US Church Planting Cohort Retreat
An update from Andy Farmer, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA.……
Our US Church Planting Cohort met in late March for a couples retreat in Glen Mills, PA. For our five domestic church planters, this is about the time that things are getting real. They are deep in the regional approval process, forming their teams and looking for locations to meet. It is a time of profound transition for planters and their families. The couples retreat allows planters and their wives to step back out of the process to consider and plan for how a church plant will play out in their homes and families. For the wives it is a chance to connect with other women walking through the same experiences, to receive ministry and talk about what planting may be like for them.
This was the first time the wives had a chance to be together for any length of time. It was amazing how quickly fellowship and relational connection occurred among the women and the couples. To hear their stories about how God has met them in these life-changing times was encouraging for all of us. One of our hopes in having this couples retreat is to help the wives, who will be such an integral part of the mission of the plant, grow in faith and vision for how God can meet them and use them as they participate in the birth of a new church. God certainly seemed to meet us in that regard.
Our sessions focused on building healthy, resilient marriages that can stand the tests that planting a new work will throw at them. And we get some memory making time as well. Jill and I had the privilege of leading this retreat with the help of Nick and Happy Kidwell, who just walked through the church planting experience a couple of years ago. The Kidwells provided an honest and faith-filled window into the experience of planting for a whole family. On Friday night we were joined by Joel and Ashley Shorey. As Director of Church Planting, Joel was able to share his heart and his vision for what these families are doing for the mission of the Gospel in Sovereign Grace. We had a chance to pray and worship together, enjoying a wonderful time of ministry and intercession.
On these retreats we’ve developed a tradition over the years where we give each couple an extended time to share their ‘love story’. It is so meaningful (and often hilarious) to hear how God has brought redemption in the lives of sinners and has brought them together in the covenant of marriage. No story is alike and each story is amazing in its own way. These love stories allow planting couples to embed the church planting experience in the bigger story of God’s gracious purposes in saving their lost souls and sending them into the world for his Glory.
Please keep these couples in your prayers for the adventures ahead:
Howard and Dawn Varnedoe - planting in Spring Hill, Tennessee
Mario and Diana Figueroa - planting in Tampa, Florida
Adam and Claire Penird - planting in Manchester, Indiana
Eric and Jennifer Huber - planting in Galloway, New Jersey
Nathan and Clare Smith - planting in Coatesville, Pennsylvania
