters understand their strengths and weaknesses for church planting. This helps our team develop necessary training and coaching opportunities for these planters.
Planter Training – In January, we will host our annual church planter training at Fairmont Hot Springs. All of our NAMB funded planters, along with planters who will be arriving in 2020, will meet for training and fellowship. This year’s guest speaker is Danny DeArmas, Senior Associate Pastor at First Baptist Orlando. Danny has many years of ministry experience and has been to Montana to invest in leaders in the past. Other trainings that will take place during the year include the monthly Zoom calls and Send Network Training Cohorts.
Planter Fellowship and Brotherhood – In 2019, our planters’ families gathered in Bozeman for a fun time just to get to know each other better, to pray together, and to have a little fun. The families shared a catered meal, an overnight stay at the C’Mon Inn, and a morning having fun at Jump Time Bozeman. For 2020, we plan on having one or two other events to promote fellowship and family camaraderie.
Recruiting of Planters – One of the biggest needs across the country is identifying planters. In January, the Church Planting Team will develop a plan to travel to seminaries, colleges, churches, association, and conventions to cast the vision for planting in Montana. Our prayer is that individuals would recognize God’s call to plant a new church in Big Sky Country.
Partnership Development – Partnership development is a continuous process where we try to connect existing churches, both in Montana and nationwide, with church plants. We will complete the three-year partnership with the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention and continue to connect Texas churches to Montana plants. 2020 begins a new three-year partnership with the Gateway Baptist Association in Evansville, IL. We look forward to what benefits this partnership will provide.
This is just a snapshot of what we look forward to seeing happening in Montana church planting in 2020.
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