Resources for Coaching Campus Church Planters

As you may already know, I’m devoting a couple hours/week this year to coaching Pete & Jackie Horning, ACF’s first campus church planting couple. We’ve been meeting regularly over the past month, and it’s been going well.

We generally meet for about 1.5 hours; my goal is to give them an average of 2 hours homework (some weeks may be more or less). I’m also trying to take into account the rhythms of the semester, as well as the fact that they’re both working full-time, and Pete’s also taking some seminary classes.

My role is simply that of “coach,” that is, nuts-and-bolts, Xs and Os, all that stuff. Since Pete and Jackie don’t know exactly which campus (or even city) they’re going to yet, it’s too early to do much of the particular missiological work that will be needed. So in the early going, we’ve been focusing mostly on calling & qualifications, Gospel, missional theology, Gospel, leadership, and Gospel.

As promised, here’s the “syllabus” of what I’m having them read/watch before our discussions for this semester. You’ll see it’s pretty obvious who some of my influences are. So far, our biggest problem is not having enough time to discuss it all. What do you think? Anything you would add? (I have a lot more in the hopper–we’ll have winter break and spring semester as well).

Week 1: CALLING: Articles: “10 Characteristics of a Church Planter,” and “20 Characteristics, annotated”

http://www.acts29network.org/mediafiles/60microskills.pdf

http://www.acts29network.org/acts-29-blog/am-i-a-church-planter/ —Scott Thomas

Week 2: CALLING: Video: The Ox: Qualifications of a Church Planter—Mark Driscoll

http://theresurgence.com/mark_driscoll_2008-02-26_video_tnc_the_ox–qualifications_of_a_church_planter

Week 3: CAMPUS MINISTRY: Articles: “The Need for Missional Campus Ministry,”  “Church, Parachurch, and the Third Way,” and “The 5 Big Issues in Campus Ministry Today” by Steve Lutz http://stevelutz.wordpress.com/resources, plus start The Prodigal God

Week 4: GOSPEL: Book: The Prodigal God, by Tim Keller (book)

Week 5: MISSIOLOGY: Video: Biblical Missiology—Jeff Vanderstelt

http://theresurgence.com/jeff_vanderstelt_2008-02-27_video_tnc_biblical_missiology

Article: The Missional Church, Tim Keller

http://setsnservice.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/missional-church-keller-2-0-tony-stiff.pdf

Week 6: CHRISTOLOGY: Book: Vintage Jesus, by Mark Driscoll

Week 7: MISSIOLOGY: Video: Our Mission—Daniel Montgomery

http://theresurgence.com/Montgomery_Our-Mission-video

Article: Reading the Bible Missionally, Tony Stiff

http://setsnservice.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/reading-the-bible-missionally-beta-version2.pdf

Week 8: Conference: Acts29 Boot Camp in Louisville, KY 11/10-11

http://www.acts29network.org/event/2009-11-10-louisville-boot-camp–louisville-ky/

Week 9: DISCIPLESHIP: Book: The Master Plan of Evangelism, Robert Coleman

Week 10: LEADERSHIP: Video: Leading the Mission, Darrin Patrick

http://theresurgence.com/darrin_patrick_2008-02-27_video_tnc_leading_the_mission

Article: Missional Communities at the Austin Stone Church

http://www.austinstone.org/what/group_faq

Week 11: BIBLE: Book: The Drama of Scripture, Bartholemew & Goheen

Week 12: GOSPEL: Video: How Do I Distinguish Between the Gospel and False Gospels—John Piper http://theresurgence.com/john_piper_2008-02-26_video_tnc_how_do_i_distinguish_between_the_gospel_and_false_gospels

Article: Religion-less Spirituality http://www.theresurgence.com/tim_keller_1996_religionless_spirituality

Week 13: SPIRITUAL VITALITY: Book: The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer

On Coaching Campus-Church Planters

One of the hats I’m wearing here at Penn State is “Church Planting Coach.” I’m partnering with my good friends Aaron & Amy Henning and Alliance Christian Fellowship (ACF) in coaching/training their first church planters, Pete and Jackie Horning. ACF is looking to replicate it’s unique church-on-campus model on other campuses. There are a couple really promising options which we hope to get nailed down in the next month or so, and they’ll hope to launch next academic year, August 2010.

Since I have experience in both campus ministry and church planting, I’m excited to be able to contribute to this work. I hope to do more coaching/consulting on this kind of thing in the future.  I’ll be meeting weekly with Pete and Jackie this year to help prepare them for their new work. I’m excited and sobered to do so.

I’m putting together a syllabus/reading/media list for our discussions throughout the year. When I finish compiling it, I’ll post that here. I’m going to make it as comprehensive as possible.

Pete and Jackie don’t know exactly where they will be going yet. But that doesn’t mean there’s no church planting preparation to be done. We have much to cover in terms of calling, qualifications, and character.

One of the first things I’m having Pete and Jackie do is take in content from Acts29 and the Resurgence. We’ve read and discussed Scott Thomas’ 10 Characteristics of a Church Planter plus 60 microskills.

We’ll also be viewing and discussing Mark Driscoll’s “The Ox: Qualifications of a Church Planter,” which is an excellent, sobering, challenging, and inspiring call to the unique role of a church planter. Definitely worth watching if you or someone you know is considering it.

As I put the coaching “playbook” together, what would you include?

Some Penn State Trivia

On Sunday, we had a great mini-reunion of Penn Staters. Old friends, spouses, and roughly a million kids came from Pittsburgh, Philly, State College, and all over the Susquehanna Valley to the Davis home in Palmyra for some quality catch-up time, food, AND some high stakes trivia. (PSU prizes up for grabs). We really cherish our PSU friends and were blessed by their heartfelt prayers for us. I promised I would post the trivia. We had 3 categories: Penn State football; State College/Penn State trivia; and ACF in the ’90s.The runaway winner was Rob Watts (big surprise).The football questions I pulled off of facebook (the green ones are correct), and the other ones I cobbled together from Google searches.

Penn State Football Trivia

1. Since the last expansion was completed before the 2001 season, What was the lowest attendance for a home game?

 

Akron, 2004 (25%)

 

USF, 2005 (13%)

 

Cincinnati, 2005 (21%)

 

Temple,2003 (41%)

 

 

2. How many yards did Austin Scott rush for in the 2006 Orange Bowl against Florida State when he replaced Tony Hunt?

 

	134 (28%)
	109 (33%)
	110 (37%)
	87 (3%)

 

3. What quarterback did Kerry Collins beat out for the starting position in 1993?
	Tony Sacca (25%)
	Mike Knizner (14%)
>	John Sacca (33%)
	Wally Richardson (29%)

 

4. Who has been Penn State’s final regular season opponent since joining the Big Ten Conference?

Michigan (5%)

>

Michigan State (86%)

 

Ohio State (8%)

 

Pittsburgh (0%)

 

5. In numerous interviews, linebacker Paul Posluszny has mentioned 2 former Nittany Lions that he idolized growing up. Who were they?
	Todd Blackledge and Larry Johnson (6%)
	Kerry Collins and Ki-Jana Carter (13%)
	Jack Ham and Franco Harris (53%)
>	LaVar Arrington and Brandon Short (29%)

 

6. True or False: Michigan State has never defeated Penn State at Beaver Stadium since the Land Grant Trophy series began.

