Understanding Church Planting in the East Coast Conference
1. Understanding Church Planting āØ
in the East Coast Conference
Jason Condon, ECConf Director of Church PlantingāØ
(Updated Jan 2015)
Welcome & Introductions
A. Opening
1. Jason Condon, Associate Superintendent & Dir. of Church Planting
2. Participants
a) share your name and your church context
b) share why youāre here, what you hope to get out of this time āØ
[write on easel pad]
3. Pray
B. Why Church Planting?
1. Every church began as a church plant
2. Biblical expression of the Great Commandment & Great Commission
3. āPlanting new churches is the most eļ¬ective evangelistic
methodology known under heaven.ā- C. Peter Wagner
C. The Top Ten List for Starting New Churches
1. New churches needed because majority of Americans donāt attend church
2. New churches are more eļ¬ective at conversion growth
3. New churches are the only truly eļ¬ective way āØ
to reach the growing ethnic populations in America
4. New churches are needed to stem tide of āØ
ideological moral erosion in America
5. New churches have historically been the best method āØ
for reaching each emerging new generation
6. New churches give a group of connected churches āØ
āmarket shareāand greater inļ¬uence in their community
7. New churches grow exponentially faster than established churches
8. New churches are a test laboratory for church leadership development
9. New churches are the research & development unit of Godās Kingdom
10.Provide excellent on-the-job training for energetic young pastors
Overview of ECConf Church Planting Process
D. Vision:
āencourage, equip, and multiply church planters for āØ
a sustaining church planting movementā
E. Pre-Assessment
1. starts with referrals (I havenāt yet had to do anyārecruitingā); āØ
most recently, best oneās have come from current church planters
2. gather info and insights with combination of questionnaires, online
assessment surveys (statistically signiļ¬cant), site visits, interviewing
couple (usually married), interactions with coaches & cohort, and more
| Understanding Church Planting ā¢ www.jasoncondon.com ā¢ eastcoastconf.org1
NOTES:
2. F. Assessment Center
1. If DCP is fairly certain (>75%) candidate would pass, theyāre invited to
an oļ¬cial Assessment Center
2. historically held nationally, have added local and regional options
3. signiļ¬cant personality testing, references, 360 evaluations, interviews,
personal presentations, group interactions, and counseling sessions
4. Assessors Team usually comprised of Conference DCPs, the Covenant
DCP, Christian Counselor, and seasoned Church Planters
5. Possible Dispositions:
ā¢ Recommended
ā¢ Not Recommended
What questions or comments do you have about the Assessment process?
G. Prerequisites for Covenant Agreement Signing
1. 30 Adults: initial Launch Team in place, which will continue to grow
and develop towards the full launch of the church plant
2. 1/3rd Funding: commitments in place for approximately one-third of
the external funding (match 2:1 by the Covenant & Conference)
3. 1āMission FriendāChurch: At least one Parent, Partner, or Support
Church directly involved in supporting the launch of the new church
(plus additional Conference-speciļ¬c tasks & administrative preparation)
H. Project Planning & Covenant Agreement
1. Well-Conceived Project: works with DCP to craft strategic plan
2. Covenant Agreement signed by Church Planter, ECConf, & Covenant;
outlines expectations for all parties, resourcing, key benchmarks
3. Key Highlights from Covenant Agreement:
a) Funding: 3 Major Sources + 1 extra source: āØ
1/3 Conference, 1/3 Covenant, 1/3 Parent or Partner Churches,āØ
+ Planter required to do personal fund-raising (if no oļ¬cial Parent/
Partners, church planter must do signiļ¬cant fund-raising)
b) planters must do monthly reports and send in 5%+10% missions
giving before appropriation checks are sent to church
c) expected by year 3 or 4 to have 225 in worship attendance and be
ļ¬nancially self-suļ¬cient (by time church goes oļ¬ appropriations)
d) expected to parent or partner in planting a church by year 5
4. Normal & Natural Pathways (full doc a bit.ly/normalnaturalpathways)āØ
The following ļ¬ve questions helps the church planter think
strategically about what they hope to accomplish in the lives of people
as a result of the ministry:
In this new church, what are the normal and natural pathways forā¦
ā¢ Making Disciples that are maturing in Christ
ā¢ Evangelizing People so they come to a transforming faith in Jesus
ā¢ Reproducing Leaders that eļ¬ectively lead, serve, and multiply
ā¢ Instilling a Stewardship Culture of generosity, sacriļ¬ce, faithfulness
ā¢ Multiplying Churches that are healthy, missional, and reproduce
What questions or comments do you have about āØ
Prerequisites, Project Planning, and Covenant Agreements?
