Liberty Church Planting Network

As we have highlighted in our past few newsletters, LCPN is certainly headed in a great direction! We have forged partnerships with various organizations while planting churches around the world to truly “change the world by planting churches that plant churches.”

To continue this progress, LCPN is excited to launch in early 2012 its Regional Church Planting Center in the Northern Virginia and DC area, called the Capital Church Planting Network. This center will serve to train, coach, and network our church planters and pastors. Out of these efforts, churches will be planted throughout Northern Virginia and DC, coinciding with the strategy and vision of LCPN.

To celebrate the launch of the Capital Church Planting Network, LCPN is proud to host a gathering of Liberty University pastors called Reconnect. This half-day event will feature Jonathan Falwell and Ed Stetzer as they strive to “Reconnect” pastors with God, Liberty, and our mission. In addition, LCPN leadership will share the direction of LCPN and what that will look like through this regional center.

Reconnect will be held from 10:00am-2:00pm on February 2, 2012 at Calvary Road Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA. The Liberty Alumni Association will provide lunch, and the event is free. With that in mind, please send your RSVP quickly to info@libertycpn.com. Feel free to bring members of your staff team or other pastors and Liberty grads that you know. We look forward to spending February 2 with you, your team, and your friends!

As the year draws to a close, we certainly find ourselves being busy! There are Christmas services and programs to plan, children’s musicals to attend, disgusting fruitcakes to be eaten while pretending to enjoy them, gifts to buy, and, somewhere in that busyness, churches are to be planted.

With this busyness in mind, simply know that you are appreciated by LCPN and we are honored to partner with you. Through our relationship with you, we are seeing our world “changing by planting churches that plant churches.” The reason for the birth of Christ was to restore people into a right relationship with God and this is happening through LCPN churches. Praying that you make time to reflect on His birth during this season of busyness.

We look forward to updating you in 2012!

Last month, we highlighted the newly formed partnership between LCPN and Liberty Counsel. Since then, LPCN has formed even more partnerships to better serve our partner churches. These partnerships are beginning to impact our churches, as well as the communities in which they are located. Here are just a few of the highlights that LCPN’s partnerships have had in the past month.

Mitchell Hollow Mission Church Serves Through Tragedy

During the recent floods in Pennsylvania and New York, through the partnership LCPN has with Gleaning for the World, we were able to connect GFTW with Mitchell Hollow Mission Church, one of the very first churches ever planted by LCPN. Todd Luce, who is one of our endorsed military chaplains, pastors the church. GFTW was able to send trailers of relief supplies to Pastor Luce in order to meet the practical needs of his community. Please pray, as there is still work to be done there!
www.mitchellhollow.org

Coffee That Changes Eternity

We are excited to partner with Coffee Bonded Culture to provide quality custom roasted coffee, but to change eternity by doing so. CBC has worked with LCPN to establish four custom roasted coffees: Jerusalem Blend, Judea Blend, Samaria Blend, and To The Ends Of The Earth Blend. As you or your church purchase this coffee and it is shipped to you, LCPN receives $5 from every bag sold to help us plant churches around the world. Consider serving this coffee at your next Sunday morning gathering, small group, or even at home.
www.libertycpn.com

Teddy Bear Brigade Partners with LCPN

LCPN is proud to partner with The Teddy Bear Brigade, a ministry of Gleaning for the World. The Teddy Bear Brigade collects and sends new and gently used stuffed animals to children in need around the world. Many of these children have suffered a natural disaster, war, or persecution. This will provide the first teddy bear many of them have ever owned.
www.gftw.org

Charles River Church Celebrates One Year

Charles River Church in Boston celebrated its one-year anniversary on October 16th. Pastor Josh Wyatt said that they meet in a school where internationals are taught English language skills, which has formed a great partnership for the church. Partnerships like this have helped Charles River Church become an integral part of their community. In fact, several civic leaders who are not Christ-followers spoke at their anniversary service to thank the church for their involvement in the community. LCPN is very proud of Charles River Church and we look forward to God’s activity through them in the future.
www.thecharlesriverchurch.com

It is clear that God is at work both in and through LCPN churches and our partnerships. As we continue to forge relationships to benefit our partnering churches, these churches are better able to serve their respective communities. Exciting days are to come for LCPN! We thank you for your part in getting us to this point, but, more importantly, we invite you to continue your respective partnership with LCPN and take a front row seat at what is coming next!

It is with great excitement that the Liberty Church Planting Network announces its newest partnership. In an effort to bolster the value of our partnerships with local churches, LCPN has formed a partnership with the Liberty Counsel to form the Liberty Church Planting Network Assistance Program, with its services available to churches actively supporting LCPN.

Since 1989 Liberty Counsel has been a nonprofit organization offering litigation, education, and policy advice in order to advance religious freedom, the family, and the sanctity of life. This legal ministry is associated with both Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University. Their services are pro bono, and as a partner with LCPN, your situation will receive first priority in the many cases handled by Liberty Counsel.

