Sojourn Network Annual Report 2016 by Sojourn Network

S O J O U R N N E T W O R K A N N U A L R E P O R T 2016

We exist to help pastors plant, grow, & multiply & multiply healthy churches.

CONTENTS

A LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

OUR MINISTRY TO THE NETWORK

OUR CHURCHES IN THE NETWORK

NEW CHURCH PLANTS

EXISTING CHURCH "ADOPTIONS"

OUR NEW STAFF

Dear Friends & Supporters, As we look back over 2016, we are overwhelmed by God’s amazing grace in and through our growing family of churches. In moments like this, our annual report becomes a fresh opportunity to hit ‘pause’, consider the fruit, and thank God for what He has done through your prayers, support, encouragement and gifts. Our mission remains clear: Sojourn Network exists to help pastors plant, grow and multiply healthy churches. We love to start churches, but we also want to see them stand the test of time, stand against the world’s temptations, and stand with other partner churches to saturate our communities with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Armed with that hope and in partnership with our 40+ churches in a growing number of states, plenty happened in 2016. Through His unrelenting grace, God enabled us to:

celebrate God’s faithfulness to the network through our 5year anniversary, help network churches plant churches, deploy Strategists, organize events and conferences, travel for mission training, jump into crisis care, and help facilitate our brotherhood – the relational connections we deeply treasure, and curate and share a variety of network specific resources and stories.

That’s just a flyover. The details on these initiatives can be found in this annual report. Let me encourage you to review this report keeping several thoughts before you. First, the goal of this report is to celebrate God, not Sojourn Network. Stop and thank Him along the way. Second, the report provides, in part, an account to you for the time and efforts of those responsible for leading the network. Get to us with any questions or suggestions. Lastly, present fruit in ministry often reveals past faithfulness. Others have served this network, and spoken into this network, over the past 5 years. Let’s remember them, and thank God for them! Our goal as we seek to serve you—with excellence, integrity, gratitude, and proactivity—is to see church planters and pastors equipped to plant, grow, and multiply healthy, gospelcentered churches that last. We hope you trace God’s goodness and faithfulness as you read this report and draw encouragement from how God has used our partnership together. United for the Gospel and for His Glory,

Dave Harvey Executive Director

T H E

C H R I S T I A N

church W A S

D E S I G N E D

F R O M

T H E

F I R S T

T O

B E

aggressive I T

W A S N

’

I N T E N D E D

S T A T I O N A R Y

A T

A N Y

T O

R E M A I N

P E R I O D ,

B U T

advance onward U N T I L

I T S

B O U N D A R I E S

C O M M E N S U R A T E T H E

—

W I T H

W O R L D .

CHARLES SPURGEON

B E C A M E

T H O S E

O F

T O

Our Ministry to the Network H E L P I N G

C H U R C H

P A S T O R S

H E A L T H Y

C H U R C H E S

P L A N T I N G

To partner with likeminded churches and pastors to identify and resource qualified planters to start churches that last.

E V E N T S

C O N F E R E N C E S

To provide highquality events & conferences for ministry leaders to learn, celebrate, sing, and pray forward our mission to help pastors plant, grow, and multiply healthy churches that last.

C O A C H I N G

C O H O R T S

To provide supplemental care, support, and training to network pastors and key ministry leaders through groupbased coaching cohorts.

D E P L O Y I N G

S T R A T E G I S T S

To deploy gifted ministry experts to provide our pastors and their teams with supplemental strategic care, counsel, and training.

C O N T E N T

C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

To develop practical, relevant, inspiring, and network specific resources that equip network pastors to carry out their mission and encourage them with stories of how God is working through their partnership with the network and one another.

CHURCH PLANTING AN

OVERVIEW

Our primary ministry to our churches is to help them plant churches, and 2016 was our most fruitful year to date in our network, seeing growth in assessments, approved planters, funding given to planters, and increased interest in church planters exploring our network. We gave nearly 50% of our budget about $430,000! directly to 14 church planters and to the following church planting related ministries: church planter identification and equipping, deploying network leaders and pastors to our churches for strategic missionrelated meetings, funding to new local campuses and congregations of multichurch, supporting other missionminded organizations, select microconferences, and specific missioncentric coaching cohorts We helped 10 churches plant a church or congregation this year. We assessed 8 potential church planters and their wives. We had 46 potential planters reach out to us to explore our network.

