Academy of Christian Training and Service (ACTS Center)
For more information on the ACTS Center contact the Director, Carl Love at 254-939-0761 or by email at centxcpc@gmail.com.
Classes are every Tuesday evening.
Download the 2023-2024 Syllabus .pdf file
We have expanded the Church Planting Center to focus on overall leadership training, but we are still seeking church planters. If you have someone in your congregation who feels called to start a new church, we would like to train and equip them with you. If you have a Deacon, Sunday School Teacher, Youth/Children’s leader, lay leader, or anyone seeking to expand their leadership ability, we would like to see them commit to the ACTS Center for our ten-month course in leadership training.
Classes are on Tuesday evenings from 6:00-9:00 pm at the Bell Baptist Association.
Contact Carl Love (254)-913-4014 or email centxcpc@gmail.com
Central Texas Church Planting Center (CTCPC) Overview and Plan:
Rationale:
1. Tremendous need for new churches. In BBA, we have 72 churches and missions that are reaching approximately 30,000 people in Bell County. The current population is approximately 360,000. BBA is currently reaching 8.3% of our population. Our number of churches has grown in the past seven years through new churches planted and established churches joining BBA. That growth rate has been 4.1% per year. The population growth rate in Bell County during the same time has been 9.7%. We are losing ground.
2. We have a slow rate of planting churches. During the last 11 years we have planted 14 churches. Of these two have closed, six are active churches and six are still in planting status. While we thank the LORD for these active churches and plants, it is not enough to begin to meet the need of our growing population.
3. We need better prepared church planters. We have a good approach to planting churches: We require an assessment of the planters, a sponsoring BBA church for the plant, coaching and support provided by state conventions, and mentoring provided by a local support group. We do not have a group of prepared planters waiting for churches to support and fund their ministry. We are finding that the planters we do have need more training to grow the church plants deeper, larger, and stronger during the funding phase and beyond.
4. Texas Baptists recognizes the need for more training for Church Planters. Current statistics show that churches less than 10 years old account for 20% of the Texas Baptist churches. This year, 404 church plants recorded 20,280 professions of faith. These same church plants only recorded 4,000 baptisms. This shows a need for more discipleship and direction.
5. Acts 1:8 mandate goes beyond Bell County and Texas and we need more church planters trained to fulfill our Lord’s international mandate.
Current Plan:
1. Bell Baptist Association will start a Church Planting Center based on a one year model shared by Paul Atkinson. This partnership will be with the Texas Baptists and others who want to share in the process of preparing church planters.
a. Mission Development Team will appoint a team to oversee the CPC.
b. Carl Love will be employed part-time to serve as CPC Director
Benefits from Church Planting Center:
1. Helpful process for church planters to start and grow church plants deeper, broader and Stronger during the funding phase and beyond.
2. Opportunity to involve more churches in church planting.
3. Helpful training for those who are serving in re-start church situations.
4. Provides practical leadership training for current church staff and lay leadership.
5. Kingdom focused. Reminder church planting is a cooperative focus bigger than any one church, association, area, or state entity.
Responsibilities:
Responsibility of Texas Baptists Apprentices:
1. Pass church planting assessment.
2. Attend three hours of class a week.
3. Attend four/five weekend seminars.
4. Work with sponsor/mentor church at least 7 hours a week in church planting activities.
5. Sign BBA CPC Ministry Covenant which includes an initial 90 day probation/evaluation period.
6. Develop a plan for personal/spiritual growth and theological education.
7. Within one year of completing CPC Program, launch a Texas Baptists and BBA supportive church plant.
Responsibility of Mentoring Church:
1. Provide at least seven hours of church planting activities for the Texas Baptists apprentice to fulfill CPC course of study.
2. Provide mentoring guidance to the apprentice.
3. Provide a supportive church family for apprentice and family.
Responsibility of Sponsoring Church:
1. Provide some monetary support for apprentice.
2. Provide a supportive church family for apprentice and family if needed.
3. The mentoring and sponsoring church may be one and the same.
Responsibility of BBA CPC Council:
1. Coordinate with BBA and Texas Baptists to provide site and resources for three hours a week class for no more than five Texas Baptists apprentices.
2. Account for monies collected from sponsors and distributed to apprentices for other expenses.
3. Choose and support CPC coordinator.
4. Provide periodic planning and achievement reports to BBA, Texas Baptists, sponsoring and mentoring churches.
Responsibility of Texas Baptists:
1. Provide some monetary support for CPC Program (apprentices, personnel and site).
2. Provide examples of curriculum to fulfill outcomes.
3. Provide resource personnel to teach some of the curriculum.
4. Provide resources and personnel for Assessment weekend and at least three other training weekends.
Responsibility of Site Coordinator:
1. Work with and report to CPC council to fulfill responsibilities in light of Texas Baptists and BBA guidelines.
2. Work with Texas Baptists apprentices in developing and fulfilling a personal growth plan.
3. Work with CPC council, BBA churches, Texas Baptists, and other interested evangelical parties to recruit apprentices, CPC participants, instructors, sponsoring and mentoring churches.