Liberty Counsel is pleased to extend their services to LCPN churches in the following areas:

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

With a church’s efforts to serve their community or to share the Gospel with their community, there can be opposition to such efforts. Liberty Counsel will provide advice on how to handle such situations.

LAND-USE DISCRIMINATION

At times, governments discriminate against churches in terms of land use with expansion or zoning. Liberty Counsel is glad to advise your church should these situations arise.

POLITICAL ACTIVITY

There have been instances where pastors have received unsolicited mailings to silence them on political or moral issues. These are mere scare tactics to limit the influence of Christian viewpoints in our culture. Liberty Counsel can help to clarify such situations for you and your church.

RULES & BYLAWS

When considering the articles and bylaws of your church, Liberty Counsel can advise you on wording to legally exclude people from church membership under certain circumstances.

The following is a small sample of the many cases handled by Liberty Counsel in the past few years:

Won the right for a Christian church to locate in a formerly all-spiritualist community in Florida
Defended churches in Alaska against a lawsuit brought by the ACLU, which sought to have certain property tax exemptions revoked
Filed suit and forced an Ohio city to change its zoning code so that churches could meet in areas where previously prohibited
Intervened in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU against a Florida school board and won the right for churches to continue renting school facilities
Should you find yourself or your church in need of the services provided by Liberty Counsel, contact them at 800-671-1776 and ask to speak to a Legal Assistant. Inform the Legal Assistant that you are a pastor with the Liberty Church Planting Network.

Liberty Church Planting Network is the largest church planting network in the country, having planted over 900 churches since 1980. In respect to this momentum, we look to move forward as we continue to see our vision fulfilled of “changing the world by planting churches that plant churches.” We know that this will be best done with partnerships like the one we have formed with Liberty Counsel. It is through your continued financial support of LCPN that this partnership is possible, but more importantly that our world is changing!

Through the life of Saul in 1 Samuel, we see the value of obedience to God as He reveals His plan. On two occasions, Saul grew impatient while waiting on God, and he took matters into his own hands. As a result, God withdrew His presence from Saul, and it is at that point that God began to search for a new leader for the people, which eventually resulted in David becoming the King of Israel.

As I spoke to John Kuzins, lead pastor at Hope Hill Church in Manassas, Virginia, I was reminded of this principle from the life of Saul. Through their partnership with LCPN, Hope Hill Church launched in 2010 in an affluent neighborhood. As Kuzins continued to pray for God’s leading in how to serve their community, he eventually felt prompted to begin serving an impoverished neighborhood within five miles of where Hope Hill meets.

By patiently waiting on God’s leading, Hope Hill has had a tremendous summer! They hosted a “Free Sale,” where members of the church donated items to be given to those in need, which resulted in Hope Hill blessing over 400 families from this neighborhood “across the tracks.” They have also recently partnered with the local Lions Club to adopt 200 children in this neighborhood by providing backpacks with school supplies for these students.

While it is certainly exciting to see Hope Hill respond to the prompting of God in serving this neighborhood, this excitement is only compounded when you see how God is blessing their continued faithfulness. This summer, they sent 51 students to Student Life Camp, where 4 students accepted Christ. They are to be baptized later this month along with 6 others. This is in addition to the 18 Hope Hill has already baptized this summer!

Kuzins stated that the church was started with the vision of being a church that will plant other churches. He went on to say that they are still waiting for more direction from God on these efforts; however, he is confident that just as God revealed His plan in serving an impoverished neighborhood, He will just as faithfully reveal their future church planting efforts in His time. Kuzins is thrilled with this future for Hope Hill, and he looks forward to seeing how God will bless their efforts in that area as well.

Saul did not wait on God for His timing and plans, therefore, God removed His blessing and presence from Saul. However, Kuzins and Hope Hill have waited patiently on God’s leading, and as they have done so, God has continued to bless them and their efforts. It is through LCPN’s partnerships with others like Hope Hill Church that we are truly “changing the world by planting churches that plant churches!” Thank you, Hope Hill Church, for allowing us to proudly partner with you!

Feel free to contact Hope Hill Church through their website, www.hopehillchurch.org.

“Visions are born in the soul of a man or woman who is consumed with the tension between what is and what could be.”

What a statement! This is found in a favorite book of mine, Visioneering by Andy Stanley. As I thought to apply this to the world of church planting, I find this to be the crux of our efforts. As those involved in church planting, at some point we have looked at both our churches and our world and thought, “Something about this is not right. It is not as God intended it to be.” That tension forms the motivation and the conviction to plant a church, but not just another church, but a church that will change our world by making it more like the world that God intended it to be. It is that thought that has helped to form the vision statement for LCPN: “Changing the world by planting churches that plant churches.” While it is true that LCPN is looking to plant churches throughout the United States and the world, it is more accurate that we seek to plant churches that will plant other churches. It is only as this begins to take place that our world will be changed to better reflect Christ.

