A church planting strategy requires called church planters. This course examines and evaluates the sources and methods for identifying and recruiting church planters. The student gains an understanding of planter candidate motivations, obstacles to recruitment, and contemporary systems for planter development.
Church planting requires by its very nature a God-called church planter, whether a catalytic/sequential planter or a founding pastor/planter. Although God calls the planter, leaders of denominations, associations, networks, and missions agencies are charged with the task of identifying and recruiting planters who match their vision, mission, values, and doctrine. These leaders must relate with the sources for church planters, including academic institutions, local churches, and the business world. They must also be aware of the obstacles, dynamics, relationships, and potential pitfalls involved in recruitment. Furthermore, leaders must be able to facilitate and/or develop systems for planter recruitment, including marketing, ministerial networking, and “farm” systems. The goal of the course is to give church planting leaders and consultants the skills and tools that will be used by the Holy Spirit in helping planters understand and clarify their specific calling.
Anecdotal information from current church planter leaders is that church planting is getting harder and taking longer. Some of the reasons include increased antipathy towards Christianity, ineffectiveness of current models, and fewer church planters. The dearth of planters only increases the urgency and significance of this course.
The course is driven by the command to make disciples of all nations and by the belief that evangelistic church planting is the most effective way to carry out that command. Acts and the epistles bear out that fact. This course focuses on those leaders called to develop and implement church planting strategies.
Properly defined, church planting is evangelistic and intended to primarily reach the lost. Multiple missional strategies are involved in carrying out that task. Leaders who take this course learn to focus on identifying and recruiting planters who share this view of planting.
Leaders responsible for planter recruitment must be aware of the contextual and cultural challenges in church planting. First, they must understand the diversity of global contexts, all of which require different strategies and approaches. Second, they must be able to identify planter candidates from a variety of backgrounds. Essentially, these leaders must insist that “one size does not fit all.”
Similarly, church planting leaders must be themselves culturally aware, possess intercultural skills, and promote inter- and cross-cultural church planting.
The course examines issues and methods, but also requires the student to evaluate these and develop tools, methods, and systems for planter recruitment.
The student develops tools and systems that he/she can adapt and implement in the context in which they work.
