Florida Missional Gathering to aid leaders in evangelism, church planting

TAMPA (FBC)—Mission-minded Florida Baptist leaders are called to a discussion on evangelizing and effective church planting through innovation at the Florida Missional Gathering Sept. 27-28 at LifePoint Baptist Church in Tampa.

The gathering, sponsored by the Florida Baptist Convention and the North American Mission Board (NAMB), is part of a larger project entitled the Missional Network. The network is a community of Southern Baptist missional leaders sharing ideas, experiences and resources to be more effective in evangelism efforts and starting new churches.

“We are bringing together leaders with common goals and common ministry needs to create an opportunity for innovation and discussion. Through starting these connections, we hope to see churches planted, established churches revitalized and our country impacted for Christ,” said Mike Cogland, director of the Missional Network at NAMB.

Missional thinking is the driving initiative behind the network. “The ‘missional leader’ thinks like a missionary. They study the culture and try to create a ministry environment to best fit the community they are trying to reach,” said Cogland. “Our goal is to help these missional leaders be more effective in reaching the culture.”

The website, www.missionalnetwork.org, is the national connection point for the Missional Network. Designed to be a meeting place where leaders can share ideas, the site includes blogs, downloadable resources and discussion forums.

The missional network gatherings are regional meetings where Southern Baptist pastors and church planters can come together and share ideas. The Florida meeting, titled “Grow Together,” is the second of seven regional gatherings that have been planned thus far for 2007. A national meeting was held at the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting in June in San Antonio, Texas.

The Florida gathering will have three speakers: Ed Stetzer, Missiologist and director of research at LifeWay Christian Resources; Ron Silvia, pastor of Church at the Springs in Ocala; and Brad White, pastor of LifePoint Church. These speakers were chosen because “they are practitioners of missional thinking and engaging culture,” said Cogland.

In addition to the speakers and worship, the Florida meeting will include small group breakout sessions and a panel discussion. The panel discussion will give leaders the opportunity to ask questions to the speakers and local church planters.

The cost for the event is $39. For more information and to register, go online to www.missionalnetwork.org.