Church Planting Institute

Equipping Church Planters to Lead the Church and Engage the World
An Innovative Church Planting Partnership 

Planting churches in North America requires a new imagination for ministry, a new engagement with culture, and a new process for evangelism and discipleship. This cannot be developed simply by reading books or attending seminars. It requires deep relationships between those engaged in planting these kinds of churches.

This institute is not:

Just another weekend training program to fix all your church planting problems.
Just another retreat offering a “foolproof” strategy for church planting success.

THIS INSTITUTE IS:

An opportunity to learn through sustained coaching and training designed to help you create the leadership character and ministry competencies necessary for planting sustainable churches.

WHO IS THE CHURCH PLANTING INSTITUTE FOR?

Only church planters (those planting or preparing to plant) and church-planting churches are invited into this cohort. Week by week and month by month, this group will receive training, coaching and mentoring specifically focused on the mission of planting impactful and sustainable churches in North America.

goals:

Experience a life on mission

• Develop personal rhythms of the spiritual life
• Develop a life exhibiting grace and truth
• Develop a life recognizing God at work

Cultivate a church on mission

• Develop multiplying discipleship structures
• Develop the ability to lead teams and communities
• Develop ministry skills such as discipleship, evangelism, preaching, teaching, pastoral care, etc.

Explore the context of mission

• Develop skills in reading the neighborhood
• Develop ability to engage local cultures creatively

structure:

• Bi-MonthlyTraining in Missional Leadership ~ Led by Gravity Leadership
• Two Intensives & Learning Labs ~ Led by Dr. David Fitch and Mike Moore

Regular Training in Missional Leadership

A two-year training program in the paradigms, postures, and practice of seeing God at work in the world and helping others join this work. Consisting of groups of six to twelve people, this training is a combination of teaching, coaching and mentoring.

This training moves through three specific modules:

• Paradigms: Discovering ways of interpreting your life on mission as Jesus did.
• Postures: Learning to lead by inhabiting the way of mission as Jesus did.
• Practices: Immersion in the tools for incarnating the gospel in and through our lives.

Learning Labs for church planting in the 21^st Century

Once a year the entire cohort will participate in an intensive learning labs led by Dr. David Fitch. In addition, there will be two-way, live-streaming learning labs to discuss essential aspects of church planting in Northern America.

The CPI will cover the following topics: 

• The History of Modern Church Planting
• Making Space for Mission: How we engage culture
• The Three Circles: Learning to be present to the community
• Practices and Beliefs: Ecclesiology for church plants
• The Rhythm of a Neighborhood Engagement
• The Challenges of Bi-Vocational Ministry
• Preaching for Mission: Communicating transformation, not just information
• Women and Men in Ministry: Essential gateway to mission
• The Challenge of Alternative Sexualities: A test case for mission

COST:

Because all the partners involved in this institute long for the flourishing of church planting in North America, we are providing this training for as little as $7,000. There is a module option to take the cohort for 12-credits for as $13,000.   

For inquiries contact Mike Moore at mdmoore@seminary.edu or 630-620-2180