At the annual youth camp Newday, I was bought a copy of a book called Church Planter: The Man, The Message, The Mission by Darrin Patrick. Patrick is heavily involved in the Acts 29 church planting movement alongside men such as Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler. I hadn't heard of Patrick prior to reading this book so I was not sure what to expect.
The cover itself is very striking. At first I thought I had been bought a horror novel, but soon saw the title. The cover offers a great glimpse into what Church Planting is actually like. As Patrick shows, it's a lot tougher a task than it is often made out to be. We see all these successful plants all around but we very rarely see all the hard work, times of desperation and stress that go into it.
Patrick has written a brilliant book, aimed mainly at an American audience which was it's only downfall for me. At times I found it hard to engage with it as it isn't aimed at British readers. Despite this there is a lot that we can learn from Darrin and his buddy's over at the Acts 29 camp.
If you are a man currently in ministry, a man feeling the call of God on your life for pastoral ministry or church planting, this is a book for you. Check it out and let me know what you think!
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