Breaking News - Rome Church Plant

(brian writing) This morning, I had a twenty minute conversation with a guy named Bryan Pierce. Who is Bryan Pierce? He is currently on staff at Perimeter Church , where Jenny and I have been members since we got married back in 2001. Perimeter is known for many things, most of them good, but the two things for which it is most widely known are its pastor Randy Pope (who is on my personal Mount Rushmore), and church planting. Perimeter has planted over a dozen churches in the Atlanta metro area, which are all PCA churches (our denomination). Their technique, tried and true, is to recruit a young buck not far out of seminary, put him on staff and through boot camp for around two years, and shove him out the door to a strategic location, predetermined by the North Georgia Presbytery, to plant a church. That brings me back to Bryan Pierce - he and his family are moving to Rome in two weeks to do that very thing here in our community. The Rome Church Plant from Perimeter is their most far reaching plant to date.

Jenny and I are pumped. Some of you know that we were inches away from moving to Berkeley, CA last year to assist a PCA church plant out there. Circumstances (i.e., MK on the way) changed that, and we came to the small town to raise her and focus on being a family. We wanted to be involved in a church plant, but just couldn't get any peace about going to CA. So, we made the decision to come to Rome.

Imagine my shock when soon thereafter I'm minding my own business at a nonprofit board meeting in Duluth GA and Randy Schlichting (on Perimeter's pastoral staff) casually mentions to me that Perimeter is sending a plant to Rome within the next few years. That was a moment like you see in the cartoons, when an exclamation point pops up over somebody's head...okay back to this morning.

The Pierce's will be in Rome in mid-July, and will hit the ground running, laying the groundwork for the plant. Projected start date for Sunday morning services is September 2007, with the development of a core group (via discipleship groups, home fellowships, etc) in the meantime. Jenny and I visited First Presbyterian Church in Rome last Sunday, and enjoyed it very much. We will likely continue to attend there until the plant gets off of the ground.

The only issue we have is when to get MK baptized...Bob Carter at Perimeter told us to wait until we get established in a church in Rome, but with the plant not starting services until '07...we might do the private ceremony thing at our house, invite family and close friends...we'll prayerfully consider our options and decide later.

We will keep everyone updated on the status of the plant, since it will be a big part of our lives, and, well, that's the purpose of the blog.........