Navigate Church Planting Challenges Together
Our church planting cohort brings together planters through the year to share and support one another in their ministry.
Leadership can be lonely. Church plant leadership perhaps especially so.
That’s because the church planting experience is often defined by what we don't have: fellow leaders, resources, people, time, ideas, and possibly clarity.
That can lead us to feel a little isolated.
FIEC’s church planting cohort is a ‘road-tested’ attempt to help church planting pastors navigate the challenges of getting something up and running from scratch if they’re a pioneering plant, from growth if they’re planting a daughter church, or from death and decline if they’re involved in revitalising.
We’re two years in so far and it’s been well received. The first year’s cohort have carried on meeting even now the cohort has ended.
How it works
A small group of us (somewhere between 6-10) meet online every month for 90 minutes with a small amount of pre-reading.
We're from all over the country with a diversity of gospel ministry experience and in a variety of contexts. This is genuinely enriching and, as we pray and discuss what we're doing, we quickly become a band of brothers invested in each other's adventurous church planting endeavours.
We have two ‘in person’ meetings in the year. One is at the FIEC Leaders' Conference in November, usually in the bar over a drink (with access to the FIEC expense account!). The second takes place at Planters in February, FIEC’s church planting conference. It’s hugely encouraging to catch up and deepen friendships.
The cohort is built on evangelical doctrinal convictions and comes at things from a practitioner's perspective. We aim to address the nuts and bolts of what we need to think through to plant a church. We use our time online to clarify any outstanding questions, challenge anything we disagree with, and discuss its application and implementation in our own contexts.
The schedule
Each online meeting follows a well-established pattern.
First, a general catch-up on how plans are progressing, highlighting specific things to celebrate or challenges faced.
Secondly, we think through one aspect of the church planting planning framework - a comprehensive nine-point tool to ensure that no stone is left unturned in our preparation.
Thirdly, we include a case study. A planter will either present what they did, why they did it, how they did it, and whether they'd do the same again, or they’ll present what they're proposing, why they're proposing it, and how they're proposing to do it. The rest of us then ask questions, comment and discuss. This invariably stimulates ideas, discussion and prayer. All of which is good!
Dave Hart (Grace Church Macclesfield) was part of the most recent church planting cohort and said:
“The cohort was invaluable to learn with those who have planted or are in the process of planting. It’s a great community that enabled me to think through planting with those who have already planted and those in the thick of doing it.
“I'd 100% recommend the cohort to anyone wanting practical and contextual help in planting.”
Get involved
We don’t think the training cohort is the silver bullet. But, together with things like coaching and consultancy, we think it’s an essential weapon to have in the armoury.
The next cohort begins in September. If you’re interested in joining, you can register your interest using the form below.
