The church is the fellowship of faith, the society for sacred study, the hermeneutical community which interprets Scripture together. (John Stott)

 Church Planters in Town

The Leaders Collective exists to help pastors and church planters sustain healthy, fruitful ministry so they - through Jesus' Church - can advance the gospel throughout the world. In 2018 I joined a two year, eight retreat cohort through the Leaders Collective. It was a tremendously helpful experience for me, and I continue to meet with my same cohort of pastors now 5 years after our offical program ended. Pastor Brian just began with a new cohort. And New City as a church has partnered with Leaders Collective to train church planters. 

For the last four years, church planter's cohorts have spent a week in training at New City. This year's group includes guys planting churches in New York, Alabama, Minnesota, Florida, and Ohio. Among them is Eric Shrimpton planting Christ Community Church here in Blue Ash.

We had a great few days with the guys. If you get a chance this week, click here to read about these church planters and their work. Take some time to pray for them, and for the ministry of Leaders Collective. And go and visit Eric and Christ Community at one of their preview services this spring or summer.

Getting Ready for Sunday

We're on to week four in our study of 2 Thessalonians. We'll be talking about Kingdom Prayer from 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5.

We'll learn a new song together - All Shall Be Well. Others songs include Wait on the Lord, Steadfast and For the Cause.

Worth a Look

This article by Greg Thompson, Hinges and a Lock: Hospitality in a World of Predators is an insightful, but difficult read.

"Anyone who works at hospitality long enough will tell you that this kind of life—no matter how full of light—also entails its share of shadow. There’s a reason that chefs have scars and pubs have bouncers. Hospitality, for all its beauty, is inevitably twinned with pain. And so it was for us."