Training Church Planters

This past week, I met with some other spiritual leaders in Dallas to pray for and plan for a new church planting movement called Vision360 that we believe may be very strategic in helping to fulfill the Great Commission.

We want to identify and deploy effective church planters who will start reproducing churches with Acts 1:8 missional DNA. We anticipate that thousands and thousands of new churches will be planted in North America. Our dream is that each new church will adopt an overseas city and begin to serve in Jesus' name in the various domains of society resulting in evangelism and church planting.

Part of our strategy is to set up training centers for church planters. We are seeking to set up a training center called LAUNCH here in NE Ohio. We looked over the curriculum for this kind of training that has been produced by Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC and Northwoods Church (Glocalnet) in Dallas.

Before I made a study of the curriculum from the other churches, I thought through what I wish someone had tought me. As a church planter who wants to pass along the lessons I've learned, I thought through what I thought a 30 week curriculum might need to include.

See what you think. We'll take a look at the curriculum from Northwoods and Redeemer as we finalize our curriculum for LAUNCH. Maybe you would have some suggestions that might help us.

Church planter's training

1. Building a God-centered ministry (It's not about the church planter, so get rid of the baggage!)

2. Developing spiritual disciplines personally and teaching spiritual disciplines in the new church

3. Developing dependency/building a prayer covering/personal prayer/teaching people to pray/planting a prayer-saturated church

4. Establishing a church with mDNA - Missional DNA/Purposes of the church - Acts 1:8

5. Gaining vision/claiming promises from God's word/exercising faith

6. Establishing core values and philosophy of ministry for the new church

7. Developing personal evangelistic passion and disciplines/corporate evangelistic strategy and training

8. Developing a personal discipling commitment and strategy/corporate discipling strategy and training

9. Developing an effective follow-up and assimilation strategy

10. Developing an effective connecting/care ministry through small groups

11. Gathering and deploying the core group for the church start/mobilizing people according to giftings, abilities, and passions

12. Exegeting your community/identifying your target audience/gaining focus for outreach and ministry/locating the church plant

13. Developing a logo, a "look," and a communications strategy

14. Finding funding for the church start

15. Establishing an effective children's ministry

16. Establishing an effective youth ministry

17. Designing powerful, relevant worship services

18. Establishing church governance/leadership development

19. Establishing effective pastoral care

20. Developing preaching plans/skills/philosophy

21. Adopting a "simple church" philosophy/strategy

22. Growing in personal character/fighting temptations in the arena of sex, self, silver, sloth/developing accountability relationships

23. Becoming a better husband and father/developing an effective marriage and family ministry strategy

24. Growing in time management skills

25. Growing as an encourager/developing people skills

26. Learning to delegate and manage people/becoming an arranger of care rather than the primary/solo care-giver

27. Learning to deal with criticism and failure

28. Becoming an effective problem-solver

29. Developing perseverance

30. Reproducing your church in your Jerusalem, your Judea, your Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth