Category Archives: News & Updates

October Church Planters Summit

Church Planting, News & Updates

Summit-LogoThursday, October 13
8 am – 2 pm
The Well Church
800 E 9400 S, Sandy UT

 

Cost: $15 at the door.
Lunch and childcare provided.

Utah Advance works in close collaboration with Loving Utah in the area of church planting. Recently the Loving Utah team has been asking the question: What if Loving Utah transformed from a church-planting network to a multiplying movement?

Discover how you can be part of a grander vision! Come learn from seasoned veterans. Pray and believe together. Help make Loving Utah a catalyst for multiplying churches in Utah.

Sign up for the Summit and give us your input on the registration form and survey below. (Please forward this to others who may be interested.)

Plant for the Gospel

News & Updates

I recently hggcad an opportunity to share my story and approach with a group of interns and church leaders from Gospel Grace Church in Salt Lake City. Gospel Grace is a recent church plant founded by four dedicated young planters.

Along with my colleague Danny Martin, we spent the morning over breakfast talking about ministry among Latter-day Saints. They wanted to hear my story of coming to faith in Christ after leaving Mormonism. It was encouraging to see this group asking thoughtful, stimulating questions as they grapple with how to engage their LDS friends and neighbors in meaningful faith conversations. I shared key concepts from my book Understanding Your Mormon Neighbor and gave everyone in the group a copy of the book. All in all it was a very engaging morning.

The team that planted Gospel Grace has a vision for planting more churches throughout Utah. They sponsor 4 summer Plant Camps each year involving 150+ students. They have 6 men in a 2-year church planting internship. They host the Enrich Conference to promote healthy ministry. They created Plant for the Gospel as a vehicle to advance these church planting initiatives. It was a privilege to share my thoughts and my hearts with this dynamic ministry.

 

Equip 2016

Ministry in LDS Culture, News & Updates

On August 20, I will be speaking at a regional ministry conference called EQUIP 2016. Several northerSomaChurchmeetingn Utah churches and ministries are working together to provide workshops for church and ministry volunteers and staff members. We especially want to serve and encourage church plants, which may not have resources to get training elsewhere.
The training starts at 9:00 am and ends by noon. It will be held at Alpine Church in Layton (254 W 2675 N, Layton UT 84041).

The workshops offered include:

  • Effective Children’s Ministry
  • Effective Small Groups
  • Effective Volunteer Leadership
  • Effective Worship Leading
  • Effective Discipleship

My workshop will be called Effective Ministry to Mormons.

To find out more or to register for this event, go to lovingutah.org.

New YouTube Channel Launch

News & Updates, Transitioning from Mormonism

This week I started a new YouTube channel dedicated to providing resources for helping former Latter-day Saints navigate the journey into historic, biblical Christianity. The channel is called Mentoring Former Mormons.

I encourage you to subscribe and share it with others! There isn’t much there right now, but I’m planning to release one new video every Monday.field-691616_1280-1280x554

There will be two kinds of resources featured.

  • Training resources for mentors. The training series will help prepare people to mentor or disciple transitioning Mormons. These videos will explore the unique issues former Mormons face on the journey, including emotional, relational, doctrinal, and cultural hurdles to overcome.
  • Topics for transitioners. We will fill the library with all kinds of resources that mentors can use with former LDS to talk through key issues with them. A mentor can say, “Here’s a video about to how find relationships in a new church. Let’s watch it and talk about it.”

We’re partnering with the discipleship website pursueGOD.org, where the videos can be found with summaries and discussion questions to facilitate the mentoring process. Here’s a recent one called “God: Body or Spirit?” PursueGOD.org also has great materials on how to succeed at biblical mentoring.

If you are a former Latter-day Saint, I invite you to join me to have a conversation on camera about the issues you faced and overcame in your journey. Contact me at utahadvance@gmail.com.

New Ministry Partner

News & Updates

Danny MartinWe are pleased to introduce Danny Martin, who will be working closely with Utah Advance. Danny is currently raising support to come to Utah as a missionary. He will be involved in mentoring and in helping us develop resources for churches.

When asked about his vision, Danny says, “I want Christians inside and outside of Utah partnering to disciple Mormons and former Mormons with the historic Christian faith.”

Danny is a recent graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has spent two summers serving in a church in Utah. His master’s thesis explored how evangelical engagement with Mormonism has changed in recent years.

Danny really understands Mormonism and shares our approach toward Mormonism as a cultural identity. If you are in the Midwest, he is available this summer to speak in your church or ministry, or to meet personally with you.

Please consider joining Danny’s team for prayer and financial support. You can contact him at martindaniel1985@gmail.com.