I am just starting my journey into Organic Church, where do I begin?

We are excited to announce that we will have a special track for those who are interested in starting organic churches this year during the CMA 2009 Conference. This track will run during the roundtable and presentation times, and allow participants the opportunity to enjoy the meals and main sessions with the rest of the conference.

Our introductory training is the Organic Greenhouse Story 1. We will have a variety of practitioners teaching each section of the Greenhouse Training in it's normal progression. It will be more colorful than a normal training weekend--and you'll get the main sessions and meals too! There is no additional charge for the Training---just register for the Conference.

To Register for the Concurrent Greenhouse Training--Register for the Conference and in the checkout process put in the Order Comments Box:  "Register for Greenhouse"  and also "the names of those who will be attending."

Check out more about the Greenhouse Training here

Foundations of Organic Church Planting: GH Story 1 Session 1 by Dr. Traver Dougherty & Katie Driver

Traver Dougherty lives in Roseville, CA (Sacramento area) with his wife Aimee and two sons, Keith and Keagan. Before his encounter with the organic church, Traver served as a college pastor, missionary to the Philippines, conventional church planter, and senior pastor. Today, Traver equips organic church planters, functions as an elder in his own missional community of faith (The Banqueting Table), and serves as an adjunct professor of missiology at William Jessup University. Traver has a B.S. in business from Fresno State, M.Div. from Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, D.Min. in spiritual formation from Azusa Pacific University, and is presently working toward the Ph.D. in missiology at Fuller Seminary. Traver's research at Fuller focuses on communication theory for discipleship.

Katie Driver has 23 years of missional experience and ministry initiatives. In 1995 she co-founded Outreach To The Nations to make disciples, plant churches and come alongside indigenous ministries in many different countries. She is now organizing relational ministry networks for organic church planting and diverse ministry outreaches in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN and surrounding region. Katie and her husband Tom have been married for 23 years and have three children.

Cultivating the Soil of People's Hearts: GH Story 1 Session 2 by Brad Fieldhouse

Brad Fieldhouse was sent by the Reformed Church of America to start an urban church multiplication movement in Long Beach, CA. Brad quickly got connected with CMA and Awakening Chapels. The network of organic churches he catalyzed, called Crossroads, spread along the coast from
Long Beach to Irvine, CA. Then to see his passion for Jesus to change the city, he began a city transformation network called Kingdom Causes which has started transformation efforts in four cities currently.

Organic Principles for Sowing the Gospel: GH Story 1 Session 3 by Ed Waken & Scott Wilson

Ed Waken moved to Phoenix in 1994 with the intention to begin a church planting movement. Since that time he has begun dozens of churches and is coaching many network leaders across the country. Ed is a teacher, trainer and board member of CMA since 1995. He was part of the very first Greenhouse and has been living, leading, and teaching these principles ever since. Ed also teaches and consults on evangelistic principles and has been doing so since 1987. Those who know him describe him as a visionary leader, church planter, church planting mentor and consultant. Ed has trained and consulted across America, Canada, India and Mexico and brings experience and insights that benefit many. Ed has been married to Debbie since 1978 and they have three grown children and two grandchildren and reside in Phoenix, Arizona.

Scott Wilson has lived in the mountains of Colorado for seven years. He arrived as a traditional church planter and was quickly transformed by the Holy Spirit to be a simple church starter. Through this transformation Scott has become indigenous to his community. He started his own business, Colorado Backcountry Rentals, a snowmobile and ATV rental business. He also began a chaplaincy program for the county’s emergency personel, where he is Chief Chaplain of the Sheriff’s office and is founder and owner of the Big Red Bus, a community outreach ministry. He is a House Church Coach in Summit County, CO where he lives with his wife of 20 years and their four children, Creed, Caroline, Cord and Cammie.

Growing the Life of the Kingdom: GH Story 1 Session 4 by Neil Cole

Neil Cole: church planter, coach and executive director of Church Multiplication Associate and CMAResources.org.  His newest book Organic Leadership will be coming out at the Conference. One of the co-authors of the Organic Greenhouse Training Materials.

Organic Church Nuts and Bolts: GH Story 1 Session 5 by Mike & Mindi Jentes

Mike & Mindi Jentes just celebrated 13 years of marriage and are parents to four children.  In 2000, Mike & Mindi initiated a house church network in urban Columbus, OH called thequest.   This network has started more than 10 house churches and spawned several other networks.  Mike has been a partner with CMA since 2000, attending the very first Organic Church Planter's Greenhouse.  He currently assists CMA Resources as the Coordinator for Greenhouse Trainings. They moved to Long Beach in July of 2008 and are also part of the leadership community at the Los Altos Grace Brethren Church.