By Carl Nichols

“The local church is the hope of the world.”  Bill Hybels

When I first heard that statement, it rocked me.  I thought Jesus was the hope of the world?  And he is!  However, Jesus established the local church as his means by which the gospel was to advance.  Furthermore, he shared with his disciples in John 14:12 that we would do even “greater things” than we saw him do on Earth.  What a great theme for Summit 2014!

I believe in the local church.  I believe it is indeed the only hope for this world to turn back to Jesus.  With this in mind, National Missions is excited to announce something brand new this year at Summit: the Go Project.  The Go Project was envisioned out of multiple discussions about a network to expand our reach and plant more churches in the next few years.  After a series of meetings and through several improvements and fine-tuning, the Go Project was born.  It will officially launch at the 2014 Summit later this month.  What is it?  The Go Project is an initiative to plant 15 new General Baptist churches over the next five years.

Here are just a few of the nuts and bolts of what the Go Project will focus on to make this happen:

• Assessment – We believe that strong church plants are led by leaders with a specific gift set.  Therefore, we value assessment as the starting point for all church planting candidates.  Our next assessment is at the end of August in Tampa.  If you are interested in planting, or know someone who is, please contact Vince Daniel at vincedaniel308@gmail.com.
• Training – The proper systems are vital to the health of any church and thus every planter is required to attend a week long training event we call “Boot Camp” where we focus on the necessary systems for a healthy church launch.
• Coaching – Church planting can be a lonely task.  We believe strong coaching both pre- and post-launch are essential in the health of the planter and the church.
• Funding – Church planting has substantial up-front cost.  We believe plants should be funded to meet the needs of their particular community.  We are looking for churches and associations who believe strongly that the local church is the hope of the world to partner with us to reach the five year goal.
• Networking – We believe that one of the most valuable tools a planter can have is relationships with other like-minded pastors.  We will work to provide networking opportunities within our church plants.

Our National Missions team is incredibly excited about the future of General Baptists and we cannot wait to officially launch the Go Project in a few weeks.  See you at the Summit!