Reformed Presbyterian Minutes of Synod 1995 - Rparchives.org

120 MINUTES OF THE SYNOD OF THEWe also want to give a clear word of appreciation and encouragement tothe Covenanter Witness for the series of articles on evangelism beingpublished this year. It is a great help in this area of need.Church Planter TrainingWe held the 4th Church Planter's Conference last February in westernNew York state. Mr. LeRoy Eims was the featured speaker. Mrs. VirginiaEims led two sessions for the women. We also used our own men andwomen to lead workshops and other sessions. Seven of the eleven churchplanter couples were able to attend. Training is very important and theBoard continues to be committed to providing excellent training for the menwho are in new works.Evaluating Potential Church PlantersIn the last two years we have lost four church planters from new worksinto which the HMB and Presbyteries had invested tens of thousands ofdollars and untold hours of labor. These were 4 out of 14 church planterswho are/were in aid receiving works - an alarmingly high 28%! This hashighlighted a need which we have known for a long time. There is a need tohave some specialized evaluation of potential church planters before theymove to a new work. We need to do the best we can to insure that they aregifted and thoroughly prepared in every way possible for this specializedcalling. We need to be as sure as we can that we are not asking these menand their families to do something for which God has not enabled them.To this end the HMB is investigating several established evaluationprocesses which could help Presbyteries with this specialized evaluation. Weare offering this help to Presbyteries who are willing to receive it.Specifically, we are asking that men being considered for immediateplacement as a church planter to volunteer to work through this evaluationprocess with us in conjunction with their Presbytery. The first few evaluationswill be for all of us to gain experience with the process. Later, if it proves tobe a valuable tool, the HMB may require it as a condition for receiving aid.We trust you can see the need for something like this.For the record, the Foreign Mission Board has done this with itsmissionary candidates for many years.We believe that this kind of oversight is urged upon us in such Scripturesas Proverbs 27:23-27.Assessing Progress in New WorksBeginning immediately, the Board is requiring new works to use two newprogress assessment tools to help them evaluate their progress in the ministry.Each year, with their request for aid, a statistics report will need to besubmitted. This report is being developed now and will be available shortlyso new works can know what statistics they need to be recording this comingyear. In addition, by the Fall of the 3rd year of reducing aid, the HMB mustreceive an evaluation from the Presbytery of the continuing viability of the