I am in a network of churches in Austin and our vision is to saturate the city of Austin with new churches. Our goal is to have 5 churches have a shot at starting in the city every year for the next 5 years before we re-evaluate.

Our plan was to go to Exponential (a conference for those interested in starting a new church) and make connections with those who might be interested in coming to Austin and partnering with us in our vision to saturate Austin.

Overall it was a good trip. We met a number of people. Were encouraged. Encouraged others. However, in the end we need to put more energy into raising up people who want to start a new church rather than go “shopping” for people. During the conference we worked on a plan to create a hands on training program to identify future interests and provide tangible experience in the process.

Has to be better than walking up to random people and asking, “Ever thought about moving to Austin? Heh? Heh?”