"Early Years" Church Planter Cohort
Church Planting can be hard.
You don’t have to do it alone.
Our “Early Years” Cohort is for leaders in your first three years of a church plant. Nine months of coaching, peer learning, and relationships (which start and end with overnight retreats) walks through spiritual and practical realities unique to the early years of starting a gospel-centered, Spirit-led, multiplying church.
All forms of ministry can be hard – and church planting is its own unique niche within ministry. Planting comes with its own questions and needs, its specific doubts and wonders, and its seemingly-endless roller coaster loneliness of emotions.
In Resilient Ministry, Bob Burns and his colleagues wrote, “Unlike other vocations, ministry work has no formal arrangement for ongoing learning and development, no requirements for continuing education, and no structured place for peer collaboration and assessment.” Study after study show that leadership development and peers you can trust vastly improve both a minister’s experience and a planter’s sustainability.
To that end, we invite you to join us for monthly, guided equipping on vital planting principles, with a group of peers in your first three years of planting.
Our year kicks-off with a retreat, Mon-Tues, Sept 9-10, 2024: we’ll get to know each other, pray and play together, and set the vision and content for the coming year
Our closing retreat is overnight in early May, 2025 (dates TBD): spouses are invited to join you, for a touch of rest, celebration, & prayer, as we look back & look forward to end our year.
Between those retreats, your cohort meets monthly – either in Fort Worth or online – October - April.
This is designed for planters within your first few years of having started. “Starting” can mean many things, so whatever that means to you.
WHAT CONTENT WILL WE COVER?
Every year is a little different, given the specific needs of each planter and that year’s cohort together.
But throughout the year, our early years content is split fairly evenly between “personal” focus (on the planter’s heart, soul, family, etc.) and “ministry” focus (on your plant, plans, roadblocks, etc.), all through the lenses of prayerful Spirit-ledness; fruitful multiplication; and gospel-centered disciple-making, for the kingdom of God.
Sample themes include: Common planting mistakes and myths… Leadership and team… Vision- and culture-drip… Decision-making and hard conversations… Conflict and discipline… Leader development and appreciation… Funding realities… Scalable systems… Community and kingdom engagement… Time management & priorities… Prayer and dependence… Rhythms of rest… and more.
WHAT’S THE COMMITMENT?
$185/mo for 9 months (Sept - May; $1665 total)
[15% discount ($1415 total) if paid in full before Sept 1 or if you completed a Church Planting Residency Lab with us]Price includes prep work/follow-up materials; exclusive content; 2 retreats (incl. lodging & meals) & 7 monthly cohort gatherings; 2x one-on-one coaching + availability as needed)
Participants are also asked to invest in monthly mentoring, of someone a few steps behind you in their process, such as a current resident or someone earlier in planting: simply answer questions, share your experience, pray, etc.
Can’t afford that price? Let us know what you can pay here.
HOW’S IT WORK?
Each month starts with prep work related to a specific and necessary aspect of a church plant’s early days – these principles carry across multiple denominations, ministry philosophies, and mission fields.
Each session is a mix of peer learning, Q&A, and exhortation/advice around that month’s principle with Ben Connelly and Kaynenn Parker, and other experienced practitioners mixed in at times.
You’re sent out with a specific action step or two, plus 1:1 coaching calls a few times through the year as you work toward implementation in your specific plant.
No one is more impacted by church planting than the planter’s household. Planters’ spouses are invited to gather together at least once each in the Fall, Winter, and Spring, for peer sharing and guided discussion around the joys and pain points of their unique role. Spouses join the end-of-year retreat as well.