Introducing our First Church Planting Resident
This past Sunday, we announced we’ve hired Will Henry Lawrence as our first church planting resident at The Mission Cincinnati!
Will Henry is originally from South Carolina. His wife Ellie grew up locally in Ft. Thomas, KY where her parents currently live. They met in South Carolina and moved to Cincinnati where they attended The Mission from 2018-2020. Will Henry then served as the Communications Director at St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral in Tallahassee, FL before moving to Ambridge, Pennsylvania to begin a Masters of Divinity at Trinity Anglican Seminary. Will Henry is a postulant for ordination in the Gulf Atlantic Diocese and his father and brother both serve as priests in the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina. We could not be happier to welcome Will Henry, Ellie and their boys Gus and Stratton back into our church family in the coming months!
Hiring Will Henry has been the fruit of a long and beautiful discernment process. When Savannah and I moved to Cincinnati in 2016, we believe God was calling us to plant a church that would itself plant other churches. Cincinnati is a large metro area full of beautiful and diverse neighborhoods that we believed would be best served by a multiplicity of more regional or neighborhood-based congregations.
In spring 2025, our Vestry began to consider whether, given the recent growth of the church, whether it was now time to begin laying ground work for planting.
We began to share this vision. Our Fall 2025 pledgeship process gave us confidence we could fund the vision. And in March 2026, we began accepting applications for the residency.
We received 3 applications and selected 2 highly qualified finalists. In addition to their written applications, we interviewed both finalists, called their references, and put both of them through our diocese’s church planter assessment process. Since we are funding this position in partnership with our diocese, it was a great blessing to have the added regional discernment of our Great Lakes church planting leaders added to our local discernment of candidate fit and calling. Ultimately–at both the local and regional level–we discerned with clarity, conviction, and joy that Will Henry would be the best fit for this residency.
I realize that you likely have many questions about what this residency will look like and what the plan and timeline for planting will be. We will offer 2 spaces where I will explain why we desire to plant churches, what the plan for the residency will be, and what the timeline and process for planting will look like. You will then have a chance to ask any questions you have. The spaces will be offered:
Sunday, August 2nd after worship from 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM in the sanctuary (food provided, laid-back atmosphere, kids of all ages welcome to join in the room!)
Monday, August 3rd - 8 PM - 9 PM on Zoom (this session will be recorded to share with anyone unable to make either session.
No RSVP is needed for either session.
We are so grateful for God’s provision of the Lawrences, for His call to all of us to step forward in faith and mission, and for the love of Jesus which is being daily multiplied within our Body.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
With grace and gratitude,
Fr. William