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ELI was founded in 1997 as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation with initial funding from a network of business leaders in California, Illinois and Texas as well as several prominent foundations including the Maclellan Foundation. With this funding, ELI achieved the following:
- Planted Gateway Community Church, a pilot church in Austin, Texas, targeting the next generation
- Created a multi-church collaborative and planted three churches within three years
- Designed the ELI training program
- Devised a unique web-based assessment process for potential church planters
- Put together a comprehensive, flexible training curriculum that offers seminary education combined with practical leadership skills training and hands-on church start-up experiences
- Established partnerships with a network of churches who have started over 25 churches in the past five years
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"The end of Christendom allows the church to recognize that the gospel is distinct from Western culture. So the gospel must be addressed in fresh ways to the ever changing population that's disassociated itself from "pseudo-Christian" roots."
(Ed Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches)
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