Engage Support Team
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Mission planters will be blessed to surround themselves with others who will support them in various means, including prayer, coaching, mentoring and consulting. Most of your support team members will be found on the Mission Team.
The very nature of the body of Christ is that Christ is the head and we are the members. The body has many parts. God calls us to use the giftedness of others for the good of the whole. God desires team members, not “Lone Rangers.”
It is simply unrealistic to believe that a person is able to accomplish this task by oneself. The nature of mission planting is to gather people to Christ, and lead them to use their giftedness in the body of Christ.
The body of Christ is a unit, though it is made of many parts; and though its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 1 Cor 12:12 |
Gather Prayer Partners
Rocky Mountain District currently sponsors a “Prayer Partners for Missions” program. In addition to several hundred prayer partners who have agreed to remember District missions in their prayers, prayer concerns are shared with all congregations in the District in a monthly newsletter. Planters are encouraged to share their "Praises and Petitions" with the Mission Team Prayer Coordinator for inclusion in this newsletter.
Mission planters should plan to recruit and covenant with individuals, organizations and congregations to remember their ministry in prayer in particular. The Mission Team Prayer Coordinator is available to assist you in this process.
Covenant with Coach
Planting a mission can be a lonely job, and it is not an easy one. Mission planters need all the support they can get. A great asset is to have a coach standing at your side who can balance the skills of “grace giving” (encouragement) and “truth telling” (accountability) (Nebel and Ogne 1995, audiotape.)
A coach is best defined as a partner, one who provides support and encouragement, one who is able to enhance and draw out skills, resources and creativity that the one being coached already has. A coach is not a teacher or even a mentor. A coach does not function as an authority or judge, rather, as a Barnabas, “one who is called alongside to help.” The coach does not take on the workload, rather, facilitates definition and clarity of tasks and holds the one being coached (church planter) accountable for the ministry for which God has entrusted them (King 2004).
As soon as possible after accepting a call, a church planter should establish a relationship with a coach. The list may be obtained from one of the coaches on the Mission Team.
A covenant is made with the coach according to the linked Coaching Covenant.
Covenant with Mentor
For our purposes the definition of mentorsare those who teacheothers a particular skill, usually based on their experience. The Missions Executive will serve in this role. His goal is to support you by sharing best practices for church planting and to have you relate to them accountably through your Mission launch Plan.
This will be accomplished through regular phone visits, which will probably be weekly at the beginning. These phone conferences will likely be with other church planters.
Network with Other Church Planters
Connecting with other church planters is a great way to gain insight into the church planting process, and receive practical insights and help from those who have gone through. It is likely that other church planters will be joining you on the phone conference with your mentor, but you may want to establish a relationship with several other church planters in order to receive their insight and support. These planters can be inside or outside our District, or even from other traditions.
Relate to Covenant Congregation
Most mission starts will have a “mother church.” North American Missions has been intentional to pursue the strategy that “churches plant churches,” and have developed a concept call “Covenant Congregations.” Most Synodical resources, including grants and loans, will be aligned through these churches.
Mission using the Large-Start Model may already have a protocol with the mission and the Covenant Congregation. This should be reviewed. No doubt, you may think of other issues to address with the Covenant Congregation. For example, in addition to the support already committed, would the Covenant Congregation be willing to share staff, access to volunteers, allow use of the copy machine and the like?
Contact Local LCMS and Other Pastors in the Community
It will also be helpful to introduce yourself to the other LCMS churches in area. They will have access to a great number of resources that can support the mission, and besides, it’s just being a good neighbor. We are all on the same team!A list may be obtained from the Mission Team Administrator.
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Obtain a list of coaches from the Mission Executive; visit with possible coaches on the phone or in person