Summit Crossing has joined the A29 network. What does A29 mean? The name is actually referring to the book of Acts. This book is the recorded history of the beginning the body of Christ known as the church. The text ends at chapter 28. The A29 network is set on being the continuation or “the next chapter” of the New Testament church. A29 is a theologically sound, mission minded, church planting network. When we launched Summit Crossing over 6 years, our vision was to be a church who reproduces churches. As we move forward with this vision, partnering with this organization will be a great way to plant churches. Acts 29 is not a denomination, so it doesn’t effect how we do church. However, this network will provide coaching, equipping, resources, and accountability from like minded leaders. We will partner with other A29 churches in our region to help plant other churches. Let me take a moment and share why planting is important. We believe planting churches is the most effective means to reach a lost world with the gospel. John Piper stated four reasons to plant. 1) There are about 200 million non-churched people in America, making America one of the four largest “unchurched” nations in the world. 2) Each year about 3,500 churches close their doors. 3) Today, of the approximately 350,000 churches in America, four out of five are either plateaued or declining. 4) One American denomination recently found of its converts came to Christ in churches less than two years old.

These reasons are staggering. We are going to turn up the heat on planting churches. God is blessing Summit Crossing with man power, finances, and leadership, and we want to be faithful in stewarding these resources.  I will be sharing soon some other avenues that we will be exploring in order to be an effective church planting church such as church planting internship programs and etc. However, I wanted everyone to understand what A29 is and why we joined this network.

You can check out www.acts29network.org to see their vision and core values. Our church leadership lines up with these vision statements and values. We look forward to partnering with other churches in this network and our city in seeing the gospel transform lives.

His,
Paul