Source: Bishop Steve Wood – Via Email
February 22, 2013
Dear Brothers,
Greetings in the glorious Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I write you to share with you the news of the Diocese of the Carolinas’ development of a church planting initiative. As you will see when (if) you click the below link we have developed something called, “Kardia Church Plant Initiative.” We chose the name “kardia” as it is reminiscent of a Cranmerian anthropology, i.e., what the heart desires the will chooses and the mind justifies (I know it was probably Melanchthon who said this, however, in my world it was +Fitz Allison who has beat that drum). We seek to capture and transform the heart’s desire.
The idea for a diocesan church planting initiative is born from our conviction that if church planting is going to be successful in the ACNA it must be grounded in the fabric and structure of the diocese. It reflects for us the conviction that the parish is the primary unit of mission while the diocese is the primary unit of jurisdiction. Anglican 1000 has served, in my very humble opinion, as a terrific booster rocket that launched North American Anglican church planting into orbit. However, I am not persuaded that a parachurch ministry/organization is the best vehicle to sustain and grow church planting. That is not to say in any way that I, or we, are indifferent to A1000. Indeed, we are and will work with Alan Hawkins+ in any way he sees helpful. Simply, our conviction is that for long-term growth and sustainability we are persuaded that church planting is best driven at the diocesan level. We have defined our purpose as follows:
“Kardia Church Planting Initiative is a ministry of the Diocese of the Carolinas that exists to plant, revitalize, and resource healthy gospel-centered churches in the Anglican tradition and to partner with others who are like minded to encourage church planting across denominational boundaries. Our goal is to plant 30 churches in the next three years by assessing, coaching, training, and resourcing church planters to fulfill the Great Commission to reach the 130 million unchurched people in North America. If you are passionate about the great commission and feel called to church planting we invite you to join us!”
Our aims with Kardia are as follows:
1. To resource the Diocese of the Carolinas with regard to church planting. To fulfill this aim we now have the capabilities to offer church planter assessments as well as ongoing coaching.
2. To resource other diocese’s as they see fit and have interest in church planting.
3. To resource existing parishes and church plants with regard to the redevelopment of their mission and purpose. To fulfill this aim we have developed assessment tools and coaching.
4. To resource churches/entities of any denomination (or no denomination) who wish to establish healthy gospel-centered churches.
Our leadership team is comprised of practitioners; meaning that all of us on the leadership team have successfully planted churches. I would be delighted to speak with any/all of you in this. Equally, we would be humbled to serve you and your diocese in any/all of this. Here is the link to our church planting site: http://kardiacpi.com
Yours faithfully in Christ,
+Steve
The Rt. Rev¹d Stephen D. WoodBishop | Diocese of the Carolinas
DioceseOfTheCarolinas.com
