31 Jul 2019

I am excited to bring you a report of a great weekend at Toolshed!

We had around 30 delegates at our Toolshed Church Planting School and then at the Officer new church launch we had a turn out of over 70 people! Our guest speakers shared from a mix of the bible, research and statistics, and their own personal experiences to bring sound teaching and very practical ways to influence church planting in our own communities.

The sessions varied from Church Planting Philosophy, A Study of Leadership Styles and even a practical Make Your Own Church Workshop with plenty of encouraging testimonies in between. In our evening session, a three course dinner was served while I finished by sharing the heart of CRC as a church planting movement and reminded everyone of the various tools that are available from the CRC.On Sunday we split up to serve at different church services across south east Vic and met together again at the new church launch in Officer.

Testimonies

Here are a couple of testimonies from the Toolshed Church Planting School:

The Church planting Toolshed was both inspiring and encouraging. I really appreciated getting to know some other Pastors and CRC Churches – it’s always great to see how other  leaders do things and was really nice to feel more connected with the wider movement. The training was interesting and left me feeling fired up to see more Churches planted in our area.

Getting to hear testimony from Church plants, as well as heading out and seeing some in action was fun and gave some useful insights. I also loved meeting new people – from other Pastors through to the lovely couple who billeted me. Definitely was a worthwhile weekend.

– Annette 

I really enjoyed the speakers because they were down to earth and very open about their experiences. It was so encouraging that they were still in the process of building a church, they weren’t at the end with churches of say ‘3000’, this made it very realistic to me. Each speaker had a very positive approach and outlook despite the struggles they faced. I loved all the practical information and the statistics. I also was able to meet lots of new people and I really enjoyed the dinner mostly because it was a great relaxing time to really get to know others.

I highly recommend that EVERYONE should go to Toolshed. There is clear research and biblical reasoning as to why churches are vital in our communities, so whether you’re in the process of planting a church or not, we all have a role to play. This seminar teaches how we can all be a part of church planting, without having to be the sole church planter or pastor, it is very valuable.

– Patrina Eli

ToolShed PD Day – September 30th

We still have one more event, similar to the last, coming up later this year!

On the 30th of September we have our Church Planting Professional Development Day! For the convenience of those who are attending the CRC National Conference, this event will be held at Kingston City Church immediately before the conference. The day will include various sessions and guest speakers from 1pm to 9pm; dinner is provided. Don’t miss out!

If you believe you have a potential “church planter” in your fellowship then please approach them and contact me as this event will be by CRC pastoral invitation only. The CRC Churches International are so committed to the church planting that these events, accommodation and meals will be run free of charge to CRC Churches International approved participants.