Share the Gospel
The great commission is only fulfilled through the clear sharing of the gospel to those who are not yet disciples.
Our Core Beliefs
The path to realizing the full power of the Gospel in your ministry begins here.
The Gospel is of First Importance
Every ministry should be Christ centered, Holy Spirit reliant, and resolute on keeping the Gospel of first importance.
1 Cor 15:3-4
The Gospel Must Be Shared
The power that grows and sustains any ministry comes from God through the sharing of the gospel to the lost and saved.
Rom 1:16
The Gospel is for Discipleship
Only ministries that equip their people to share the gospel, from the pulpit to the pew, can make disciples that multiply.
2 Cor 5:20-21
Our Purpose
To empower churches and ministries to reach the world for Christ by restoring the gospel to first importance.
Our Mission
We equip churches and ministries to make disciples through sharing the complete gospel in any sermon, conversation, or context through online and in-person training experiences.
Vision
To train 5,000 new leaders to effectively share the full gospel by 2025.
Our History
Created by David Nicholas in 2009
Gospel First Ministries was created by David Nicholas in 2009 to meet the needs of the church planters wanting to be effective in starting gospel - centered churches to reach the lost around the world.
David Founded Spanish River Church & Acts29
David believed that the gospel calls disciples to make disciples and churches to plant churches. During his time as Senior Pastor of Spanish River Church in Boca Raton, FL, he founded the Spanish River Church Planting Network, cofounded Acts29, and served as President of Knox Theological Seminary.
Heart for Making Disciples
David's heart for making disciples and his belief that a clear understanding of the Gospel is the key to disciple making led him to partner with Ed Stetzer and Lifeway Research to conduct a national study. They assessed the presence of the gospel in 1000 sermons from across the United States. Lifeway determined that only 6% of pastors from a variety of denominations and contexts preached a clear presentation of the Gospel.
Boot Camps Launched for Pastors
Gospel First Ministries and our Gospel Boot Camps were launched to ensure that church planters, pastors, and ministry leaders could effectively and confidently present the gospel from any passage, in any conversation, and in any context.
David Goes Home to Jesus
Since the Lord took David home in 2011, his widow Nori Nicholas has led the ministry to become an international organization, overseeing the translation of the GF7 curriculum into multiple languages, distributed around the world, and established partnerships with some of the world’s leading gospel-centered organizations.
Looking Forward to New Leadership
Upon Nori Nicholas’ retirement she passed the baton on to Ryan McInerney, David’s Church Planting Strategist and Gospel Boot Camp facilitator. Ryan was key to developing the ministry to where it is today and continues as an essential partner. In June of 2022, Dr. Bob Orner assumed leadership.
Leadership
Meet Bob Orner
Bob has partnered with Gospel Boot Camps as a trainer for over ten years. He received his Doctor of Ministry from Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando.
He presently serves as a Pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He has served as a youth pastor, senior pastor, church planter, helped start church planting networks and continues to serve as a church planting coach. Bob was the Dean of Students and Guest Lecturer of Practical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida for four years.
Bob is passionate about the ministry of the local church and committed to see people discover Christ and grow in grace. He grew up in East Africa where he developed a love and appreciation for cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity. God used these years to build a passion to equip leaders for the global community who are Biblically and theologically grounded, Gospel motivated and culturally intelligent.
He and his wife Chris, a Licensed Professional Counselor, have one adult son.
