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John H. Armstrong served as a pastor for two decades before formally beginning ACT 3, formerlyReformation & Revival Ministries. Initially he asked four men who had been a vital part of his life and ministry to form an original board of directors. The original goal of this first board was quite simple at first-publish a quality theological journal that would serve the leadership of the church by promoting reformation and revival.

Prior to this organizational beginning in 1991 several factors contributed to the formation of this ministry. For over a decade Dr. Armstrong led a regular pastors group in Wheaton, Illinois, known as the Whitefield Ministerial Fellowship. This group had the purpose of encouraging reformation and revival among local pastors. Through these regular meetings the idea of the quarterly journal was born. An extensive network of friendships was built around the truths of reformation and revival. This eventually led to the wider ministry of Dr. Armstrong to pastors.

Along with the time involved in leading this Whitefield Fellowship Dr. Armstrong also began to devote time to writing and editing. Providentially, he had received much training in both writing and editing. With the development of this writing ministry came increased invitations to preach and lecture even more widely.

In late 1991 Dr. Armstrong sensed that God had opened a wide door for expanding this work of church renewal. He sought the counsel of family, close friends, fellow pastors, and his own local church leadership. Their collective counsel was that God was setting him apart for the leadership of Reformation & Revival Ministries, re-named ACT 3 in 2005. A formal recognition and sending service was held by Dr. Armstrong's local church in May of 1992. Hands were symbolically and prayerfully laid upon John in a commissioning service on his last Sunday.

We do not necessarily see this as a self-perpetuating organization. It is a mission fellowship built around the spiritual gifts of a servant of God, primarily the gifts of teaching, evangelism and prophecy. When this ministry ceases our structure may very likely no longer be needed. For this reason we do not desire to invest money into property and long-range development. Further, we have no intention to build a large full-time support staff. Presently we have an administrative assistant and a part time editor besides Dr. Armstrong. We could use one or two others if the Lord provided the resources for such staff but we are not pushing ahead of our financial provisions.

At present our view is that the work we do surrounds Dr. Armstrong's teaching, writing and encouraging. Whatever work might remain after God has completed Dr. Armstrong's ministry could be turned over to an existing ministry and the remainder of our work might simply cease to exist. Or the ministry could be merged with an another similar ministry that we already networked with at that time. Our belief is that God has raised up a man and with him this ministry. Such an organization as ours exists to support the work of the man God has called to serve the wider church. Building permanent organizations around gifted men should not necessarily be an end in itself. This was the way evangelicals, and many other Christian traditions, generally viewed such ministry before the late twentieth century.

We seek to allow God to meet our regular needs through faithful donors and churches that adopt us in their mission ministry. We do not aggressively solicit funds or borrow them for operations. We have followed this philosophy from the beginning.

We do not charge set fees to serve a church or conference. We ask host ministries to cover our expenses. We follow the counsel of the late Francs Schaeffer that there are “no little people” and thus we believe that there are “no little churches.” To make only the large church the focus of our ministry would be to deny our history and calling.

Our Advancing Church Leadership Seminars are three-day classes and do have a modest tuition cost per student. This policy will be explained to any church that hosts such an event.

You may subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter, ACT 3 Weekly, in which we include regular articles on theology and social/cultural issues that have bearing on the present state of the church. In addition, weekly prayer requests are included in our online mailing. You can subscribe to ACT 3 Weekly for free by clicking here. You can also sign up to be a donor via this Website.

Yes. The size of your church or ministry does not determine our decisions. We charge no special fees and desire to serve. All requests for ministry must be put in writing and addressed to our office, or submitted through our convenient online speaking request form. Requests will then be considered by our staff and board.

ACT 3
PO Box 88216
Carol Stream, Illinois 60188

ph : (630) 221-1817
fx : (630) 653-3050

E-Mail: info@act3online.com