| Understanding Church Planting ā¢ www.jasoncondon.com ā¢ eastcoastconf.org2
NOTES:
Greater Boston/New England
Cohort (listed newest to oldest)
1) Will Barnet, Highrock Acton, MAāØ
www.highrock.org āØ
(Dec 2014 start)
2) Chris Bannon, The Commons
ECC, Rochester, NHāØ
churchofthecommons.org āØ
(April 2014 start)
3) Stephen Sharkey, Highrock
Quincy, MAāØ
www.highrockquincy.org āØ
(May 2012 start)
4) Aaron Engler, Highrock North
Shore, Salem MAāØ
www.highrocknorthshore.org
(Feb 2012 start)
5) Andrew Mook, Sanctuary
Providence, RIāØ
www.sanctuaryprovidence.com
(Jan 2012 start)
6) Monyroor Teng, Sudanese
Evangelical Covenant Church,
Manchester NH,
www.sudanesechurch.com āØ
(July 2010 start)
7) Frank Catalano, Evergreen
Covenant ChurchāØ
www.evergreencovchurch.org
(April 2008 start)
8) Joshua Throneburg, Highrock
BrooklineāØ
www.highrockbrookline.org āØ
(Jan 2008 start)
9) Kiho Lee, Worship Frontier
Church, Brookline MA, āØ
Korean languageāØ
www.worshipfrontier.org āØ
(July 2008 start)
3. I. Regional Cohorts
1. Deļ¬nition: all the ECConf church planters in a geographic region
2. Cohorts meet monthly for training, resources, and encouragement,
with both DCP-directed and Peer-Led formats
a) Greater Boston/New England Cohort (see sidebar on this page)
b) NY/NJ Metro Cohort (see sidebar on next page)
c) Mid-Atlantic Cohort (see sidebar on next page)
J. Coaching
1. Vital: Second only to rigorous Assessment, Coaching is the next most
crucial component shown to produce healthy, thriving church plants
a) All our Coaches receive specialized training and tools, meeting with
newer church planter on a regular, structured basis
b) Coaches sign individual Coaching Contracts with the Conference,
each Coach & Church Planter sign a Coaching Covenant
c) Coaches primarily seasoned church planters, but thatās not required
d) Jason is trained & certiļ¬ed as a trainer of Coaches for the Covenant
2. Current Coaches: (with plans to add Future Coaches)
a) Michael Carrion coaches some of our Bronx & NYC church planters
b) Josh Throneburg coaches some of our our Boston area planters
What questions or comments do you have about Cohorts & Coaching?
K. Training Events
1. Church Planter Training Intensive: sponsored by Start & Strengthen
Churches, training done by select group of DCPs & Planters
a) Goal: make church planters expert and able to train in the entire
church planting process so that the Church Planter can then lead
and train his or her entire launch team more eļ¬ectively
b) Invited: church planters only
c) Format: 5 days of intensive training on Church Planting principles,
techniques, tools, 4-stage model, coaching, and more
d) held twice each year with 15-30 church planters, the Conference
DCPs, and Covenant DCP (at signiļ¬cantly less cost)
2. Launch Team Training Days: Conference-sponsored event
a) Goal: Train entire Launch Teams in one day with the principles and
practices of Covenant Church Planting, so as many as possible are
excited and equipped to fully support the planting pastor and each
other in the launch of their new church
b) Invited: entire Launch Team of a new church planting project
c) Format: 1 day, includes lunch; presentations & extensive team time;
DCP, Regional Coaches, and Church Planter lead training
d) impacts far larger group than possible at national Training Centers,
with better tailored equipping, at a signiļ¬cantly reduced cost.
What questions or comments do you have about Training Events?
| Understanding Church Planting ā¢ www.jasoncondon.com ā¢ eastcoastconf.org3
NOTES:
NY/NJ Metro CohortāØ
(listed newest plants to oldest)
10) Steven Martino, Movement
Church, Staten Island, NYāØ
www.themovementsi.com āØ
(Dec 2014 Start)
11) Dan Sadlier, Hope Roosevelt
Island, NYāØ
www.hoperooseveltisland.org
(April 2014 start)
12) Kimberly Wright, Resurrection
Church NYC, New York NYāØ
www.hopechurchnyc.orgāØ
(Feb 2012 start)
13) Drew Hyun, Hope Church NYC,
Astoria NYāØ
www.hopechurchnyc.orgāØ
(Feb 2012 start)
14) Efrain Alicea, Elements Church,
Bronx NYāØ
www.elementsbx.org āØ
(Aug 2011 start)
15) Michael Carrion, Promised Land
Covenant Church, Bronx NYāØ
www.facebook.com/PLCChurch
(July 2010 start)
16) Derrick Jackson, Life Covenant
Church, Morganville NJāØ
www.lifecovenantchurch.org
(March 2009 start)
17) Jose Humphreys, Metro Hope
Community, Harlem NYāØ
www.metrohopenyc.org āØ
(June 2007 start)
Mid-Atlantic Cohort
18)Don Schiewer, Dust Covenant
Church, Blacksburg VAāØ
www.dustchurch.comāØ
(Sept 2013 start)
19)Eli Hernandez, Charm City
Covenant Church, Baltimore MDāØ
www.charmcity.ccāØ
(Aug 2013 start)