Answer Choices

	True (63%)
>	False (38%)

 

7. How many quarterback sacks did the offensive line of the undefeated 1994 Penn State team allow during the season?

Answer Choices

	4 (58%)
>	10 (32%)
	16 (8%)
	18 (1%)

 

8. Which current PSU wide receiver has a father that coaches the safeties for PSU?

Answer Choices

	Deon Butler (9%)
	Terrell Golden (17%)
	Derrick Williams (13%)
>	Jordan Norwood (61%)

 

9. Who scored the touchdown on a fake field goal to ice the Snow Game against Michigan in 1995?

Answer Choices

	Curtis Enis (22%)
	Joe Nastasi (52%)
	Wally Richardson (13%)
>	Freddie Scott (14%)

 

10. Who did Penn State play when the attendance record was broken for Beaver Stadium?

Answer Choices

	Ohio State (20%)
>	Nebraska (73%)
	Michigan (5%)
	USC (2%)

 

State College/Penn State University Trivia

 

1.  This now-defunct restaurant used to boast “burritos as big as your head!”

(La Bamba)

 

2.  What was the original name of the place where students donate plasma as often as 4/month? (Sera-Tec)

 

3. True or False: There are no sorority houses in State College because the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania still has laws against brothels which forbid more than 6 unrelated females living together.   (False)

 

4. Which actor on Star Trek: The Next Generation was a Penn State graduate?

a) LeVar Burton—Lt. Commander Giordi Laforge

b) Patrick Stewart—Captain Jean-Luc Picard

c) Jonathan Frakes—Commander William Riker–correct

d) Michael Dorn—Lt. Worf (the Klingon dude)

 

5. In the 1960s, these four buildings on the University Park campus had something in common: Hammond Building, East Halls, Chambers Building, and Old Main. Which of the following characteristics did they all share?

a. fallout shelters in case of nuclear attack
b. radio relay stations for police or national guard in case of campus unrest
c. use of stone that had been part of previous campus structures
d. only major academic buildings NOT equipped with vending machines

ANSWER:
a. fallout shelters in case of nuclear attack. They were fully stocked with food, water, and emergency supplies.

6. The father of which of the following well known actresses is a Penn State graduate?

a. Kirstie Alley
b. Lauren Graham
c. Molly Ringwald
d. Jennifer Aniston

ANSWER: 
d. Jennifer Aniston, whose father, actor John Aniston, graduated from Penn State in 1955 and is perhaps best known for his role as Victor Kiriakis on the daytime TV series Days of our Lives.

 

7. Which politically connected individuals graduated from Penn State University?

a) Valerie Plame Wilson ‘85 — U.S. CIA Officer; identified and outed by syndicated columnist Robert Novak in 2003, which caused the political controversy “Spygate”

b) Thomas Ridge ’72g — Former governor of Pennsylvania and first director of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush

c) Hugh Rodham and Hugh Rodham ’35, ’72 — Father and brother of Hillary Rodham Clinton respectively

d) Rick Santorum ’80, ’86g — Former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, now a Fox News contributor

Answer: All of the above!  

 

8. This former PSU men’s basketball player is also an outspoken Christian

a) Titus Ivory

b) Pete Lisicky

c) Joe Crispin–correct

d) John Amaechi

 

9. Name the park/playground that JoePa’s house backs up to.

(Sunset Park)

 

10. True or False: Beaver Stadium is the largest stadium in the United States?

TRUE! Beaver Stadium has a capacity of 107,282, making it the largest stadium in the United States at least until 2010, when the renovation of Michigan Stadium is planned to be complete. (It was announced on March 11, 2008 that Michigan Stadium, previously the largest, will have a capacity roughly 1,300 less than in 2007 as a result of an accessibility-related lawsuit)

 

ACF in the ‘90s Trivia

 

1. The original name of the Guys house on Beaver Avenue was:

a) 622 Manly Zoo

b) 622 Motley Crue

c) 622 Male Revue–correct

d) “Your Mom’s”

 

2. This ACF elder punched a hole in a wall at a retreat center during a Penn State loss to Northwestern?   (Alex Leighton)

 

3. At a Christmas Banquet, Pete inadvertently referred to a poinsettia plant as what transitory part of the human reproductive system?   (Placenta–we now realize he was very sleep-deprived at the time due to the birth of their firstborn)

 

4. What does the acronym “AWS” stand for?

(If you don’t know I’m not telling you).

