This Sunday we welcome back Lenny Konschewitz as our preacher at all three services. He has preached here in the past, but this Sunday is particularly special. Lenny has accepted a call to come as our first church planter starting in January 2020. This announcement is the result of much discussion, prayer and discernment going back to his last visit in January of this year.

Click here to watch a video in which Lenny and Caly share their experience of this process.

The Konschewitz's (and their toddler, Eli) will be moving here from Ireland to begin this new work in January. This will be a homecoming of sorts for them since Caly's parents are current church members, Pat and Lisa Thurman. Lisa is serving on our vestry. Our church has been supporting Lenny and Caly as missionaries since 2015 and we've been impressed with their maturity, gifting and ministry effectiveness. They are coming to the end of a five-year commitment on a team that has planted a church in Belfast. In addition to his church work, Lenny will be doing a seminary degree at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary here in Jacksonville.

In a year focused on "Abundance for Others," the vestry, staff and I have been praying about starting another Anglican church somewhere in the Jacksonville area. This is also a primary objective of our local deanery and the Gulf Atlantic Diocese as a whole. As Lenny was preaching in January, I began to wonder if he would be willing to come here and help us with our first church plant. I was unaware that he and Caly were already praying for the Lord to give them their next ministry assignment. I am always on the lookout for gifted leaders as Grace has a call and a track record of being an equipping and sending church. Many of you will remember some of our other former staff members. Tripp Prince has now planted a church in Atlanta, and Jay Wright has planted a church in Dallas. I want the next one to be in our city.

There is much more that I want to share about Lenny and Caly, but I can only address a few topics in this email. For anyone interested, Lenny and I will be available after both the 9 and 11 services this Sunday for a time of Q & A. Please make plans to join us. In the meantime, let me ask and answer a few of the most common questions here.

1. What is "church planting" and why do we need it? This is a garden metaphor about putting new seeds in the ground. Every church that exists today started with someone sharing the "seed" of the gospel. Lenny and Caly will be working to call together a new community of believers with the expectation that it will grow into a mature church in time. Our Missionary God sends his people out into the world with the word "Go" (Matthew 28:19), so one reason for a church plant is obedience. Another reason to plant an Anglican church in particular is the unique combination of three things: Sacramental worship, Faithful Bible preaching, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. These three components form a unique church expression that effectively makes disciples. We will continue working to strengthen Grace Anglican, but we long for others to have access to a similar church in their own neighborhood.

2. How can we afford to hire another staff person for church planting? Grace is only one of several funding sources. Lenny and Caly have been fully funded as church planters through their own direct fundraising efforts. They are presently contacting these supporters in the hopes of retaining as much of that support as possible. Lenny is also currently in the application process for the Gulf Atlantic Diocese's church planting curacy, which could provide up to $12,000/year for the five years of this work. I have also already received verbal offers of support from three of the other deanery churches. Finally, I have set a goal to raise an additional $50,000 per year for the next five years from our own church members. Heather and I have personally committed an additional $100 per month above our tithe toward this goal for the next five years. I am looking for forty more households from Grace Anglican Church who will do the same.  

3. Where will this new church be located?   We ultimately want this new work to be located where the Lord desires it to be. Lenny and Caly along with our leadership team, will all be discerning together. Initially, I have asked them to consider an area around Jacksonville that is growing rapidly but is fairly remote from the existing Anglican churches in our deanery. 

Click here for a map of the current Northeast Deanery.

The obvious choice is somewhere like north St. Augustine, Nocatee or World Golf Village. We frequently get visitors to Grace Anglican driving from those locations, but the drive is too far to be sustainable for many of them. At least three times, I've been directly asked to start a new church over there.

4. Will starting a new church weaken our existing church? I actually believe it will strengthen our church. It will keep us outward focused. It will invite growth through sacrificial giving. It will create additional momentum. It will inspire those of us in Clay County to reach out to our neighbors like Lenny and his team will be doing to their neighbors. There is a lot written about the benefits of planting to the existing church.

Click here for a brief article from Tim Keller.

Lenny's approach will likely be to assemble a core team from those who live in the area where he will plant. I would joyfully send with my blessing any Grace members who felt called to join Lenny, however, I suspect most of his core team will come from those already living in the new area. I am inviting all of us to trust the Lord in this work. He is the one who brings growth both to the new church and the sending church. At the same time that we are supporting Lenny's new work, our staff is making plans to strengthen the discipleship efforts here at Grace. You'll hear more about this on Get Connected Sunday, August 25th.

5. Don't we need a youth pastor as our next staff hire before we hire a church planter? The answer is "yes." I'm relieved to be commissioning Jack McNeil as our new full-time Director of Youth and Families on Sunday, July 21st. I will send another communication about Jack next week.

Please remember that every church that exists today was planted at some point in the past. I look forward to the day when everyone in our broader city has easy access to an Anglican church like ours. Please join me in that prayer. Please also join me and Lenny this Sunday in worship at Grace.