Planting Churches

How the church planting process works.

The GCC church planting process is designed as a partnership between GCC, planters, and churches as described below. You as a church planter should not be alone. Here’s how partnership works.

Connecting

You need to get to know who we are. This is the place to do so. Read Is the GCC Right for You? If, after reading you think it could be, then start the process through the linked form.

These resources will help you connect to the GCC:

Assessment

Once we’ve gotten to know each other, and in partnership with your local church, we’ll use a Church Planter Assessment to evaluate your skill set for strengths and weaknesses that relate to planting a church. Some candidates will be recommended for a residency at a GCC church to prepare them for planting. Residency helps fill in the skills-gaps you’ll need to lead a new church.

This is what we will cover during assessment:

Training

We believe that thorough, contextualized, training is vital for healthy church planting and that such training can build lasting community crucial to the mission. Our Church Planter Training is a series of eight modules combined with cohort coaching over a two-year period. CPT helps you gain essential, practical skills for planting and establishing a church and growing as a leader.

During training you will engage:

  • Church Planter Cohorts, 2-year term
  • GCC Planter-equipping Modules, 2-year term
  • Other Training Resources

Funding

An important part of planting is provision for the process. GCC funds through the Great Commission Fund, a dedicated financial mechanism that allows planter to apply for renewable grants for up to three years, supplemental to their other fundraising strategies.

Funding comes from:

  • Church Planter-raised Funds
  • Renewable GCC Grants

Launch

As provision is made and training comes to a conclusion, the time comes to step out and launch the new church in the place to which God has called you. Just as with every other step of the process, you do not go alone. With GCC, you join a family of pastors, planters, and network leaders dedicated to your spiritual health and planting success.

Church Planters are sent:

  • with coaching and strategies from core group to congregation.

Strengthening

Planting is not the end of the process—it’s not the final goal. Healthy, reproducing churches are, and that requires more than being sent well. It requires partnership that stretches into the future and undergirds the work of the church in the days to come. That means strengthening leaders.

We strengthen leaders through:

  • Skills-specific Cohorts
  • Personalized Coaching
  • Events that Build Leaders, Lives, and Marriages