Mark Artrip, pastor of Movement Church, a Grace Brethren church in Hilliard, Ohio, has announced that Joel and Morgan Trainer will be joining the church as it’s first church-planting residents. Below is the release that Mark posted following the announcement. Click here to learn more.
Movement Church started in 2012 with a vision to be a movement of people finding their way back to God. In our short history we have seen that vision happen in the lives of individuals and families as God has built a new church in Hilliard, Ohio.
One consistent, foundational prayer among our leadership team has been to create a wake of church plants; not a one time event, but rather a continuous rhythm of planting churches that in turn plant others..
From the advent of Movement Church, we have commissioned 5% of our collected funds along with additional, privately raised money for church planting initiatives. We do this not knowing the time, location, or individual but because we feel called to multiply in the pattern shown in the New Testament.
We are not ready to pull the trigger and plant a church this week, but it is time to take steps and prepare our people and our leadership pipeline. We recently extended an offer to Joel and Morgan Trainer to come on pastoral staff in a one-year, self-supporting church planting resident role.
The Trainers are currently on staff at Kanakuk Kamps in Branson, Missouri, one of the largest and most influential Christian camps in America with 13 campuses and over 20,000 visitors each year. They are both graduates of Indiana Wesleyan University and have ties to Ohio. Morgan grew up on the north side of Columbus and Joel’s parents live in Vermilion.
The Trainers have watched Movement Church from a distance and are close friends with many members of our original launch team. We are confident in their abilities and calling and trust that God is going to use them in great ways to plant a reproducing church in central Ohio.
The vision of this residency is to provide experience in church planting, portable church, local church ministry, teaching, administration, leading teams, casting vision and fund-raising. No program can perfectly equip and prepare an individual for planting a church but our desire is to impart to them everything we have and know.
The goal of this residency is that we (in partnership with Encounter Church) will be able to confidently commission The Trainers and a launch team of church planters on a three-year plan in the greater Columbus area. The Trainers are currently raising funds for their residency with the goal of joining our team September 1, 2016.
Click here to learn more.