Recently, ARC (Association of Related Churches) announced that it has successfully launched more than 1000 churches worldwide. It has taken more than 20 years to reach this milestone, and the accomplishment demonstrates the hard work of dedicated people of faith.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Nov. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — ARC (Association of Related Churches) is an organization with a singular goal of planting a church to serve every community while spreading Christ’s word. ARC supports churches as they are built from the ground up. The association also provides support and resources to existing churches so that they can even better fulfill their missions. Recently, ARC celebrated an important milestone by launching over 1,000 churches all over the world.
The story of ARC (Association of Related Churches) begins with Greg Surratt, a pastor who founded Seacoast Church in South Carolina. As president of the Association of Related Churches, he felt a strong pull to plant churches across the globe. From there, he connected with Billy Hornsby and other dedicated religious leaders to begin working on a business and spiritual model to facilitate church planting.
This work has been done with a single purpose: ARC wants to build and strengthen local churches. In turn, those churches bring hope, fellowship, and the word to communities. Churches that receive support and funding through ARC are asked to reinvest into emerging churches once they become stable.
The process of planting a church is a challenging but worthwhile task. Potential church planters go through an extensive application process. After being accepted, they spend up to 18 months in the ARC launch training program. Church planters are supported as they create a plan to launch a church, build a team, and raise funds. ARC (Association of Related Churches) then matches the first $50K of funds raised, dollar for dollar.
ARC’s methodology for developing church planters is rigorous, but it works. The Association of Related Churches creates planters who are committed and ready to build churches that succeed. In 2022, more than 60 independent churches were launched. That includes the one-thousandth church planted in January 2022. Now, as the year comes to a close, the leaders and team members at ARC are proud to have continued their work and surpassed this significant milestone.
While passing the 1000 church milestone is extraordinarily meaningful, this is just one of the blessings ARC has experienced. In 2022, there were more than 14,000 attendees at launch day services, and more than 500 of them marked the occasion by accepting Christ. Eleven churches have been launched this year through the ARC global initiative. These include churches in Trinidad and Tobago, Lesotho, and South Africa.
The future continues to look bright for ARC (Association of Related Churches), thanks to the dedication of its workers and generous donations. There are currently 38 churches already going through the process to launch successfully in 2023.
About ARC (Association of Related Churches)
ARC (Association of Related Churches) is a cooperative of independent churches from different denominations, networks, and backgrounds who strategically resource church planters and pastors to help them reach people with the message of Jesus. ARC exists to see a thriving church in every community, reaching people with the message of Jesus. Since its beginning in 2001, ARC has grown into a global organization and has helped plant more than 1,000 churches. To learn more, visit arcchurches.com.
Media Contact
Association of Related Churches, Association of Related Churches, 205.981.4566, [email protected]
SOURCE Association of Related Churches
