Third Annual Church Planter Forum

The Church Planters Forum
was held May 3rd and 4th and was attended by over 30 planters, planters wives,
and some Church Planter Catalyst from around the state as well as leaders from
the State Staff.
The event began at 10:00 on the 3rd and ended at noon on the 4th.  Large
group times included praise singing, quick testimonies of what God is doing in
church plants around Ohio as well as prayer times.  Breakouts were held
during the afternoons and mornings also.  Breakouts dealt with topics such
as:  “Identifying and Breaking Growth Barriers”,   “Sermon
Preparation”, “Best and Worst Practices”, and “Being Missional in your
Community”.  The wives attended breakouts that were specifically designed
for the needs and challenges of a church planting wife.

The event also included a banquet dinner at the
Crown Plaza Hotel in Dublin.  Planters were also given the opportunity to
spend an extra evening at the hotel for a family “getaway”.   Dublin
Baptist Church once again served as wonderful hosts for this event.
 Darrell Gabbard is the Pastor and he had the opportunity to bring
greetings to the planters as well as give words of encouragement.  

The planters took more of the lead this year as
most of the “breakouts” were facilitated by representative planters from
various parts of the state of Ohio.  Martin and Karen Jones once again
helped out in leading in music and worship during the large group sharing
times.  Steve Hopkins from the State Resource Team and Charlotte Barbo,
administrative assistant for the Church Planting Resource group were tremendous
helpers during this years event.

    This event was made possible by the Ray Roberts State
Missions offerings as well as Cooperative Program giving.   Church
planters make huge sacrifices to start new churches and they are grateful for
your gifts and encouragement, thank you to all of the Cooperative Program
participating churches in Ohio.