The Great Plain Church Plant Network (GPCPN) has the stated purpose of “Networking Presbyteries to Advance God’s Kingdom in the Great Plains.”

They have been encouragement to this work and we hope to partner with them to plant many more PCA Churches in the midwest. To connect with the group follow their Facebook Page.

History of the GreatPlains Region of PCA Churches

The Presbyterian Church in America has relatively few congregations in the Great Plains, so many years ago the hope was to break this huge region into smaller Presbyteries. The hope was that smaller Presbyteries could provide 1) more relational connection (it is hard to know brothers well who live 7‐8 hours away and you see only 3 times a year), and 2) more regional accountability for reaching the people with the gospel who live in our own back yard (it is more likely that I will care about the neighbor a few miles away more than the neighbor 7‐8 hours away).

Toward this end, a region that was almost entirely one Presbytery (the old Siouxlands Presbytery, which included Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota) is now four Presbyteries (Iowa, Heartland, Platte Valley, and Siouxlands).

While the effort to break‐down the region into more manageable pieces is working relationally, it is in the best interests of each Presbytery to join forces in some respects. Church planting—and all the resources required—seems to fit that need.

The GPCPN hopes to be a resource to the region by providing:

1. Joint Funding. a. Promoting church planting by providing substantial start‐up funding for new works. b. Providing financial resources for ongoing training, travel, and tools for new works.

2. Joint Experience. a. Providing guidelines—based on experience in the region—on how to plant and develop new works. b. Communicating the unique values ofthe region to potential church planters and/or organizing pastors.

3. Joint Training. a. Providing church planters in the region with opportunities to connect with each other, formally and informally, to cross‐fertilize their experiences in the region. b. Providing an assessment tool for potential church planters in the region.

4. Joint Vision a. Setting goals, celebrating milestones, and remembering what God has done in the Great Plains.

Here is a picture from the 2015 Meeting