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November 21, 2015
Philip Rizzo
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Why A Church Pioneering Conference?

HobokenBG

Let me preface my remarks by clearly stating; I am not against church pioneers traveling on deputation to raise support.

However, I believe there is a better way.

I did my fair share of traveling to raise support before starting City Baptist Church. We have churches that support us from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Maryland, Florida, California, Texas, Oklahoma, etc, and I am thankful for these churches! By God’s grace, we raised just over $3,000 a month while zig-zagging across the country for a year and a half. We were in churches that were large and small, young and old, rich and poor. God used those eighteen months to refine our vision for planting City Baptist Church and allowed us to gain our greatest asset—prayer support.

October 2015 marks the three-year anniversary of our church plant here in Hoboken. As I look back at deputation, it seems that its primary objective, financial support, was the area in which it was the least efficient. I am very grateful for the monthly support we DID raise, but it took eighteen months to raise about $36,000 per year. That means that for every 40-hour work week we were on deputation, we raised only $11.54 per hour. Think about that for a minute. Church planters have to leave their current employment to go on full-time deputation for years in order to raise minimum support at a very slow pace. This seems inefficient.

In my experience, the most efficient way to raise financial support for domestic church pioneers is through church pioneering/planting conferences. There are conferences around the country in New York State, Oklahoma, Colorado, Missouri, and other places that have adopted this idea. We have gotten on board with the model they have already begun. At church planting conferences, much support can be raised in just a few short hours. This fast-tracking support helps church pioneers to get churches started more quickly without having to take years to travel around the country looking for support. This is a more efficient way to raise support!

We are praying that God will bless this conference to help many church pioneers and to inspire other churches to start these type conferences. Please give one day on Friday, December 11th, to experience the excitement of helping pioneer churches in the Northeast. Please register today. You will not regret coming.

The Author Philip Rizzo

Philip Rizzo is a successful businessman called by God to pioneer Northeast churches. He is the founding pastor of City Baptist Church in Hoboken, NJ. He and his wife Jennifer have four children - Nicholas, Mia, Julien, and Gabriel.