Kingdom Collaboration
Do you long to see your community, your neighborhood, your city saturated with the Good news about Jesus?
Our vision at Resonate for church planting is motivated by our deep desire to see the Gospel saturate our world. What would that look like?
Gospel saturation becomes a reality when every woman, man, and child has repeated opportunities to encounter someone whose life has been transformed by the Gospel and to see the Gospel on display by a local community of Jesus followers who embody the Gospel in a holistic way.
We long to see the good news about Jesus saturate every community and every crack and crevice of society. We are committed to working tirelessly towards this end until King Jesus returns and makes all things well.
How will we see this vision become a reality? Only as we learn to collaborate for the sake of the kingdom in our local places. Kingdom collaboration is the way forward if we are going to see the Gospel saturate our world.
This year’s Cultivate gathering is here to lean hard into this vision. At this year’s gathering you will have the opportunity to connect with a growing, diverse, community of church planters working across North America in a variety of contexts. We will be gathering this year in beautiful Houston, Texas from May 29-June 1, 2024.
During this 4-day conference, you will hear from speakers and workshop leaders who are passionate about equipping church planters towards a shared vision for kingdom collaboration, city renewal, and gospel saturation in our local contexts. You’ll learn how to take next steps towards engaging your own communities deeply and catalyze or join collaborative efforts emerging in over 100 cities across North America with a shared vision for city renewal and gospel saturation.
This conference will include speakers, workshops, times of worship and prayer, opportunities to visit and learn from local ministry sites in the greater Houston area, and a hospitable pace that will also leave time for rest and recharging with other planters and/or church planting spouses.
All of Resonate active, partner church planters and spouses are welcome to attend. Your ticket includes your airfare to/from the event, lodging, ground transportation in the Houston area, and meals during the entire event.
Ticket Information:
Tickets are $150 per person or $300 per couple. For any questions, please contact Vivy Cassis at vcassis@crcna.org.
Guest Speakers
Andy Littleton
Resonate Local Mission Leader & Co-Pastor at Mission Church
Andy Littleton has worn many hats, but ministry has been in the mix for him since he was 18 years old. He planted a church in Tucson, Arizona 2014, helped merge it with another small church in 2016, and still co-pastors at Mission Church to this day. He has launched and operated several small businesses and currently owns a boutique retail store in Tucson’s Mercado district, called Arid Lands. These experiences have led him to a partnership with Resonate Global Mission and the launch of Infuse, a missional idea incubation program, with like-minded leaders as well. You can learn more about the various things he’s up to at his landing page www.andylittleton.com. When he’s not managing his metaphorical hat collection, he hangs out with his wife, daughter and 3 dogs in Tucson or adding to his actual baseball hat collection as he tries to visit all 30 MLB ballparks before he’s laid to rest.
Kevin J. Adams
Pastor of Granite Springs Church
Kevin J. Adams is the founding and senior pastor of Granite Springs Church in greater Sacramento, California, and a program affiliate at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. Formerly the director of formation at the Newbigin House of Studies, San Francisco, he has taught at Calvin Theological Seminary, Western Theological Seminary, and William Jessup University. His books include The Book That Understands You; 150: Finding Your Story in the Psalms; The Gospel in a Handshake: Framing Worship for Mission; and Living Under Water: Baptism as a way of life.
Monika Grasley
Founding director of LifeLine CDC
Monika Grasley grew up in Germany under difficult circumstances. At 24, she ventured to America, where she studied and met her husband. Over the last 37 years, they have lived in China, have had ministry opportunities in various countries, and for the past 30 years have been active in their local California community. They hope to live out Micah 6:8: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.
Monika is the founding director of LifeLine CDC, a community development organization that is empowering under-resourced neighborhoods to thrive. She uses an Asset Based Community Development approach to engaging with neighbors, and she loves to look for what is strong in a neighborhood, not what is wrong. Her years of experience in ABCD, community engagement, and developing partnerships between churches and communities has given her many opportunities to speak, coach, and train. As Church planters, you have the unique opportunity to work in collaboration with your neighbors, local community organizations and government entities to build stronger neighborhoods that exhibit God's Shalom. John 1 said that God became flesh and made his dwelling among us. HE first moved into the neighborhood; let's join HIM.
Michael Carrion
Vice President of Church Planting and Leadership Development at City To City
Michael oversees the NYC team prayerfully and discerningly recruiting, training and resourcing church planters called to plant healthy missional churches in the five boroughs of NYC. Michael has successfully planted several churches and charter schools across the South Bronx. He is a social justice activist, community organizer who has been nationally recognized for his work among the poor across the city.
Prior to working with CTC, Michael held appointments with the city of New York HRA/CAS and the Fedcap Group as the Senior Director of Workforce Development. As well as a prior role as the Deputy Director of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS). Rev. Carrion has been married to his wife Elizabeth for over 30 years.
Sam Huizenga
Director of Interactive Learning Programs for Resonate Global Mission
Sam Huizenga currently serves as the Director of Interactive Learning Programs for Resonate Global Mission. Sam and husband Jon have planted three churches in Jacksonville, FL, Rockford, MI, and now in Cedar Springs, MI. They have four married children and six grandchildren. Sam brings a passion for learning with others to their planting experiences. She also enjoys biking and quilting.
Tim Sheridan
Church-Planting Leader for Resonate Global Mission
Tim Sheridan is the church-planting leader for Resonate Global Mission and professor of congregational theology at the Missional Training Center, Phoenix. He has served in pastoral ministry for over twenty years in both the United States and Canada and has been involved in church planting in both countries during that time. He lives in Maple Ridge, outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife Andrea. They have four children and one son-in-law.
Will Plitt
Executive Director for Christ Together
Will Plitt serves as the Executive Director for Christ Together (www.christtogether.org). CT exists to bring churches, networks and denominations together in a city to give every man, woman, and child repeated opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the good news of Jesus. They are helping churches in over 100 cities discover a collective vision for the gospel saturation of their geographies. Before serving as the Executive Director for Christ Together, Will served as a church planter and pastor for over 20 years. Will and his wife live in Winston-Salem, NC along with their 3 grown children and 2 grandchildren.