Church Planting Initiative is made up of four member organisations, including Church Growth Trust. The board of Church Planting Initiative (CPI) at its trustees’ meeting on 20 March 2018 made a formal decision to transfer the church planting work of CPI to Counties and GLO and close CPI by April 2019. This was announced at the CPI gathering on 21 March.
Why is this happening?
The CPI trustees are convinced that church planting will flourish even more through partnering with Counties and GLO.
The work of CPI started almost 20 years ago and there have been over 25 church planting initiatives that have been a direct result of the work of CPI. There has also been a lot of other church planting work that has been affected indirectly by CPI. For instance, CPI has connections with at least 60 different church plants at present through its regional hubs. One of the original aims of CPI was to put church planting back on the map for its constituency of independent evangelical churches. CPI praises God that in many ways this has been achieved. CPI is now passing on this work to other organisations that have a passion for church planting, as this has a synergy with their other work and they have other resources they can draw on.
The detail of how this will happen is currently being worked out. Counties have set up a strategic group to review this and will be making proposals to the Counties Board in the next few months. The role of regional hubs, as an important part of networking and recruiting church planters, is being considered. Training for church planters and evangelists will also be fundamental in developing church planters, to run alongside pastoral support, coaching and funding. GLO is considering setting up a sub-committee for church planting in England and Wales, looking at ways of developing the London hub and continues to pursue church planting opportunities in Scotland. It is also important for the future to be clear on which churches Counties and GLO are working with and what type of churches they are helping to plant. This will help to focus the resources.
Even in its last year, the work of CPI has not been standing still. Andy Dykes was appointed in April 2018 as another member to the CPI team, being the Assistant Hub Recruitment and Development Coordinator. He is working from the North West of England and covering North Wales, and is already setting up new regional hubs.
Giles Arnold Chairman of CPI says “I praise God for what has happened in the past and thank Him for what He has planned for the future. We are excited by the new opportunities and that we are able to build on the success of CPI over the last 20 years”.
What can you do?
Please pray for those involved in these groups that they will know the Lord’s wisdom and guidance, as they plan for the future. If you are in a local church that is already engaged in church planting, are considering whether you should do so in the future or are interested in supporting church planting generally, please contact Counties, GLO or James Hyde, the National Co-ordinator for CPI on mobile: 07899 670924 or email: james.hyde@cpi-uk.org