DALLAS — Several hundred planters, pastors, ministry leaders and everyday believers heard about the need in North America for more missionaries who engage communities with the gospel, make disciples and start new churches during Send Network’s Kickoff event June 9 ahead of the SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas.
“We are here for a mission. The mission of seeing churches planted everywhere for everyone; the mission of seeing Jesus lifted high in every city, every state, in every neighborhood and every nation,” said Noah Oldham, executive director of Send Network, as the event began.
Following a session of heartfelt praise as attendees lifted their voices and their hands in worship, Bryan Loritts, vice president of regions for Send Network, delivered a message about the need for the whole family of God to engage in the whole mission of God.
Clarence Jones was a lawyer in the 1960s, Loritts said, who had reached the pinnacle of his career and moved into his dream home when Martin Luther King, Jr., gave him a visit. Jones eventually left his comfortable job and joined King in the Civil Rights movement.
“I’m here to tell you that Jesus comes offering a greater vision than Dr. King. He offers a vision that transcends racial equality and economic justice,” said Loritts. “Jesus gives us not just a better narrative, but a metanarrative. It’s the metanarrative of the kingdom. It’s the metanarrative of the gospel.”
Loritts went on to encourage attendees to be “all in” disciples who make disciples out of the overflow of their time with Jesus so that every believer lives on mission for the gospel.
Vance Pitman, president of Send Network, led attendees in a time of corporate prayer for unity and a focus on the mission of proclaiming the gospel.
Equipping the church for church planting
Following the prayer time, Send Network’s vice presidents joined Pitman on stage to share some of the pathways Send Network provides for equipping churches and individuals get involved in the kingdom work of church planting.
Tony Merida, vice president of planter development, pointed pastors and aspiring church planters in the room to the Nine Essentials of a Faithful and Effective Church Planter, a new, foundational resource for those pursuing the call to plant.
“When I came to Send Network, we wanted to really strengthen theology, preaching, ecclesiology – make sure we are giving proper attention to these categories,” Merida said, “that we’re not just sending out church planters but that we’re sending out faithful and effective church planters who can articulate the gospel well and know how to lead churches well.”
Many of the training materials and resources Send Network offers are translated into Spanish. As the Hispanic population has grown, the need for more church planting missionaries has grown as well.
“When we talk about the Hispanic space – 67 million Hispanics in America, 19 percent of the population – we can’t [make an impact on lostness] if we don’t reach the Hispanic population as well,” said Jose Abella, vice president of Send Network Español.
Abella shared about the success Send Network has had raising up Hispanic church planters as approximately one-fourth of church planters who have gone through Send Network’s processes in recent years have been Hispanic.
During the panel, the principle that churches plant churches was reiterated repeatedly, and Matt Carter, vice president of mobilization for Send Network, discussed three of the avenues Send Network has for engaging churches in the work of planting new churches: Sending Labs, Residency Builder and Multiplier Gatherings.
“Fundamentally, we believe that organizations don’t plant churches but, biblically speaking, churches plant churches,” Carter said. “When Vance brought me on the team … one of the first things he said was … ‘inspire churches to get back to the biblical model of raising up elder-qualified men from within their church and sending them out.’”
As part of the Kickoff, Pitman underscored a series of events called Send Network One Day Events – regional events launching in the fall that will invite every church leader and Jesus follower to engage their city with the gospel.
“We’ve got to start thinking about church planting differently,” Pitman said. “We’re not just looking for church planters. We’re looking for people to leverage their lives, their jobs, their skills and their passions.”
The One Day events are designed for anyone interesting in being a part of a new church, whether as a planter or as a church planting team member, someone who could use their career to join and strengthen the evangelistic work of a new church. To reach North America, Pitman said, it will take the entire body of Christ to engage in the mission.
“I think,” said Pitman, “we have to get back to a kingdom vision of understanding that it’s about cities being engaged with the gospel and the percentage of lostness decreasing.”
Published June 9, 2025