I RECEIVED BOTH PRAYER & COACHING IN PASTORING & THINKING THROUGH CHURCH PLANTING. KURT HANNAH, MISSIO DEI “Provided encouragement and rest to my family and I; provided pastoral friendships & relationships; provided equipping and resources for myself and our church [plant]; provided financial support. I am so grateful for the emphasis on personal health, family health and church health by Sojourn Network.” Aaron Lentz, Athens Church

“We've always had a heart to plant more churches, but since joining the Network, our conviction to multiply has deepened. We are actively looking to create more lanes in our church for future plants by creating space with our time, energy, and resources.” Travis Scott, Shorebreak Church “I went through assessment this year [with Sojourn Network]. We found that the assessment brought a great deal of our issues and difficulties in planting to the surface. I don't know that those would have been revealed if it weren't for the collective experience and wisdom which Sojourn brings.” Jason Bradshaw, Gospel Community Church “Our church received financial support, coaching from other network pastors, training at the SN Leaders’ Summit, and general camaraderie, community, and care.” Garrison Greene, Veritas Dayton

We hosted over 140 lead pastors and wives at our

EVENTS &

annual spring Lead Pastors and Wives’ Retreat in Destin, Florida for four days of rest, renewal,

CONFERENCES AN

relational connections, and reflection on life, marriage, and ministry.

OVERVIEW

We hosted over 450 pastors and ministry leaders at our fall Leaders’ Summit and PreConference for Conferences are a tremendous way to train and care

training on churches planting churches.

for pastors and their teams, provide venues for relational connections to start and grow, and to

We helped sponsor two regional microconferences

gather together as a network of pastors to be

that, together, trained over 315 men and women on

encouraged by what God has done and continues to

issues of gospelcentered racial reconciliation,

do to advance his mission. Sojourn Network events

discipling the poor out of poverty, and engaging

in 2016 served over 980 people.

communities with acts of mercy and benevolence.

I WAS PROUD TO BRING A FRIEND. HE WAS BLOWN AWAY BY THE COMBINATION OF GRACE AND FAMILY WITH TOPNOTCH TEACHING AND RESOURCES. DAVE AINSWORTH, KING'S CROSS

“The Leaders' Summit was good for my soul. God spoke to me through some key messages during the keynote times. As we are having discussions about what it looks like to plant a church in our local midwest context there was some good wisdom dispensed that was applicable to our thinking. These words of wisdom from veteran planters was very timely.” Jonathan Davis, Delta Church “I was greatly helped by the conferences and challenged and encouraged by the many relationships with other pastors.” Bert Daniel, Crawford Avenue Baptist Church “The brotherhood amongst the pastors is quite the encouragement to me. And so is the lead pastors and wives’ retreat!” Chris Fowler, Community Church of Westhaven “The events have created long lasting relationships for me, along with the guys on our team. These have been exceedingly life giving for my wife and I. Thank you.” Travis Scott, Shorebreak Church 11

COACHING COHORTS AN

OVERVIEW

Our suite of coaching cohorts is designed to provide groupbased training, coaching and counseling to lead pastors and key ministry leaders in their churches. From executive pastors to new church planters, community group leaders to counseling ministry leaders, young preachers to seasoned church leaders, these cohorts provide a helpful venue for our churches for ongoing learning in ministryspecific and rolespecific formats. In January of 2016 we launched this new ministry and, by year’s end, we saw 11 cohorts launched and over 100 pastors and ministry leaders served through these cohorts.