Stanley goes on to outline the difference between dreamers and visionaries. In distinguishing between dreamers and visionaries, he states, “Dreamers dream about things being different. Visionaries envision themselves making a difference. Dreamers think about how nice it would be for something to be done. Visionaries look for an opportunity to do something.”

The churches planted by LCPN are led by visionaries. Our pastors feel a calling to a particular city or region, and they see how, through the local church, that city or region can be changed by the Gospel to better reflect Christ. They regularly seek opportunities to make this a reality in their lives, in their churches, and in their geographies. It is exciting to hear the reports of this happening all over the United States and the world through LCPN churches. Every week, more and more church planters are contacting our office to see how we can work together to change our world for Christ through our partnerships. Additionally, more and more existing churches are contacting us to see how they can partner with us in our church planting efforts.

It is a very exciting time to partner with LCPN! We have churches all over the United States and the world that are helping our vision to become a reality. The world is being changed by our churches, as indicated in the reports from our church planters. However, we know that we are not able to have these successes without your respective partnership. We are appreciative of your part in this, and we look forward to continuing to partner with you in the future.

Several weeks ago I had the honor of attending a “Change of Command” ceremony at which a good friend relinquished command of the 89th Maintenance Group at Andrews Air Force Base and his successor was invested with the authority to lead. If you have ever had the privilege of attending a ceremony like this, then you know that the U.S. military recognizes how important these transitions are and how important it is to get it right for the sake of the mission. The 89th Maintenance Group maintains the Presidential fleet at Andrews Air Force Base, so there is no room for getting it wrong. And my friend was not only transitioning to a new job, he was retiring from the Air Force after 31 years of serving his country and going to work with a commercial airline. It was an inspirational and an emotional ceremony for me.

In May of this year, the board of LCPN / LBF received notice from Dr. Lee Dittman that he would be retiring as the director of our ministry. Lee has served as our director since August of 2006, and he has done a very good job as the first full-time director of the organization. Lee served for five years before that as the President of the Board of Directors.

Dr. Dittman did his undergraduate studies at Liberty Baptist College, which is now Liberty University. He also attended the Institute of Biblical Studies. He received his Masters degree from Luther Rice Seminary in Jacksonville, FL and his Doctor of Ministry from Antietam Biblical Seminary & Graduate School in Hagerstown, MD. He planted his first church in Cedar Brook, NJ which grew from a core group of 12 to over 450 in two years. He has also served as Senior Pastor in churches in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and New York. Lee has a wealth of ministry experience to share. He is currently available to speak in morning services, conferences, and other engagements. If you would like to schedule him, just contact our office.

I am pleased to announce that Ryan Jones is serving as our new Director. Ryan recently received his masters degree from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He started his spiritual journey at a church in Ohio that is a part of LCPN, and he has been a part of planting three churches – two in Ohio and one in Virginia. While completing his education at Liberty, Ryan worked with Dr. Dave Earley at the Center for Ministry Training. Before coming to Lynchburg, Ryan worked in the corporate world in sales and marketing. He is already doing a very good job as the director of LCPN / LBF.

All in all, this transition has gone extremely well and I feel that this organization is positioned to accomplish even greater things in the future. I think that we got it right.

I recently had the privilege of visiting River City Church in Memphis, TN. One year ago, Jonathan and Melissa Dunn gathered a core group of believers and started River City Church. In one year they have grown to an average of 215 each Sunday. They meet in the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home which has some excellent facilities. I expect this church to continue to grow and reach the Greater Memphis Area with the gospel. Please pray for Jonathan and Melissa and their family.

River City Church
Memphis, TN
www.rivercitychurchmemphis.org

I deployed to Afghanistan on 5 January 2011 to FOB Salerno in the Paktya Prov, near the city of Khost. So far ministry is going great! I have a great influence upon our Soldiers of the 1-6 Field Artillery Regiment 3-1 BCT 1 ID. I was assigned to be the Pastor of the largest attended service on the FOB, the Gospel Service. Which currently has grown to 81 in attendance.

God has mightily use me to help minister God healing grace to the lost. Already God gave us the privilege to Baptize a man who has left Islam for Jesus! What a mighty God we serve. Also I have gun platoons that I have to visit around the area so we fly at least once a week to the different COP locations. In addition we host bible studies, prayer nights, movie nights, counseling ops and general ministry of presence.

All is well with my family and the Lord is pouring out His mighty presence upon them to fill the void of my absence. Thankfully we get to Skype everyday, although internet is expensive here. Mail is very slow during the winter months and it is hard to get care packages from home. Please pass the word that we desperately need them and could use anything that we can get.

February 27th was an awesome day in downtown Winston-Salem, NC. The long anticipated launch of REVO Church took place in the “Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts”. You could feel the excitement in the air as the praise team began to play and sing and the lead pastor Nathan Cline began to preach. Well over 300 attended the launch and God’s Spirit was evident in the place. There is going to be a revolution in this great city as REVO Church begins to make an impact for Christ. Please pray for Nathan and his team.

REVO Church
251 North Spruce St
Winston-Salem, NC
www.discoverrevo.com