Send Network One Day rallies churches to plant churches

More than 240 church leaders and planters from Arizona, New Mexico and Utah gathered at First Southern Baptist Church at Sahuaro Ranch in Glendale Nov. 12 for Send Network One Day — a one-day conference designed to unite churches, equip leaders and move forward the mission of planting churches.

In the first session, Adam Bailie, senior lead pastor of Christ Church, asked, “Why do we want to plant churches?” and “What motivates us to plant churches?”

The “why” is critical, Bailie said, because “motivation sets the foundation upon which we build, informs the infrastructure that we build ministerially and anchors us when storms come.” He urged attendees to check their motives and go back to the conversation that set church planting in motion in Acts 1:6-11.

Adam Bailie, senior lead pastor of Christ Church, speaks at Send Network One Day.

Bailie used Acts 1 to explain “the mission of God must functionally move the people of God.” He then asked, “But what are we moved by?”
Bailie looked to Acts 1 to explain that people moved by mission:
1. Trust the Father’s authority (Acts 1:6-7)
2. Rely on the Spirit’s power (Acts 1:8)
3. Are witnesses to the Son’s work (Acts 1:8)
4. Anticipate the Son’s return (Acts 1:9-11)

Bailie concluded by challenging attendees to ask themselves:
—What functionally moves my life the most daily?
—How am I immediately positioned for the mission right now?

Craig Etheredge, lead pastor of CrossCreek Church in Colleyville, Texas, uses a story about a hike he took to talk about disciple-making and church planting at Send Network One Day.

In the second main session, Craig Etheredge, lead pastor of CrossCreek Church in Colleyville, Texas, shared that Jesus’ earthly ministry gives us a model or map to disciple-making and church planting. He explained that Jesus’ ministry happened in six phases:
1. Preparing for ministry (30 years)
2. Engaging explorers (18 months)
3. Connecting believers (6 months)
4. Growing disciples (6 months)
5. Multiplying a movement (9 months)
6. Completing the work (1 week)

The most missed phase for American churches is number 4, growing disciples, Etheredge said. Churches have to be intentional, relational and missional, he said, and without multiplication there is no movement.

Participants at Send Network One Day pray for a church planter.

Relating his own story of chasing a false summit while on a hike, Etheredge warned that even though Jesus gave us a path to ministry, most churches are chasing a false summit.

Jesus’ admonition to “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” in Matthew 4:19 means to follow Him in all things, not just some things, and that includes church planting, he said.

Etheredge warned against the fascination of “the new” when it comes to disciple-making and church planting. Instead, we need to look at the model Jesus has already laid out through His own life.

“There is an ancient path that has been marked out for us. … Jesus way,” Etheredge said. “His way will multiply the church. His way will work, if we will do it.”

Besides the two main sessions, there were breakout sessions led by Rivers Partin, planter spouse care coordinator with the North American Mission Board, and Jackie Allen, Send Network director for the Mountain West Region. There were also times of worship, Chick-fil-A lunch and plenty of time to connect, catch up and reflect on what was shared.

The worship team, comprised of musicians from several churches, kicks off a session at Send Network One Day.

Potential church planter Grant Landreth, attending his first Send Network event, said he really appreciated the content.

“The major takeaways for me were the question, ‘What do I want to be doing when Jesus returns?,’ to rest in God’s timing and live on God’s mission, and without multiplication there is no movement,” he said.

Tony Young, a freelance writer living in Phoenix, is executive pastor at CityView Church in Phoenix.