Church planter intensive and coaching program
Brand new church planters gather together with experienced home missionaries for a Church Planter Intensive at Carbon Valley Lutheran Church in Firestone, Colo. Experienced church planter Jared Oldenburg (Eternal Rock – Castle Rock, Colo.) developed the program and Home Missionary Matt Rothe (The Way – Fredericksburg, Va.) now leads the training. This extended weekend seminar encourages and equips pastors who are called to plant brand new home mission churches. The purpose of this event is to:
- Talk through church planting principals.
- Be a sounding board to new missionaries and their unique situations.
- Give the missionary a chance to think about all aspects of starting a church.
- Encourage the missionary to make decisions and plans based on the core group, community, and location God has placed him. In other words, don’t copy, but instead learn to lead intuitively.
- Help the missionary establish some big picture benchmarks/activities.
- Offer encouragement by openly sharing what it’s like to be a church planter.
- Provide the opportunity for a new missionary to network with other missionaries.
After the intensive, new church planters are paired with a coach from an established mission church to guide them for their first two years of launching a new church. Home Missionary Joel Schulz (Divine Savior – Delray Beach, Fla.) leads that portion of the program.
Both the Church Planter Intensive and the coaching program are sponsored and encouraged by WELS Home Missions.
“As much as Church Planter Intensive was able to ground me, set our ministry on a good path, and send us out with valuable information, the coaching program is now my lifeline in an ongoing way. My coach is the most-accessible avenue to bounce ideas off, get input from, and help me grow as a pastor.”