The vision of the pastors and churches who are members of the 17:6 Network is to see life changing churches multiplying throughout the world.
Basically, 17:6 Network exists to turn the world upside down. Acts 17:6 ESV, “And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,”
To equip and resource leaders to develop and multiply life changing churches.
We will accomplish our mission by:
Life Changing Church Defined:
A life changing church is able to use its organization, activities and events to build Biblical Perspective and Kingdom Values in the lives of its people.
In the late 1970s, Harold Bullock began a church in Fort Worth, TX, with the intent to both evangelize un-churched people and grow Christians in character and vision. Hope Church developed as a training center for leaders, scores of whom planted ministries in the US and other countries. God stirred Harold’s heart to play a role in turning the world upside down, as in Acts 17:6.
This desire gave birth to the vision of creating a network for churches and ministries to band together in order to support, encourage, and work together to advance the Kingdom and ultimately “turn the world upside down.”
In 2005, Harold pulled together a few pastors who had been trained by him in Fort Worth and went out to plant churches in other major cities in the US, to explore how to best band together to contribute to the overall work of the Kingdom.
In 2012, Randal Lanthripe, who was also part of Bullock’s initial explore group in 2005 became the director of a newly forming network. Lanthripe is the founding and senior pastor of Church in the Valley, located in the Los Angeles area.
Building upon the foundation laid by Bullock, Lanthripe has lead in discovering how to put feet to original vision of creating training centers in the major cities in the US and beyond. After several years of exploring ways to work together, the team gained clarity on the unique role this network could play to provide a missing piece of church life here in the US and throughout the world.
In January of 2015, the vision and mission of the network was solidified and the 17:6 Network formally launched.
