In March, Dan Claire participated in the inaugural meeting of the North American Network, intended to foster collaboration and partnership between missional urban churches within a wide array of denominations and traditions. About 120 leaders attended this three-day conference in Miami, which featured talks by Dr. Tim Keller and panel discussions on strategy, worship and spiritual vitality. Three of the presentations during the conference area available online at Redeemer City to City.

Resurrection’s vision for metro Washington is a spiritual ecosystem in which many church planting movements from different traditions are working alongside one another in harmony. Dr. Keller’s presentation on Gospel Ecosystems at the NAN conference is a terrific picture of what this might look like. Listen to it as a podcast or read our one page synopsis.

The Rev. Mark Booker, who has served as a pastor at Resurrection since 2005 and leader of the Northeast Network of the Anglican Mission, has been called to lead a new church plant in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. He and his family will be moving to Massachusetts later this spring.

Reaching New England for Christ is at the heart of the vision of the Northeast Network, of which Resurrection, Advent, and Ascension are all members. The primary strategy for this work involves establishing new congregations like Resurrection in the major urban centers between DC and Maine. Consequently, the leadership of the Northeast Network has been praying for several years for an opportunity to begin a new work in the city of Boston. And in answer to these prayers, a lay-initiated group came together in Boston in the fall of 2008, and reached out to the network. Through prayer and dialogue together, both the Bookers and the nascent church in Boston heard the Lord’s call for this next step. With the affirmation and support of Bishop Thad Barnum, Rector Dan Claire, and other Resurrection leadership, Pastor Mark announced news of this new work to the congregation on Sunday, February 1.

The Booker family has been integral to the life and growth of the Church of the Resurrection during the past 3+ years. They are greatly loved and will be missed by everyone. However, the Boston mission, like Advent and Ascension, is a natural extension of the special calling that the Lord has given to Resurrection as a “church plant that plants churches that plant churches.” There is joy in seeing the Lord raise up and send out such able ambassadors for mission in the hard and rocky soil of New England.

Last Friday at the Anglican Mission 2009 Winter Conference, Resurrection and Advent clergy led a workshop entitled “Planting Churches in Urban Soil.” After an introduction from Bishop Thad Barnum, Dan Claire presented some of the history and distinctives of our churches, followed by a panel discussion and Q & A with Mark Booker and Tommy Hinson.

You can listen to the whole workshop here: Planting Churches in Urban Soil.