In the last post, I introduced you to Dave Taylor, who is leading a Sovereign Grace church plant in Sydney, Australia (www.sovgrace.org.au). We’re always excited to go where we sense God’s direction and, like Dave, never dreamed that would be Australia!
Here’s part two of my interview.
Dave Harvey: What is your strategy for starting the church?
Dave Taylor: The first part of my strategy is to quite simply remember that it is not “my” church but God’s, and that it is not ultimately about me building it, but him. It can sound so ridiculously basic, and I guess that’s because it is, and yet (to this basic guy) this is a truth I have had deeply impressed on my heart throughout this last year of preparation. With major delays on visas and with the whole move nearly falling through on several occasions, this is a truth that I never want to move away from.
The small part that I’m then bringing to the strategic party is simply to do all I can to help build a community of believers who know, love, apply, and proclaim the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. For the first ten weeks leading up to our public launch in September, this will simply look like Sunday morning and mid-week times with the planting team. Our times will be spent doing life together, laying the foundation for Sovereign Grace Church, and casting vision for the future.
DH: Has anyone in Australia even heard of Sovereign Grace Ministries?
DT: In Christian circles in Sydney, it seems like everyone has heard of Sovereign Grace Ministries. It always amazes me to be honest—10,500 miles away from the UK—9,750 from Gaithersburg—and yet, most know exactly who we are and in particular, love our music!
DH: What are some of the biggest sacrifices of this church plant for you and your family?
DT: The biggest sacrifices we feel are all relational ones. We had been a part of Christchurch since it began in 1995 and loved every minute of it. To have served at Christchurch for so long was scandalous grace, and so for us as a family to leave the church, pastoral team, friends, and family behind was to do so with great sadness.
They may be out of sight, but they are never far from our minds.
DH: How does Sovereign Grace prepare to plant a church in a new country? Tell us about the preparation process.
DT: Well here’s how it worked for us. There were three clear parts to the planting story.
First, the place. For years there had been a steady interest in the Sovereign Grace Ministries website from online users in Australia. When a group of people began to clearly pursue us, a purposeful relationship began to unfold. Over time, contact only then increased from Sydney in particular, and after a visit, it seemed clear to us that God was calling us to this city.
Secondly, the man. To plant a church anywhere you need a senior pastor. Sovereign Grace is always looking out for these men, to help assess, train, and equip them for the task that God has called them to. This isn’t a quick process and I like that. It’s even slower when you prepare to head to a new country. I thank God for the years of training I have received in Sovereign Grace.
Thirdly, the support. Sovereign Grace is a family and I have experienced that more than ever during this preparation process. In the last year, I have received more support than I ever thought possible. Through encouragement, care, prayer, training, counsel, and a financial grant to help towards the plant, I am one seriously blessed planter! And that’s not where the story finishes—it’s only the beginning. Because the support is relational, it “moves” with us! We haven’t headed out as lone rangers into a foreign land. We go as part of a family who are standing beside us and eager to get in the trenches with us.
By God’s grace, our hope is that this is just the beginning of the Sovereign Grace Ministries Australia story...
Let’s be stirred to prayer for our friends. Dave is right—by God’s grace, this is just the beginning of our Australian story. We are eager to see God bless our friends as they plant a local church for God’s glory. Please continue to pray.
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Dave Harvey
leads international expansion and church planting for Sovereign Grace
Ministries and is based in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. For more
information about the Sovereign Grace church-planting process, click here.
I met Kang Songhwan when he and his wife, Miran, visited our church near Philly. Songhwan already had a seminary degree and almost ten years of pastoral experience. But the shocker was that they were considering moving temporarily from South Korea to the U.S. to attend our Pastors College. I remember being struck with the sincerity and humility of this couple—they were willing to make some serious sacrifices to go where they believed God was leading them. I’ve met few people like the Kangs.
Songhwan and Miran did move to Gaithersburg in 2008, and we were privileged to have them at the Pastors College. Songhwan did a remarkable job of navigating an intensive ten-month study program in his second language. (I mean school was always a challenge for me in my first language!) Songhwan graduated in June of 2009 and moved back to Seoul to plant a church.
Fast-forward to today: There are about 30 adults in Lord’s Grace Church, meeting in an English-language school in central Seoul. Songhwan recently finished teaching a series on foundational doctrines and commitments. On the final Sunday of that series, the church’s first members made a public commitment to the church, and everyone celebrated with a shared meal afterward. It’s no megachurch, but numbers aren’t what Songhwan is aiming for. A recent email from him says that the church “is growing continuously and happily in God’s mercy and grace.”
Now that’s good news.
Would you pray with us for Lord’s Grace Church? Please pray:
- that God would grant the church favor in their community
- that the church would share the gospel effectively and many would be saved
- for financial provision for this brand new church as it gets started in an expensive city
- that God would give grace and wisdom to the Kangs as they lead this church
Thanks for praying for believers in Seoul!
If you’d like to support Sovereign Grace Ministries’ work outside the U.S., you can make a designated gift by clicking here.
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Dave Harvey
leads international expansion and church planting for Sovereign Grace
Ministries and is based in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. For more
information about the Sovereign Grace church-planting process, click here.
Get to know Toby Kurth and you will observe his passion for the advance of the gospel through urban church planting. But urban church planting is more than a passion for him. He has previously assisted in several church contexts and helped in the 2004 launch of
Sovereign Grace City Church in Brooklyn, New York. Last year Toby graduated from the Pastors College and he now leads Christ Church, a church plant in urban San Francisco.
During our recent
Pastors Conference, Toby explained the reasons why he wanted to plant in the city. He explained his path to planting in San Francisco, recounted some of the answered prayers along the way, and explained why this pursuit promises both reward and difficulty.
Listen to Toby’s 10-minute update for an inside look at the most recent Sovereign Grace church plant:
Download MP3 (2.4 MB)
Each year, Sovereign Grace Ministries presents a short documentary highlighting a few of the activities in our family of churches. This Mission Presentation is usually made in Sovereign Grace churches over various Sundays in October. This year, we produced three shorter films to highlight each of our funding categories—our Pastors College, our ministry among international churches, and our church-planting activities in the United States.
This year’s Pastors College documentary features the Arche Church in Hamburg, Germany, which sent Christian Wegert to be part of the 2007–2008 Pastors College class.
The international documentary features Covenant Life Church of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was planted by two Pastors College students five years ago and is now planting another church in Addis.
The final video is an interview with C.J. Mahaney by Joshua Harris, which addresses some of the structural changes Sovereign Grace Ministries has made to position our ministry for growth in domestic church-planting.
Watch a trailer of the three 2008 Mission Presentation videos
here.
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Related: Previous Mission Presentations can be viewed at www.missionvideos.org.