What's Next: Second Generation Church Planting

By Ben Hale
Evangelism & Missions Pastor

Fort Collins, Colorado
Gorham, Maine

During phase two of Go Love Tell, Dawson will work with churches who started as church plants to help them plant more churches.

A “second generation church plant” is a new church that is planted by a nearby church that was themselves a church plant. This has proven to be the most effective way to start new churches. One of our second generation church planting partners will be Living Rock Church in the Fort Collins, Colorado metro area. Kelly Parrish is the lead pastor. He and his wife, Brandi, and their four children, started the church in 2015 with a love for Jesus, people, and making disciples.

Fort Collins is the fourth largest city in Colorado and is consistently rated among the nation’s best places to live. Living Rock Church is in Timnath, a suburb of Fort Collins. The area is growing rapidly but is significantly unreached with the Gospel, with only 8% of the people in the area claiming any affiliation with an evangelical church.

Living Rock has already multiplied by starting three new congregations: Grandview Church in Mead, Keystone Church in Loveland, and Living Rock Severance in Severance. We will provide ongoing financial support to all four of these churches  as they prepare to launch more new churches in that area.

We will also provide financial support for the next new church  plant and its pastor. Our volunteers will serve in projects with the four existing churches, as well as, the new church plant.

Another second generation church planting partner will be Summit Community Church in Gorham, Maine, a suburb of Portland. Dawson has worked extensively with this church during the original five years of Go Love Tell (see “Reaching The Summit” on page 20). Now as they continue to grow and move into a new building, we will help them fulfill their passion to plant another church in their area. We will provide financial support for the new church planter to work with Summit Church for at least one year and then when the new church is launched. We will have opportunities for Dawson volunteers to go to Maine to serve with Summit Community Church and with the new church plant as they seek to reach people for Christ in one of the least Christian states in the country.

Begin praying now about how you can possibly volunteer to serve in Colorado, Maine, or the in location of our next Second Generation Church Planting Partner.