ALPHARETTA, Ga.– A group of Arkansas Baptist church planters recently traveled to Alpharetta, Georgia, for the North American Mission Board’s Send Network Orientation.
More than 200 church planters represented 189 Sending Churches at Send Network’s most recent Orientation for newly endorsed church planters April 15-17. According to a North American Mission Board (NAMB) news article, five different languages were spoken among the planters, who hailed from 24 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.
The Arkansas Baptist church planters in attendance were:
- David Bright, Church at the Well, Rogers
- Chad Graves, Compass Church of Southside, Batesville
- Nicholas Walker, Helm Church, Carthage
- Ricardo Ramirez, Iglesia Cristiana El Buen Pastor (The Good Shepherd Christian Church), Alma
- Jon Smeltzer, Summit Bible Church, Summit
- Bose Varghese, Family Church South Asian
“It was an amazing time being there,” Smeltzer said. “It’s always great just to meet new people and see what God is doing in their parts of the world whether that may be planting in Hawaii or Vermont or Delaware or Arkansas. It’s just encouraging to see what God is doing all over.”
Summit Bible Church was planted in 2019.
Send Network hosts two orientations a year. This was the North American Mission Board’s first Send Network Orientation of 2024.
The NAMB article reported this orientation was the first to be hosted in conjunction with a Sending Lab, a collaborative workshop for pastors of established churches that helps them develop a vision and plan to send church planters from their congregations.
Over the two days, church planters dug deep into Send Network’s five values through mainstage talks, spent time fellowshipping, learning from leading church planting practitioners and worshiping together. Additionally, the NAMB article said aspiring Sending Churches attended sessions that helped them identify next steps for finding, developing and sending church planters.
The Orientation took place just days after the announcement Jose Abella was named as the vice president of Send Network Español. NAMB reported more than 70 of the 200 new church planters were Spanish-speaking, highlighting Send Network’s emphasis on resourcing churches looking to make an impact for the Gospel among Hispanics.
Smeltzer said he loved seeing the diversity of church planters at the orientation.
“Southern Baptist Convention church planters are starting to look more and more like the nations. That was really encouraging to know that we are engaging all nationalities, all races, and I love that,” Smeltzer said.
For more information on church planting in Arkansas, click here.