MY XP COHORT HAS BEEN THE MOST HELPFUL MINISTRY TOOL I'VE EVER RECEIVED. JEREMY HATFIELD, PLEASANT VALLEY COMMUNITY CHURCH

“The coaching cohort with Daniel Montgomery and Justin Karl (as well as Daniel’s visit to San Francisco in person) has been the best leadership development process I've ever been through. It's inspired a lot of change and hope for me personally and for our church, and is also very reproducible. I'm excited to take people through what I've experienced.” Dave Ainsworth, King’s Cross Church “The personal relationships with Sojourn Network staff and pastors are the core of why we're part of SN. We also benefited greatly from several coaching cohorts/consulting opportunities, as well as the Leaders' Summit.” Brandon Shields, Soma Church Indianapolis

“You've provided an atmosphere and culture of impromptu coaching within the network. Because of that culture I can literally shoot out a text or call to any network pastor and they will pray with me, listen to me, and guide me in my leadership obstacle.” Rob Maine, Renaissance Church

DEPLOYING STRATEGISTS AN

OVERVIEW

Sojourn Network provides ministry expertise and

In 2016, we deployed and resourced strategists to

guidance to our pastors and their teams through gifted

go on over 30 of these onsite visits to network

and seasoned ministry experts we call “strategists.” These

churches to help churches start new ministries,

strategists offer supplemental care, support, counsel, and

purchase facilities, plant churches, start new

training in a variety of formats including quick emails,

campuses and congregations, work through crisis,

phone calls, resource creation, and even through onsite

and more.

visits to our churches.

THE SUPPORT AND ADVICE OF THE NETWORK LEADERS HAS BEEN INVALUABLE. ANDY ADKISON, IMMANUEL CHURCH

“The regular support that we receive from Sojourn staff and pastors has been vital as we transition into being a larger church. We have also benefitted from the community that has been built among other Sojourn churches.” Josh Hausen, Redeemer Community Church

“Tim Beltz served our church by helping our leadership team develop new bylaws that allowed me to think about Renaissance Church 10 years from now. Additionally, while he was in PGH he coached us on how to look for a new space and what parameters we needed to consider as search.” Rob Maine, Renaissance Church “After my sabbatical our church was on the verge of dying. SN helped by providing encouragement, help and conversations that helped me work through vision casting, unifying our elder team and growing as a pastor.” Anonymous SN Pastor “I received a tremendous amount of support and wisdom by certain individuals and also as a body. We are constantly using your people and resources to inform a lot of our decisions.” Chad Trollinger, Crawford Avenue Baptist Church

COMMUNICATIONS AND RESOURCES AN

OVERVIEW

Through our website, social media, internal communications, blogs, Sojourn Network papers, emails and phone calls, we want our communication to creatively, consistently, and clearly equip and encourage our pastors, their teams, and the watching world. 2016 was a year marked by consistent growth in each of these areas:

50 new blogs, 7 new white papers, 113,000 total pageviews on our website, and 92% of our pastors said their leaders and churches were greatly equipped by Sojourn Network content and resources. Additionally, network staff regularly send updates to our lead pastors that include stories from our churches, network happenings, and upcoming events.

THE RESOURCES Y'ALL ARE PUTTING OUT ARE SUPER HELPFUL FOR ME AND OUR CHURCH. TRENT CHAMBERS, SOJOURN WOODSTOCK “White papers continue to be high quality and are helping facilitate conversations for our team. Particularly the one in which Dave outlined the "law school/bar exam" paradigm for assessment.” Joshua Hughes, Four Oaks Community Church

“The newsletter has been a great resource, and all that it points to I would miss stuff if it depended on my going to the SN website. I use the white papers personally and with my core team. And I appreciate the City it helps me stay connected with the other pastors.” Dave Ainsworth, King’s Cross Church “I love the white papers. First, it helps us establish a common language in regard to all of the issues addressed. Secondly, I always learn a great deal from these and truly appreciate the time and energy put forth.” Jason Bradshaw, Gospel Community Church “The white papers have been great! We used them as we were forming our kid's ministry. The blog was wonderful too. Dave Harvey’s several posts on preaching were very helpful for me as I've moved into preaching weekly for the first time this year.” Garrison Greene, Veritas Dayton “I really enjoy the videos from the Daves [Dave Harvey and Dave Owens].” Danny Wright, Greenville Grace 17

A little bit about the churches in Sojourn Network ...

Our hope is that through our core ministries above, we can play a small role in seeing healthy pastors leading healthy churches that last. In 2016, and by God’s grace, we continued to see fruit from our ministry. We ended 2016 with 42 churches in 14 states and, together, we saw over 540 baptized in Sojourn Network churches and an average of 15,000 gathered on any given Sunday in our churches.

Our network churches span the United States, from Hawaii to New York, Washington to Florida. While we are immensely grateful for the churches the Lord has brought into our network over the past five years, there is much work still to be done to plant new churches in areas that desperately need the gospel.

