My name is Billy Rose, pastor of South Dallas Community Church. I never really set out to plant a church, but progressively after living and working in the community, God gave me a vision for a multi-ethnic, parish model church that was community-focused and gospel-driven. I found many resources regarding church planting in general that were very helpful.
However, The Evangel School of Urban Church Planting stands out as an essential tool for urban church planting for multiple reasons: it stresses the importance of a team and not focusing on the pastor; it is biblical and provides a firm scriptural foundation for the team; and finally, it is contextual to the needs and obstacles of planting in an urban area with vision for multiplication and raising up leaders. This school stands out as an essential tool for urban church planting.
The team aspect is helpful because it provides help and accountability for all involved and takes all the pressure off the pastor to have to do everything but fulfill his call to equip the saints. The biblical foundation is essential because it's easy to just “do what works” while neglecting spiritual warfare and to be guided not by techniques but by the Spirit of God. Finally, there are unique challenges and needs for planting in urban areas especially amongst lower income families—the training addresses that specifically. I highly recommend this training to urban church planters and their teams to go through as they form mission, vision, and values.