 

5. Which sermon analogy did Pete get teased the most for?

The Chicken’s Sister

(also accepting the Cantaloupe)

 

6. Some guys used to call the A-House this alternative nickname:

a) The Mansion

b) The Brothel

c) The A-Hole–(correct)

d) The Dump

 

7.  Quite a few ACFers went out of duty to the concert for this Christian recording artist at Bryce Jordan Center because it was free and they were afraid no one would show up; the arena ended up being packed.  (Carman)

 

8. Name 3 bands that came in for outreach concerts at Penn State

(Third Day, Sixpence, The Choir, Black-Eyed Sceva, and many more)

 

9. Name the Retreat speaker who came to both speak on and lead in worship, and ended up inducing a worship conga line?

(Mike Cannon)

 

10. True or False: ACF is the best campus fellowship group at Penn State

(True)

 

 

 

Great weekend with ACF@PSU, & Wisdom Teeth Surgery

Sorry folks, I’m behind on updating you on last weekend. Jess had her wisdom teeth removed on Monday, so I’ve been playing Mr. Mom this week and out of the loop. Thankfully, surgery went well and Jess is recovering nicely. 

Thanks to everyone who prayed for my weekend up at PSU with ACF! I needed it, as I woke up Friday am with some kind of bug and didn’t feel right all weekend. We ended up having a great time. I had lunch on Friday with my future colleagues on the CCO team at Penn State. It was great to meet them (in some cases, get reacquainted) and to hear about what God is doing. I look forward to working with them. Then I went out to look at a few homes with Jill, our realtor. Nothing jumped out at us. Please pray for the right house!

After house hunting, I met up with Aaron Henning, pastor of ACF, and we drove off in the snow to Camp Blue Diamond, where the retreat was held. Did I mention that we got 6 inches of snow that night? Amazingly, all the students made it, pretty close to on time–though we had a LOT of ice and snow and some pushing cars up hills.

ACF is a great group of students these days. Aaron and Amy Henning and their team of interns, adult “sponsors,” and student leaders are doing a great job there. Larger than when I was a student, ACF continues to be a powerhouse on campus. The musical worship is a lot more polished than when yours truly was leading! I learned that ACF has done some amazing things in Peru, where they have an ongoing ministry. Last year, they raised $100,000 to build a new orphanage there! Let me say that again, A BUNCH OF COLLEGE STUDENTS RAISED $100 GRAND FOR ORPHANS!!  That is phenomenal. I’m still blown away by that. That story needs to be told. For all of us who might be tempted to write off college students as immature, good-for-little facebook-surfers, what an example of what students are capable of when given a vision!

Throughout the weekend, I spoke to the students on giving their lives to the Mission of God during their college years. On Friday night, I spoke from Jeremiah 17, which says that a life apart from God is like “a bush in the wastelands,” but that life with God is like “a tree planted by the water.” I called it “The Tumbleweed and the Tree.” On Saturday morning I spoke about “The Gospel as Story” and encouraged them to see their own lives as part of God’s Story (of Redemption, the Metanarrative), as well as some thoughts on how to tell that story. On Saturday evening, I further defined what is Missional, in contrast to Traditional and Seeker-Sensitive orientations to ministry. We had a lively Q&A time afterwards. This session seemed to push the most buttons and/or set off the most light bulbs in their heads.  

On Sunday morning, back in Alumni Hall on campus with nearly 400 students, I preached from Jeremiah 29. I spoke more about being a missionary to their campus, and being part of God’s renewing work in the dark places, places they could simply write off or retreat from. 

I got some good feedback during the weekend. In general, Christian students at a campus like Penn State need to hear the call to neither be a subculture nor just-like culture, but to be a humble, vibrant counter-culture. 

I was impressed by what God is doing in and through ACF. I also enjoyed dusting off some of my Penn State-specific anecdotes and illustrations. I hope I didn’t start too many sentences with “Back when I was a student…”  One thing about campus ministry: it can make you feel prematurely old! 

I also enjoyed catching up with the Hennings. It’s great to think back on our shared ministry experiences and conversations as students. Then 10 years later, here we were, partnering to reach students. I’m confident we’ll continue working together in some way when I get up there.