ACNA Concludes Second Annual Church Planting Conference

Anglican Church in North America

Featured speakers included Dr. Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church and Bishop Todd Hunter of Holy Trinity Anglican Church.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (January XX, 2011) - The Anglican Church in North America celebrated its 2011 Anglican 1000 Church Planting Summit which was held on January 25-27, 2011 in Plano, Texas. Roughly 350 church planters and leaders attended the second annual event sponsored by the Anglican Church.

At this year's Anglican 1000 Summit, Dr. Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York and Bishop Todd Hunter of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Southern California were the keynote speakers. Both of these men are overseeing church planting networks on opposite ends of the United States. Dr. Keller leads Redeemer City to City, while Bishop Hunter leads the Churches for the Sake of Others network in the Anglican Mission in the Americas. Each showed how church planting is part of the Mission of God - not simply a vehicle for denominational expansion or an end in itself. They challenged planters to be focused on evangelism and fueled by prayer.

"It was a blessing to bear witness to the Christ-filled fellowship this week at our second annual church planting summit. As hundreds of church leaders listened to and presented stories of new church life and growth around North America, I was humbled by how the Lord has chosen to spread the faith through the valiant mission of church planting," said the Most Rev. Robert Duncan, Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America.

Two years ago, Archbishop Robert Duncan, leader of the Anglican Church, made the astonishing, prophetic call to plant 1,000 new congregations in order to reach North America with the "transforming love of Jesus Christ." A few months later, a team of leaders gathered in Plano to dream about a cooperative movement to plant churches and answer this call. Since that time, many new works have started. Over 100 of these new works are featured on the Anglican 1000 website (www.Anglican1000.org). The Rev. Canon David Roseberry who serves as Chairman of the Anglican 1000 Movement says, "Anglican 1000 is a movement that is popping up everywhere! New churches are being planted, older churches are spinning off congregations, and bishops are tilling the field. It is hard to keep up with it. It is an idea whose time has clearly come."

Over 350 church planters and leaders returned to Plano this week to learn, educate and share resources as they strive to reach this immense church planting goal. Numerous stories from leaders across North America who are working in the field to plant new churches were presented at the conference. At the Anglican 1000 Summit it was clear to Chairman David Roseberry that, "The Archbishop spoke a vision that caught hold. It is a future that we all want to be part of. What the Anglican 1000 Summit showed me is that there are increasing numbers of younger planters that are presenting themselves. The room was full of 20-30 year old missionaries...each of whom is crying out to God, 'Here I am, send me!'"

"This is a movement that was inspired by the Holy Spirit and has come to life through the hard work and dedication of a broad grassroots network. On behalf of the Anglican Church in North America, I offer my profound gratitude to the many volunteers, members and leaders of Christ Church Plano for all of their hard work in making this a successful event. Furthermore, the leadership of The Rev. Canon Roseberry has given immeasurable value and enrichment to the Anglican 1000 movement. My devout prayer is that for years to come, the Lord will continue to refresh our minds and hearts with even more ways to bring the Anglican faith to the unchurched across North America and beyond," continued Archbishop Duncan.