Church Planting Tutorial Introduction

Intrographic

 

Welcome!

If you have logged on to this website you probably have accepted a call to plant in a church using the Large-Start Model of the Rocky MountainDistrict LCMS or at least may be interested in doing so.  You are beginning an exciting adventure.  Even today, planting churches is shown to be the most effective way to reach the lost for Christ.  God is giving you a great privilege to be involved in an undertaking that can have a significant impact in the Kingdom of God. 

This Large-Start Model seeks to bring together the best practices in order that church plants may begin with a worshipping community of over 100 and may become self-supporting in terms of leadership and finances in a short time. For a fuller description of the model, click here.

Model elements include:

The careful assessment of the planter
Providing an effective model for church planting
Connecting the planting to the resources he needs

Why Start large?

The data in church planting circles has been consistent for many years.  Churches that begin with over 100 in worship tend to grow larger than those that begin worship before they can reasonably hit this target. 

In order to reach more unchurched people, new church plants should carefully plan their work in order to reach as many people as is in God’s plan. 



Planting Fast Growing Churches, Gray, Stephen

Process Overview

The purpose of this tutorial is to lead you quickly and effectively through the planning process according to this Large-Start model with the hope that it will save you time and effort, create a better plan and free you from many of the details required in the process.

Specifically, this tutorial is designed to help you

 

.Learn philosophies and strategies in planting churches
.Develop a written plan with a detailed outline leading to your launch date
.Connect you to the necessary resources for church planting
.Manage the church planting process through this written plan

As much as possible the hope is to lead you through the process step by step.  However, many of the steps in planting a church need to occur concurrently in order to be done in a timely fashion.  Also many people will be involved in the process and working on various projects simultaneously.  The general categories for this process are listed in the sidebar to the right.  Each page outlines specific tasks near the top of the page so that you can navigate to the desired area easily.

 You will be completing two documents related to the church planning process.

 

Planter Preparation Goals - This document helps planter how to prepare himself for the task.
Misssion Launch Plan - This documentoutlines the plan for the mission itself and includes
Community Study
Strategic Plan
Timeline
Budget

A template is provided for these documents.  In this process, the planter and his team can expect to edit these documents many times.  They should be considered living documents that are constantly changing to meet the needs of the mission.

Meet the Mission Team

The Rocky Mountain District has gathered a team of people who have in their hearts the reaching of lost souls through church planting and want to offer you their assistance for this project.  They are a group of dedicated Christians who want you to be the best supported church planter ever!  They are committed to

Praying fervently for your church planting project
Supporting church planters in their assigned roles
Genuinely loving and supporting the planters and other team members

Specific responsibilities for team members are listed below.

Rev. Mark Larson

REV. DR. MARK LARSON (Mission Executive) – Provides vision, direction and expertise in the field of church planting.  He works with the Chairman to move the overall project to achieve its goals.  He interacts with North American Mission staff, Rocky Mountain District leaders, and works with local pastors and churches to gain support of church planting projects; he develops and maintains relationships between the Mission Team and the District staff, BOD, and District churches and pastors.  He also serves as the mentor for the church planters.
Mark Zuber

MARK ZUBER (Chairman) – Recruits team members and manages the overall project to achieve its goals.  He oversees the team members and assists them in achieving their goals.

Paul Roggow

REV. PAUL ROGGOW (Prayer Coordinator) – Makes real prayer ministry happen through prayer partners entrusted with sometimes sensitive information, facilitate planters in recruiting their prayer partners and coordinates prayer events for missions.
Karen Schlechte

Karen Schlechte (Planter Recruitment) - Helps to develop the pool of potential church planters, administers the assessment process and tracks the candidates over time. This process includes pastors in the field, seminary candidates and Specific Ministry Pastor canditase.

Picture of Valerie Stewart

VALERIE STEWERT ( Planter Assessment) – Works through congregational call processes, and assesses church planters in order to discover the best possible candidates for church planting.  She consults with church planters and their wives about their personality profiles to discover insights to understand themselves better in order to strengthen their work and personal satisfaction.
Picture of Brian Deleat Picture of Pam King

BRIAN DELAET/PAMELA KING (Coaching)– Currently, they directly provide coaching for church planters.  In the future, they will train a network of mentor/coaches for both the church planters and the team members. 

 
 

(Resource Coordinator) – This team member makes available the best resources in support of church planting so that planters do not have to start from scratch.  These resources will be found throughout this website.

 
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KEVIN GREIN/LAURA RABEN (Demographics) – Through the Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF), they obtain demographic studies for the mission’s ministry area and consult with church planters to understand the studies’ implications and insights for ministry.  In consultation with the Mission Exec, they identify and prioritize the church planting needs in the various parts of the District.
Picture of Margery Richter

MARGERY RICHTER (Administrator) – Records minutes of the meetings, maintains roster of the team, sends reminders of meetings and other information.

 
Gail Kirkegaard

GAIL KIRKEGAARD (Grant Writing) – Coordinates efforts to secure funding through grants for new ministries from Lutheran entities such as LCMS World Missions, LCMS World Relief, Lutheran Church Extension Fund, Thrivent, Wheat Ridge Foundation, as well as non-Lutheran grantors.

 
Picture of Marcia Hogan

MARCIA HOGAN (Communication) – Communicates, through various media to the District and beyond, the news and opportunities for involvement in Rocky Mountain District missions.  This includes articles in District publications, e-newsletters, and website information.

 
Charles Westby

REV. CHARLES WESTBY (Theological Education and Constitutions) – Facilitates the successful completion of distance education programs for church planters, e.g. Specific Ministry Pastor (SMPP), Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology (EIIT), Center for Hispanic Studies (CHS), Deaf Institute of Theology (DIT), including the admission process, recruiting of mentors, coordinating funding, etc.  He also facilitates the development and approval of church constitutions.
Tom Padia

TOM PADIA (Covenant Congregation Liaison) – Recruits, trains and maintains contact with Covenant Congregations, and provides communication to encourage enlistment and to maintain support for the concept.

Thomas Schoech

Rev. Thomas Schoech - (Fund Development) – Discovers and raises financial resources for new ministry efforts, proposes the allocation of financial resources from various sources, and trains and supports planters/Covenant Congregations in fund raising.