Saturday is for Seminars-- The Anglican 1000

I don't have any special speaking engagements until 2010 (wahoo!) and am enjoying being home with my family. But I wanted to give you a heads up about the Anglican 1000. No, it's not like religious Nascar. If it was, I wouldn't be going since I have no clue why people drive around in circles for fun.

But, I will be preaching at Christ Church in Plano and then staying over on Monday to open the Anglican 1000 gathering, February 22-23, in Plano.

The Anglican 1000 is a church planting plan initiated by Archbishop of the ACNA, Bob Duncan, that seeks to plant 1000 Anglican churches in North America in the next five years. "Planters and congregations would form a movement from every Anglican jurisdiction and within all 'three streams' of the Anglican Church in North America."

The ACNA was founded in 2008 in Wheaton, Illinois, and has around 100,000 members in 742 parishes. From Wikipedia,

The Anglican Church in North America finds inspiration in the Christian Gospel, faith, morals, and the Anglican tradition of worship, and emphasizes the unchanging nature of the Gospel. Leaders of the new group believe that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada have moved away from traditional Christian teaching.

I have had the privilege of working with the Anglican Mission in the Americas for a while and spoke at one of their early national meetings. (I have written about these folks here and here if you are interested.)

They are good people who have stood up for biblical beliefs and have often lost buildings and credentials because of such. But, their churches are some of the stronger in the Anglican tradition. For example, Christ Church in Plano is the largest Anglican church in North America. And, I had the privilege of preaching at another thriving Anglican church about two years ago in Winter Springs, FL (Church of the New Covenant) to encourage them in their church planting and evangelism efforts. In other words, these Anglicans are seeking to get on mission and I am glad to encourage them in some small way.

On Feb 22-23, at Christ Church in Plano, TX the Leadership Team for the Anglican 1000 Movement will host a church planters summit. "Church planters, students, young church leaders, bishops, and committed laity from around the continent will gather together for intensive learning and networking sessions."

I'm looking forward to sharing with these passion believers and watching what God accomplishes through their vision for church planting.