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7 Takeaways from Successful Church Plants

Story by Michele Joseph

The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting churches,” says Rubén Ramos, the Columbia Union’s vice president for Multilingual Ministries, quoting from C. Peter Wagner’s book Church Planting for a Greater Harvest: A Comprehensive Guide. Here are some tips Ramos and Peter Casillas, who most recently served as associate director for pastoral ministries in evangelism and church planting and volunteer lay pastors in Potomac Conference, say any leader can use in their ministries:

Why Every Church Needs to Get Pregnant ... and Multiply

Story by Michele Joseph

The Bible gives a specifc command: multiply, says Peter Casillas, most recently the associate director for pastoral ministries in evangelism and church planting and volunteer lay pastors in Potomac Conference.

However, as a church gets bigger, it is easy to go into institutional mode.

“Church planting reminds us to come back to the movement and not stick with the institution,” he says. “Church planting is ... like blood to the body. It’s the moving dynamic action of the body. If you kill church planting, you kill the movement.”

For that reason, he believes every church should get “pregnant.”

New CURF Director Elected

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

Starting April 1, H. Candace Nurse will serve as secretary/treasurer for the Columbia Union Revolving Fund (CURF). Nurse, currently the chief financial officer (CFO) for the Allegheny West Conference (AWC), has worked at AWC since 2008 in various roles, including assistant treasurer and Human Resources coordinator.

“Candace has demonstrated her acumen and abilities at the Allegheny West Conference and has done an excellent job,” says Dave Weigley, Columbia Union Conference president and chair of the CURF board, who adds her love for people shows in her work.