Church Planting Residency

As we continue to pursue the vision of developing a Mission Abbey on our campus, we must remember that central to this vision has always been for us to become a hub for church planting in West Tennessee and the Mid-South. Our first venture into church planting was hiring Fr. Ben Williams back in June of 2021 to serve on staff at All Saints while exploring the possibility of planting a daughter church here in Jackson. Thanks be to God, Mission Saints James has now been meeting weekly since April of 2023 and is on its way toward becoming self-sustainable. 

As we consider our next steps for future church planting, we believe the Spirit is leading us to formalize our experience with Fr. Ben and Mission Saint James by creating a Church Planting Residency program. This program will allow seminary graduates and young priests to experience multiple facets of parish life while working with ministry leaders to sharpen their ministry skills in the context of a healthy church and with the aim of planting a new church. Our hope would be to bring on a new resident every two years starting in June of 2026. 

We are now making public this residency position through various Anglican seminaries and networks. Please be in prayer as we hope to start interviewing potential candidates in January. Our ultimate aim is not only to hire a resident that would explore planting a church, but that we would develop a long-term residency program that would last many years and that God might use to plant many other churches. 

If you would like to learn more about our new Church Planting Residency program, click the link below.