A Day With Darrin Patrick in the Bay Area (Tomorrow)
Tomorrow I’ll be spending the day with Darrin Patrick in the Bay Area. The Gospel Coalition: Bay Area chapter that a few of us formed is now partnering with The NorCal Network (which is now partnering with Acts29) to host this event.
In the afternoon Darrin is leading a seminar for church planters titled,”Leading the Mission.”
In the evening Darrin is speaking to the general public on “Redeeming Masculinity.”
Church planters who attend the afternoon session will receive a free copy of Darrin’s new book, Church Planter.
Here’s Tim Keller’s endorsement for the book:
“This is a great new book on church planting that balances the personal spiritual issues with the theological, cultural, and technical. Church planters should all read this.”
—Tim Keller, Senior Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York City
Acts29 has more info about the event.
Go here to register for tomorrow’s event. Cancel the plans you had for tomorrow. Come to this.
The Mount Hermon Bookstore
I’m spending this week at Mount Hermon. If you live in the Bay Area you need to visit the Mount Hermon Bookstore. It is, by far, the best Christian bookstore in the entire 8 million person Bay Area, probably in all of Northern California.
My good buddy from seminary, Todd, is the buyer for the bookstore. For the past few years he’s made sure this isn’t your typical Christian bookstore filled with precious moments figurines. This is a store stocked with solid books.
Visit the store.
I’m Leaving a Church I Love to, Lord Willing, Plant A Church I will Love
Buzzard Blog readers,
After four fantastic years at Central Peninsula Church, I’ve decided, in concert with our elders, to leave a church I love (see: 14 Reasons Why I Love My Church). This week the news has been made public. Below is an excerpt from a letter that Mark Mitchell, our Lead pastor and my close friend (the above pic is of Mark and me on a mission trip in Cambodia during my 2nd week on staff at CPC), sent out to our church body this week.
I will share more details later. For now, please pray that God would clearly guide me and Taylor as we try to decide between two wonderful church planting opportunities/cities. And join me in praising God for Central Peninsula Church–this body of believers has been our family the past four years, and leaving them is far from easy.
I am sure we would all agree that change is necessary at times, but it is also hard. This is especially true when change involves long-standing and treasured relationships. Change like this happens in families, business, and even churches. While we usually enjoy the influx of change that new people bring to our church family, we also grieve the loss of those who the Lord moves to other places. This is such a time for us at CPC. The Lord has chosen to bring change to us through the departure of two treasured staff members: Kim Fenech and Justin Buzzard.
…Justin joined our staff four years ago as our Twenties Pastor. In four short years he has grown our Twenties ministry to include close to 150 people. Justin’s wife, Taylor, has also worked side by side with him in this ministry. It’s not an exaggeration to say that our Twenties ministry is the strongest of its kind on the San Francisco Peninsula. Justin has also regularly fed our entire church body through his Sunday morning preaching. His passion for the Scripture and the Gospel has had a tremendous impact on all of us and will never be forgotten at CPC. At this time, Justin has a strong desire to plant an independent church where he can serve as Lead Pastor. Our CPC elders have affirmed these gifts in him and look forward to how God will use him in this capacity. Justin will preach his last Sunday here on May 23. The Twenties will host a lunch for all who want to say goodbye to the Buzzards after the 11:00 am service that day. Justin’s last day on staff will be June 6.
As I said before, change is hard, but sometimes change is necessary. As we work through the sadness and sense of loss these staff changes bring, it is important for us to remember that we are part of a larger, worldwide work of Kingdom building that the Lord is accomplishing through His people. He is the Lord of the harvest. He has every right to move His servants where He needs them the most. He is our Rock. These times of change force us to trust in the One whose promises and character never changes. He is also our Provider. He will provide for them and He will provide for us. We encourage all of you to be praying for the Fenechs and the Buzzards, as well as for CPC as we all seek God’s direction and provision in the midst of the challenges that change brings.
Mark Mitchell
Lead Pastor
Thursday Nights
A number of you have asked me questions about what we do on Thursday nights at 20s, about what our Thursday night gatherings look like. Below are a few images and a pdf of one of our weekly bulletins. This should give you a good picture of what we do.
20s Leaders
I have a fantastic team of leaders who lead 20s along with me. Here’s picture of my team from our Good Friday Feast this past weekend.
TGC: Bay Area. Christ, Sex, & The City Conference
- Nearly 400 people (mostly twentysomethings) from across the Bay Area showed up for our TGC: Bay Area; Christ, Sex, & The City Conference with Peter Jones.
- It was a great night.
- It was encouraging to see this many people gathered together in the Bay Area to hear a message about responding to the sexuality of our culture with the gospel.
- Now we’re working on plans for the next conference.
Christ Church San Francisco
Several months ago my good friend, Toby Kurth, planted Christ Church in San Francisco. I’m looking forward to preaching at Christ Church this Sunday. God, through Toby and the people of Christ Church, is doing great things in the city of San Francisco.
Commit Tonight
A great group of friends contributed to the second issue of Commit. Commit will be available tonight, for $5, at The Christ, Sex, & The City Conference with Peter Jones. If you haven’t made plans to come to the conference, do so immediately.
Now you can also purchase Commit online and read a sample article or two.
Peter Jones Interview
Peter Jones is our keynote speaker for our The Gospel Coalition: Bay Area conference on March 18.
Below is an interview Mark Driscoll recently conducted with Peter Jones:
New 20s Welcome Video
I’d appreciate your continued prayer for the ministry we’re doing with twentysomethings here in the Bay Area. Check out our new welcome video.
CPC 20s Video from Central Peninsula Church on Vimeo.