WHERE WE ARE

MEET OUR NEW FAMILY MEMBERS

Sojourn Network is a familya family of people and churches partnering together through a beautiful gospel to see healthy pastors planting, growing, and multiplying healthy churches that last. We love celebrating new partner churches, new church plants, and new staff members who help move our mission to our pastors and churches forward. 19

NEW CHURCH PLANTS WELCOMED

2016

In 2016, we assessed, approved & welcomed six new church planters: Jared Sparks Christ Church, Carbondale, IL Aaron Lentz Athens Church, Columbus, IN Danny Hinton Gospel Community Church, Owensboro, KY Jason Bradshaw Gospel Community Church, Troy, OH Dwayne Gibbs The District Church, Indianapolis, IN Joel Busby Grace Fellowship, Birmingham, AL

FROM OUR PLANTERS BY

DANNY

HINTON

DWAYNE

GIBBS

“Simply put, Gospel Community ChurchOwensboro wouldn't exist without the support and direction of Sojourn Network. In the context of reaching the Deaf, there exists only 39 churches of ANY denomination to reach an estimated 7.5 MILLION Deaf individuals in the U.S. With Sojourn Network's help, this year we have seen dozens of Deaf people come to faith in Christ. Your funding has not only helped us secure equipment for the worship gathering, but also has helped us begin a food pantry that feeds impoverished Deaf families weekly. Your counsel and trainings have equipped our pastors to equip these new saints for the work of the ministry. Your retreat gave us some overdue rest and a support system to forge ahead with a mission that has often seemed impossible. Your prayers and frequent communication have served to remind us we aren't alone. Gospel Community Church is honored and thankful to be part of such an amazing network of churches! We love you guys and pray for each of you often and by name!” Danny Hinton, Gospel Community Church

“The assessment process was very encouraging to my family. We felt welcomed by the affirmation and support of the assessors. We felt loved through the entire process which helped to calm any unnecessary nerves. In addition, the team graciously pointed out areas for growth and development with humbleness and a gentle spirit.” Dwayne Gibbs, The District Church

EXISTING

In 2016, we welcomed four new existing church partners:

CHURCH

Redemption Spokane Spokane, WA Shorebreak Church Kona, HI

ADOPTIONS WELCOMED

2016

Immanuel Church Birmingham, AL Heritage Baptist Church Owensboro, KY

“One of my deep needs as a local church pastor has been to not feel orphaned since the closing down of our sending church. Sojourn has adopted this once orphaned church and I could not be more grateful. This year, with the adoption, conference, relationships, cohorts, etc., I feel deeply connected once again to a church family that is bigger and healthier than me. Thank you!” Miles Rhode, Redemption Spokane 22

OUR NEW STAFF MEET JAMIN STINZIANO

In the summer of 2016, Sojourn Network hired Jamin to lead a team of current network staff and pastors to assess and rebuild our entire church planting process. Jamin is one of the founding pastors of Summit Church in southwest Florida. Summit is 1 church with 3 campuses, 2 in Ft. Myers and 1 in Naples. Jamin has a Master of Divinity from Denver Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry in Applied Theology from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jamin has been married to Vicky for 15 years and they are the parents of 6 children, 3 by birth and 3 through the foster system.

MEET WHITNEY BOZARTH

In the fall of 2016, Sojourn Network hired Whitney Bozarth as our program coordinator to assist with growing demands and opportunities in the areas of communications, connecting with interested churches and church planters, and to assist the Associate Director in a variety of tasks and projects. Whitney and her husband Jacob have been married for 7 years and have two daughters (Chloe, 4 and Aubrey 2). They are a part of Sojourn East in Louisville. Whitney serves on the worship team at Sojourn East, writes music, and enjoys home projects and exploring the local Louisville restaurant scene.

TOTAL GIVEN TO CHURCH PLANTING & MISSION

$430,000 The figure above represents 49% of our overall budget for 2016.

49%

Copyright © 2017 by Sojourn Network All rights reserved. This report or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher or author. Printed in the United States of America First Printing, 2017 Sojourn Network 1303 South Shelby Street Louisville, KY 40217 www.sojournnetwork.com