A call of action for the Great Commission

31 July 2015

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I greet you in the strong name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and in the afterglow of the International Catholic Congress of Anglicans, recently held in Fort Worth, TX, where I was asked by Fr. Lawrence Bausch and Bishop Keith Ackerman to serve as an advisor to FiFNA. Specifically, I have been given the charge of organizing a task force for church planting, which will organize and provide planting resources - including coaching - to bishops, parishes, and clusters, or groups, of people who want to explore church planting in the catholic tradition and witness to the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.

To further introduce myself by way of credentials, for the past seven years, I have been planting Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church in Fort Worth, under Bishop Jack Iker. In this time, our parish has grown to an ASA of 125 and an annual budget of $500,000. During this same time, I also worked in Waco, TX for the first four years of Christ Church, Waco’s existence, where I organized, pastored, provided resources for, and helped grow the congregation to the point where it has been able to call Fr. Lee Nelson as its planting vicar.

Planting churches has been a long-standing calling for me. I can think of nothing more exciting in ministry than serving the Great Commandment and Great Commission by establishing worshipping communities where they do not presently exist. It is with this specific call and charge by our Lord, within the context of my priestly ministry, that I hope to serve FiFNA and all who are discerning a similar call, whether in the ranks of clergy or laity.

Therefore, it is my intent to pursue the following call of action for the task force:

1. For the remainder of 2015, I intend to prayerfully organize the task force, drawing together teaching materials and people who are resourced to help the task force live into its charge, as well as developing a web page, which will offer blogs, provide resources, and give contact information for task force and planting purposes.
2. Starting in 2016, it is my hope that the task force will be ready to be dispatched into areas where we are called by bishops, parishes, and clusters, to provide the teaching necessary for planting.

In closing, may I suggest two opportunities: (a) discerning a call to serve on the task force; and/or (b) discerning a call to plant a church. If you are interested in either of these opportunities, please contact me at frculpepper@ctrfw.org.

Yours in Christ,

The Rev. Chris Culpepper
Advisor to FiFNA, Church Planting

P.O. Box 210248 • Bedford, TX 76095-7248 • Telephone 800-255-3661
Email: office@fifna.org • Website: www.fifna.org

“Upholding the Faith and Order of the Undivided Church”