By Tim Lubinus, BCI Executive Director/Treasurer

“so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 3:10.

We continue to regard church starting as a key strategy for reaching new Iowa communities for Christ. Normally the ingredients for a church start include a vision for church planting, qualified church planter, a needy location, a sponsoring church, and initial funding.

The BCI contributes to church planter development through providing scholarships for students working toward seminary degrees, supporting collegiate interns working in new collegiate ministries, and by partnering with NAMB to provide funding for interns and apprentices who are preparing for church planting. We provide an extensive assessment process including a weekend assessment retreat (provided by Multiply Group) for the planter. After successful completion, the planter goes through a church planter training process that includes eleven essential skills for church planters. Three people in Iowa have completed the trainer certification from Multiply Group, three planters have completed the training and four more are currently taking the training. We will require this training of new planters in the future.

As the planter is developed, a partnership is created to match a planter with a specific community and a sponsoring church. The BCI and NAMB contribute financially to help fund the planter for the first two years. To help identify the needs in each community, we provide extensive demographic information at ImpactIowa.net/. The BCI and NAMB have entered a partnership with four Iowa church planting churches to develop, place, and support new church starts.

In 2016, below is a list of Planters/Churches starting or having received BCI/NAMB funding: